Dainese has teamed up with Rizla Suzuki for the 2006 British Superbike Championship where riders Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and James Haydon will wear its stylish leathers, boots and gloves for maximum protection.

Based in Molvena, Italy, Dainese has a reputation for backing Champions while exploring the limits of technology to improve rider safety. Rizla Suzuki now adds its name alongside Dainese legends such as Agostini, Sheene, Doohan, Fogarty and Rossi. Key to the partnership with Rizla Suzuki is Dainese’s ambition to develop the best safety products in the world.

Since the firm was founded in 1972 it has pioneered innovations such as the back protector, knee slider and air-protection. Feedback from Shakey and James on fit, functionality, protection and style will all be considered when developing new leathers, boots and gloves.

Dainese has committed to bring its quality ethos to a new range of Rizla Suzuki replica riding kit that will be available throughout the UK from spring 2006. The Suzuki authorised dealer network has agreed to stock the Rizla Suzuki replica range, so visit your nearest dealer to see the kit for yourself.

“I’ve been using Dainese leathers, boots and gloves for years and know for a fact they have helped me to avoid serious injury,” enthused James. “You can’t have better quality or protection than Dainese. Others make claims but Dainese puts its money where its mouth is and develops its safety clothing in conjunction with professional riders. “Add to that the ingrained Italian style and flair and it’s easy to see why Dainese is leading the market by a distance. I wouldn’t use anything else.”

Dainese is planning a number of high-profile track-based safety initiatives in the UK in 2006 and both Rizla Suzuki racers will be lending their support to these events.

Alessandro Zamuner, Dainese’s International Business Development Director said: “Rizla Suzuki is an exciting team with two of the best Superbike riders in the world. For Dainese it was an easy decision to support this team. It is popular, stands out from the crowd, believes in quality and loves motorcycle racing, so is a perfect partner for us. Rizla Suzuki also believes in the need to improve safety for riders and will be helping Dainese to advance this science further.”

(Press release from Rizla Suzuki and Dainese, and taken from insidebikes.com)

No, we are not talking American Indian here, we’re talking that growing Superpower: India.

For those that still scoff at the somewhat dated ranges of small capacity machines that are the staple of the Indian market, think again. Things look spookily similar here to the situation 40 - 50 years ago when the British, European and American’s ruled the motorcycle roost and the japanese produced, well, small capacity machines mainly for their home market.

Bajaj Motorcycle, one of the Indian sub-continent’s largest home producers, registered growth at 35%. This took the Bajaj Motorcycle market share to an all time high of approximately 33.1% in February`06. Bajaj CT 100 at 80,683 units continued to lead the price segment, as did the Bajaj Pulsar DTS-i twins and the Bajaj Avenger DTS-i at 33,995 units in the performance segment. The Bajaj Discover twins at 58,761 units continue to experience greater demand than supply.

The capacity expansion to 250,000 motorcycles/month by April`06 will coincide with launch of a new value segment motorcycle during this month. The company expects to sustain strong 3-wheeler & export performance in future. The company`s board will meet on Friday 10th March ‘06, to consider sales and financial targets for the next Financial Year.

Once again, this mirros the japanese expansion of the mid 20 century. With a solid base created by a healthy home market, financially sound and thrusting companies looking around for further business expansion by sizing up foreign markets as their means to that end.

The Japanese may not be as weak in R&D as the British but there’s already signs of overcapacity and a struggle to compete on cost terms, hence the shift of manufacturing and component supply outside of Japan to places like China and India. There’s sure to be an intense battle for the huge American motorcycle market in a decade or so.

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)