YAMAHA YZF-R1 Road Test

IT'S easy to become a little jaded in this job. If you're riding bikes constantly, their novelty can wear off a bit. But every so often something comes along and makes you feel like an excited teenager all over again. Yamaha's 2009-spec R1 is one such thing.
It's one of the most anticipated bikes of the year, and with all the hype that surrounds it , boosted hugely by Ben Spies' outstanding early success in World Superbike, I couldn't wait to ride the superbike. Feeling jaded suddenly felt very much a thing of the past!
Seeing the R1 for the first time in the flesh didn't really get my heart racing. It's a decent looking bike for sure, but nothing exactly outstanding. Its aggressive 'face', build quality and general shape are all attractive, but I'm not sure whether there's enough different about it to turn heads. What does set it apart though, and what is debatably the Yamaha's main draw, is its engine.
Fire it up and the unique growl from its pipes is unlike anything else on the market, though it is very similar to the noise made by one of the most famous race bikes out there , Valentino Rossi's M1 racebike. That shouldn't be any surprise really as the R1's 'crossplane' crankshaft has been inspired by the Italian's Grand Prix machine. The uneven firing order it generates is the reason the road bike sounds very similar to his racer. But more importantly, the crank arrangement is also why the R1 delivers its power in the special and very effective way it does.
Most in line four cylinder bikes, even the big capacity ones, have plenty of low down torque. But there's a certain softness to their initial drive at slower engine speeds. Add more revs and that acceleration becomes harder, as the effort of all four pistons combines to deliver their real meat. On this year's R1 though, there's already a noticeably harder edge to the delivery at low revs. Not quite as strong or explosive as a big V-twin's, there's still definitely a tempered version of the immediacy typical of those engines in evidence. It's a sharp, yet friendly pick up that's easily good enough to fire the Yamaha strongly from a standstill, even considering the very tall first gear ratio. And thanks to the civilised manners, you can get on the power earlier and not fret about it. It's a truly superb engine that pulls with just the same useful strength in the rest of the gears. Make no mistake though, even though the motor might sound and feel lazy, it's always capable of making some serious speed.