The life and times of the Yamaha YZF-R1

[SteelerSE]

Nice R1 article on Bike Social:

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-vie...

I'll be interested to see whether you all agree with his opinions on the best/worst R1s.

[Mr OCD]

SteelerSE said:

Nice R1 article on Bike Social:

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-vie...

I'll be interested to see whether you all agree with his opinions on the best/worst R1s.

I've owned the gen 3 (2002), gen 4 (2004) and gen 6 (2013) ... between them covered over 70k miles on road and track.

My favourite was the 2004.

[julian64]

The only one worth having was the 2000 model with the giant blue titanium exhaust. Its the longest I've ever kept a bike

The reason was that it had all the refinements of the original with the lighter weight and more powerful engine, better frame charcteristics

But it was the last model before they ruined it. They ruined subsequent models by:

1) shoving a steering damper on it losing all feeling from the front end when they had already tamed it from the earlier generations

2) putting fuel injection on it. The 200 had lovely mitsumi carbs and was silky smooth on pickup. I went to test the 2001 model and the snatch at low speed pickup was frightening and pretty unsafe. I think it took them at least five years to finally iron out poor fueling in the bike to the point where it approached the previous carb setup

3) They stuck underseat exhausts on it. Sexy possibly but a real pain even on a testdrive. How people lived with it day to day communting I will never understand.

For all those reasons the 2000 version was just about perfect before they buggered it all up.

[Mr OCD]

julian64 said:

3) They stuck underseat exhausts on it. Sexy possibly but a real pain even on a testdrive. How people lived with it day to day communting I will never understand.

Easy solution. De-cat pipe and mapping so it doesn't run so lean lowdown = less heat. I did 30k on mine including commuting.

[julian64]

Mr OCD said:

julian64 said:

3) They stuck underseat exhausts on it. Sexy possibly but a real pain even on a testdrive. How people lived with it day to day communting I will never understand.

Easy solution. De-cat pipe and mapping so it doesn't run so lean lowdown = less heat. I did 30k on mine including commuting.

Well, yes you could upgrade any of the lineup. I immediately threw away the titanium exhaust from mine and put a high lift leovince on it and then threw away the standard shock for an ohlins and then had it set up for me. Much better bike after. I'm sure the same is true for the underseat exhaust

But if the question is, what is the best R1 from the factory I still think my answer is the right one.

[Walter Sobchak]

I’ve owned a 1998 R1 and thought it was great, so much sharper than the same era Fireblade-wish I’d kept it really.
Ridden a friends 2002/2003 model one, it was a good while ago now though but I remember liking it a lot.
Owned a 2004 one when it was a Year old and I hated it!, honestly just didn’t get on with how it handled at all and had no confidence on it, selling it and buying a same era Fireblade was one of the best biking decisions I’ve ever made, preferred it in every way.
This put me off R1s for a few years but have had a couple of rides on a 2015+ current model and wow!, what a bike, very impressed with everything about it, if I hadn’t have bought a Ducati then I’d have an R1 in my garage at the moment, and if I’m being honest, it sounds better than my current bike!.

[FK]

Evening all,

I haven't (yet) owned an R1 but I have ridden a couple (a 2008 version, and a 2015 version). Really enjoyed both, but can well identify with the heat issue from the under seat exhausts. To be honest, this bike will always be a slight cut above the rest for me, because it was the bike that got me into biking in the first place, and the first 1000cc bike I rode.

Reputation arguably took a bit of a dip with the big bang version, having spoken to a few people about this. But then that could well be the simple fact that because the engine sounds so distinctive, one can always tell when it's one of them being revved up/given the full bananas!

A good article from the OP as well. Hopefully the R1 will continue to go from strength to strength in the next 20 years!