Wednesday, September 22, 2010

2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Pictures

2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 First Ride2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 First Ride

2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Photos2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Photos

2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Engine View2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Engine View

2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Sportbike2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Sportbike

2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Pictures2010 Benelli Cafe Racer 1130 Pictures

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

2011 Kawasaki Z750R Unveiled

2011 Kawasaki Z750R Action View
2011 Kawasaki Z750R Action View

2011 Kawasaki Z750R Images
2011 Kawasaki Z750R Images

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Yamaha YFZ R15 150cc

http://blog.neo999.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/yamaha-r-15-photo.jpg

Are you buying the Yamaha YZF R15 just to race it on the track? If yes, don’t read this, just go ahead and buy one for there isn’t a better indian bike for the purpose. More than ninety nine percent of you, however, will probably never take the bike to the racetrack. It’ll more often be used for dropping your girlfriend to college and sometimes to disappear quickly into the traffic when her father spots you with her.

They say there’s no substitute for cubic capacity and while technology is trying as hard as possible to negate the notion, the saying generally holds true till date. The Yamaha YZF R15 is no exception. Putting out a commendable 17PS of power from that puny 149.8cc milL the Yamaha YZF R15 decidedly suffers from a lack of grunt lower down the rev spectrum. The pull from the engine isn’t too strong below 7000rpm and is somewhat disappointing below 3500-4000rpm. Of course, the engine won’t die down below that rev point, but you won’t be overtaking anything but bicycles convincingly. That said, you can easily live with the new Yamaha in the city if you aren’t the true blue commuter who has never revved his bike more than 3000rpm. Extra heavy traffic scenarios where you have to move at crawling pace may be a bother, but once the traffic starts flowing the new Yamaha feels at home.

Just because the Yamaha YZF R15 has beaten the bigger 220s around the circuit doesn’t mean that you should expect it to be as tractable, torquey and commuter friendly in the city as well. To extract that blistering performance from that small motor, some of the low end grunt had to be sacrificed, and it’s evident. The bigger bikes will surge forward with reassurance even at low rpm in higher gears. Even the normal two valve air-cooled 150s will feel torquier below a certain rpm. The Yamaha YZF R15, however, gets substantially stronger after 4000rpm. At 7000rpm and above, the bike comes into its own and leaves everything behind. The acceleration figures upto 60km/h are very marginally slower than the bigger 220CC bikes, but the Yamaha YZF R15 catches up with them in the o-100kmph timings. The true top speed of about 130km/h with an indicated (exactly the same as we had anticipated) 140km/h is better than any other Indian bike by a good margin.

Fuel efficiency, as our standard test figures suggest is a very reasonable 39.2kmpl on city streets and 52kmpl on the highway. Even with some spirited town riding, we don’t expect the fuel efficiency to drop below 35kmpl - a reasonable enough figure for a performance bike. A very important aspect of a bike you intend to live with on a day-to-day basis is its suspension quality. On that front, The Yamaha YZF R15 features probably the best suspension on any Indian bike. The rising rate mono suspension, supple and comfy at low speeds gets stiffer as the load increases lending brilliant dynamics to the bike when pushed hard through corners. It manages to deliver the best of both worlds, almost making the suspension on most other Indian bikes look agricultural. Even with a heavy pillion on board, the bike’s suspension doesn’t lose its poise, offering a pliant ride and bottoming out only when ridden over extreme bumps at high speeds. The riding position is comfortable, though purebred commuters are sure to experience a mild pain in their wrists and shoulders before they get accustomed to the relatively sporty riding position. The bike is a breeze to manoeuvre even at extremely slow speeds, something very unlike what its sporty appearance suggests.

The tyres look absurdly narrow for a bike this sporry and distort the appearance a bit. Functionally, however, they’re just pedect, offering superior grip with minimum drag.

Riding on the highway, the smaller size of the engine makes itself more evident. At speeds of around 70-75km/h where the bigger 220CC bikes will pull strongly in fifth gear, this Yamaha will feel slightly wheezy. Shift down, bring the revs up and it charges ahead. A tall sixth gear aids economical highway cruising, but requires you to downshift during quick overtaking manoeuvres. The sixth gear isn’t entirely non-functional in the city as well till the time you just with to flow along with fast (50-60km/h) moving city rraffic. Twin headlamps provide fantastic illumination during the night, though the Yamaha YZF R15’s horn isn’t the best or the strongest sounding among Indian bikes.

The city verdict? The Yamaha YZF R15 is reasonably easy to live with in the city, if it’s not an out-and-out comfy, commuter bike that you’re looking for. If you’re an enthusiast, and don’t mind shifting gears a bit more than your regulation torque laden 220, then you should be able to happily rev your way through even the more congested streets. The fuel efficiency is good, the ride quality is superb and the riding position is just right - in a nutshell, there’s nothing that should stop you from buying this one if it’s a performance bike that you are looking for!

Tags: acceleration, bicycles, bikes, cubic capacity, Extra, gears, girlfriend, grunt, heavy traffic, indian bike, notion, pace, racetrack, reassurance, rpm, spectrum, Technology, torquey, traffic scenarios, yfz

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Motor Guzzi MGS-01 Corsa

It looks like it is moving even when it stands still. It has a streamline, feisty profile, with its aerodynamic cockpit, and streamline, nimble tail. The gold-coloured forks aim towards the road, almost embracing the front disks where the powerful radial calipers stand out. The impression of power and elegance is emphasised even more by its performance. The air-cooled 1125 cc V 90 degree two-cylinder, four-stroke, four-valve engine pushes forward at all speeds. All it takes is a look at the components to understand why.

It looks like it is moving even when it stands still. It has a streamline, feisty profile, with its aerodynamic cockpit, and streamline, nimble tail. The gold-coloured forks aim towards the road, almost embracing the front disks where the powerful radial calipers stand out. The impression of power and elegance is emphasised even more by its performance. The air-cooled 1125 cc V 90 degree two-cylinder, four-stroke, four-valve engine pushes forward at all speeds. All it takes is a look at the components to understand why.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Motor Guzzi 1200 Sports ABS

There is such a thing as a precise Italian style, a way of designing motorcycles, a series of factors that, while maybe not all discovered individually, when put together form an unique entity that can truly express emotion.

This is the style of the 1200 Sport where form and function work in complete harmony to produce a spirited, fascinating piece of machinery. The graphics on the screen resemble the plate for a rider’s number on a race machine. The same types of adornments are to be found on the "pod" at the back of the saddle that transforms the machine into an aggressive single-seater.


The stylish shape of the front disc brakes suggests and allows magnificent stopping power. Still at the front, the advanced position of the handlebars tends to mould the rider’s arms and chest into the perfect riding position and offers excellent support. The inverted titanium-treated forks add a further touch of class.

The central section of the 1200 Sport features the 90° V cylinder heads with newly designed rocker covers. The Racing exhaust on the right hand side sets exactly the right tone for a motorcycle of this type.

Even the slightly rear-set position of the rider’s footrests brings the race version immediately to mind. If just seeing it standing there takes your breath away, just imagine what a ride will do.

Saturday, September 4, 2010