Yamaha R1

There's no doubt that the silver and black R1 is 'lock me up for my own good' gorgeous, but Geezzus have a look at this one in blue and tell me it doesn't scream touch me, feel me, want me!

Apparently the designers wanted to give the R1 the look of a creature devouring the front wheel, and you know what? Every time I look at it I see a Great White Shark, all streamlined, savage and big bity teeth. Go on, have a look and tell me you don1t see it too.

Refining a thoroughbred
Leaving the aquatic dentistry aside a moment, the R1 has had a subtle but highly-extensive makeover that has retained all the attributes of the previous model, but made the performance more accessible. Starting with the engine, the five-valve per-cylinder, 998cc unit now sucks fuel through a fuel injection system that features a "suction-piston-type" EFI, which apparently allows better fuel/air mixture at low revs. What this means is that we now have a fuel injection system that has the advantages of vacuum-operated carbs in terms of smoothing out minute throttle openings, but the efficiency of electronic metering.

Also, in the boosting-torque department is the new two-stage EXUP valve which uses a four-way housing in the primary downpipes. One valve deals with cylinders one and four while the other unsurprisingly, takes care of business in two and three.

Making sure that the air stays clean is becoming more and more important so, on the end of the four-into-two-into-one exhaust pipe is a new titanium muffler, which has a honeycomb three-way catalyser. An ECU operated solenoid feeds air into the exhaust ports to ensure that all the fuel charge gases are burnt before being expelled into the atmosphere.

As far as the chassis goes we now have the Deltabox 3, which is a completely new design. Yamaha pioneered this type of frame back in the early eighties, and since then just about everyone has copied it or produced a variant of it. Bolted to the frame - which is claimed to be 0.6 kg lighter and 300 percent stiffer and allows the engine to sit 20mm higher - is a detachable sub-frame coupled to a completely new asymmetric rear swingarm.

Of course every bike that comes along undergoes changes by the truckload which the manufacturers trumpet as making what was last years pinnacle of motorcycling even better and more perfect than ever. However, the question is of course, has everything the boys at Yamaha done this year really achieved anything and most importantly of all is the R1 now able too chest up to the mighty GSX-R1000?

At the risk of upsetting a squillion R1 owners, the previous model was a good bike but frankly hard work, and that's what has made the GSX-R so good, it's so damned easy to ride and the big house performance is just so accessible.

Shot in the arm
Lets start with the fuel injection. Some bikes with fuel injection are an absolute bloody pain, with an on-off delivery that makes low speed control a chain-snatching nightmare. Not the R1! The system is glitch free, and as easy to control as a good carb set-up. You can trickle this thing around in first or second gear without having to resort to fanning the clutch in order to smooth things out and save embarrassment.

Over rough roads and wet mid-corner, full-lean, bumps where the last thing you need is to be pumping horses through the tyre, the injection allows the rider to remain relaxed and concentrate on the job of reading the feedback and dialling in power at the right moment.

However, snap the throttle open anywhere, in any gear - and Zap! the pick-up is instant. It's one of those systems that leaves you thinking why can't they all be like this?

Down on the ranch
Naturally the engine is still massively strong, and there are very few riders outside a racetrack that will actually find a shortage of power. Sure there aren't as many horses in the corral as over at the Suzuki ranch, but really it's academic as the R1's horses are now easier to ride. What we have now is a race bred thoroughbred instead of a semi-wild cattle country Brumby.

Old model R1 owners wanting to trade up, who might feel that the new nag is somehow emasculated needn't be concerned, the thing is still positively mental fast!

At the start of the test the gearbox was pretty tight and needed a decent effort to shift, especially first to second. By the time a thousand Kays had passed under the wheels, the box was snickety-snick clean courtesy of some changes to the hardening of the gears and a slightly longer lever shift.

In light of the previous model's benchmark braking performance, you'd be surprised if they could be improved at all. Apart from being anodised gold instead of the old and now passe blue, the brakes are every bit as good as before. They may well be improved, but on the road I couldn't tell without an old model with which to go back-to-back. Suffice to say they are excellent, and really score well in the feedback department.

On 'The' road
The Great Ocean Road in south-western Victoria is probably the most famous piece of motorcycling road in Australia. Built to commemorate the services of the men and women who served in the first world war, the GOR was finished in the 1920s, and has been a Mecca for riders ever since. Tight and narrow in some places and fast an open in others, the treacherous curves are frequently littered with sand and gravel, potholes and corrugations - oh, and the occasional rock fall. It seemed an obvious destination to see if the new R1 could deliver the goods as a real road bike. Ignoring the tedium that is the monumental road works cock-up called the Geelong Road, the R1 started to show its class south of Winchelsea on the Deans Marsh road. Sweeping through the flowing curves that rise and fall across the farmland, the engine felt relaxed and cruisy. Vibration was all but non-existent and the bike just loped along at a speed we'll just say was 'on the pace'.

Top gear riding at its best, roll-on roll-off with plenty of time for looking around, sizing up the next bend and doing it in style. Out of Deans Marsh the road starts to deteriorate and becomes tighter until it turns into a downhill ribbon of tight and gnarly corners with patches of gravel, polished, subsiding edges and running water. Did I mention it was pouring with rain?

When the roads are wet and in poor condition it doesn't take much to destroy a rider's confidence and turn the ride into a test of endurance. Shortcomings in the tyres and suspension rapidly make themselves known. On this occasion grip from the Dunlop 208s was brilliant, allowing huge amounts of confidence, while the suspension provided masses of information back to the rider's points of contact with the bike.

The road from Lorne to Apollo Bay had started to dry by the time the first coffee had hit the bloodstream and it was time to put the R1 to some serious use. The section from Lorne along past Sheoak Falls, the Spit and The Brothers has the reputation for being the most crashed on the entire length of the GOR. It's also one of the most exciting and challenging.

The R1 just sucked it up, changing direction so much easier than the previous model and tightening its line through the inlet bridges as the occasion demanded. Always on line, always stable and always easy.

Past Mt Defiance the road is very narrow as it climbs to the lookout, there are always tourists pulling in and out of the parking areas without looking, and there are always cars and trucks cutting corners. Good brakes and pin-point steering are absolutely essential for those last-second changes of speed and direction. The R1 is particularly good at letting you pick up and straighten while washing off speed at the same time.

Not far out of Apollo Bay the local authority has decided to play a cheery joke on riders by putting a new section of bitumen over Smythes Creek bridge. Situated mid-40km/h-corner you descend into this innocuous little bridge and find that there's a pronounced step on the exit that suddenly compresses the suspension, which then throws the bike wide and off line as it unloads. Without doubt a little playing with compression and rebound settings would have minimised the effects of the bridge even further, but the R1 still managed to deal with the problem without causing any concerns at all.

Summing Up
Reflecting on the ride later that night with a beer in my hand it dawned on me that I1d ridden close to 450kms that day and didn't ache at all. Until now I've always considered sports-bikes to be largely irrelevant for the riding I like to do because they wear me out. The new, easy-going R1 is probably the best sports bike package for road riding I've ridden.

Of course the question will still remain, 'is the R1 better than the GSX-R1000?

I'd love to be able to say the R1 has snatched its crown back and in so doing has raised the bar in the same way that it did with the first model. Certainly The R1 won't disappoint anyone that buys it; it is superb. However, the GSX-R is still the most sorted motorcycle in its class and as such it remains the one to beat.

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