This is Jorge Lorenzo’s New Motorcycle: Yamaha YBR250

You would figure a former MotoGP World Champion and one of the top motorcycle racers on the planet would have his pick for a streetbike.

Not if he doesn’t have a motorcycle license and is practicing for his riding test however. In 2010 MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo‘s case, his ride is the Yamaha YBR250.

Lorenzo, Yamaha‘s star factory rider only recently passed the theory portion of his motorcycle license exam and is now preparing for the practical part. Returning from Spain from last week’s MotoGP test in Malaysia, Lorenzo picked up the keys to a YBR250 to practice on the roads of Mount Montjuic in Barcelona.

“I got my car license at 18 and so far I haven’t felt the need to get my bike license, because it isn’t necessary to be able to compete,” Lorenzo tells MotoGP.com. “But now I need it so I can ride a bike on the road and through the city – and I’ve begun to take steps.”

The hardest part of Lorenzo’s riding lessons may be in getting the two-time 250cc World Champion to slow down.

“My teacher Javi is the only person in the world who has told me to go slower on a bike, and I have to pay attention if I want to pass the exam. If you go fast, you don’t pass,” says Lorenzo. “I have to slow myself down. I’ve never tried to go slow on a bike, I’ve always just gone as quickly as possible, but once you change your thinking and clearly separate that it’s one thing to go fast on the track and another to ride well on the road, it’s easy.”

MotoGP.com has a video of Lorenzo practicing his riding (unfortunately you need to be a subscriber to the site to see it). Kudos to Lorenzo but perhaps he should be wearing more than sneakers while riding, even if it’s just practice.

[Source: MotoGP]

By Dennis Chung