Yukio Kagayama began racing in 1990, and became a test rider for Suzuki in 1993 starting with their 500cc machine. He spent many years in the All Japan Road Race Championship, finishing third in 250cc in 1997 and fourth in 2001. He made four 250cc Grand Prix wildcard appearances in 1997 and 1998 finishing top 8 in all four, and also several 500cc Grand Prix wildcard runs in between 1997 and 2001, scoring several top 10 finishes. Between 2002 and 2004, the Japanese rider participated as a wildcard 5 times in the MotoGP class, scoring points in 4 races. He now contests the World and British Superbike championships.