Yamaha R1 2004

How hard must it be to be a Yamaha motorcycle engineer? There you are comfortably working away on whatever turbo mutant motard project you've been fantasising about when in comes the boss and says " It's time we had a new R1, get some new pencils and some clean paper and make a start. Oh yeah, make it look like the old one but better, go like the old one but better and you should probably make it handle better too." Arrgh!

So what was wrong with the old one? Well, nothing really. It really was and is a superb sports motorcycle. So what do you do? I'll tell you, you start all over again.

 Strangely, on paper many of the numbers in the specifications for the new R1 look to be the same as the previous model, but the truth is that the 2004 YZF-R1 is a new and significantly different machine.

What's all this then?

Lets start with the way the thing looks. It's still obviously and clearly an R1. In the stunning Lava Red the R1 has to be the most drop-dead beautiful motorcycle out there on planet bike. Step down Ducati, go and take a seat at the back. In the Mistral Grey, which to my mind enhances the predatory styling and probably best conforms to Yamaha's design name of 'Beautiful Beast', the R1 looks tough rather than elegant. Alas though, the Yamaha Blue just looks dated. Maybe the hardcore Yamatisti will still buy it, but only if there isn't a red one available.

Under the curvaceous (sharp angles are sooo yesterday!) bodywork there's a new chassis dubbed the Deltabox V. Narrower by a whopping 68.4mm, courtesy of the top rails running over the engine instead of around, the chassis no longer needs the engine as a stressed member. Hanging off the back and cuddling up to the back wheel is an all new and Yamaha claim a 30 percent stronger truss type swingarm.

Up at the pointy end the front end now has 5mm more offset than the '02 (P) model and 5mm less than the '01 (N) model. As far as trail goes the '04 model now sits at 97mm down from 103mm and up from 92mm on the '01. Handlebars are raised by a welcome 10mm and the footrests are 7.5mm lower than before. Making sure the plot doesn't get too wayward is a transverse non-adjustable steering damper. 

Pointing the front wheel in the right direction are a pair of 43mm Kayaba fully adjustable USD forks concealing a pair of stiffer springs within the tubes. Ensuring the back end doesn't drag like a dog with worms is a piggyback fully adjustable rear shock. Doing the slowing and stopping are a pair of 320mm discs gripped by four-pistons contained within forged one-piece, radial-mounted calipers and moved by the fluid held in a Brembo radial pump master cylinder.

Now, then this is the good stuff. The 998cc liquid-cooled, five valve per cylinder engine, which is now tilted forward at 40 degrees instead of 30 and fed by a bank of fuel injectors 27mm narrower than previously, makes an attention grabbing 172hp at 12,000rpm. Not enough you reckon? Well once the ram air system starts to drag oxygen down its snout you'll get an extra 8hp taking the total to a claimed 180hp. With a claimed weight of 172kg this is a significant number in anyone's language.

Other stuff includes a lightweight twin muffler titanium exhaust that emits a sound that is so sexy it negates the need for an aftermarket system. Yamaha claims that having the exhaust located under the seat improves mass centralisation, air flow and ground clearance by permitting a lean angle of 54 degrees.

On the track

The first few laps at any track are always tentative as you feel your way back into the rhythm of the place and get to know the machine. In many ways the early laps tell you a lot about the way the bike works because the last thing you need at that crucial time is something wild and unmanageable. And the R1 isn't.

 In fact ridden at fast but not mental pace, the saddle of an R1 is a genuinely comforting place to be. Power is strong and wired to the rear wheel instantly in all of the gears, with the fuel-injection doing a faultless job of delivering seamless power anywhere and anytime you want it. If that makes it sound like I'm underselling the power of the thing, that's not my intention, because it's very - very fast up to 10,000rpm. However, from there up to the redline at close to 14,000 the forced induction system snatches the oxygen out of the air and the power of the R1 hits head bang hard and blinding, blistering fast. Lovely. Being as I mentioned the gearbox but didn't comment, I'm going to make a bold statement here and say that I reckon the box in the R1 is possibly the best I've ever used.

By the time you've got used to the feel of the bike and worked out where the corners go the R1 is urging you to explore the corner grip, which is, let's face it, despite the horsepower numbers, what we're really interested in.

I really like Turn two at Eastern Creek. It's a double apex left hander that has you braking hard and down shifting to second as it darts off uphill to the left. At this point I'd love to be able to say that the super speccy brakes were outstanding but the truth is at the level I ride they don't feel that much different from the previous set up. Mental note to self: "learn how to ride faster." 

Turn two is a corner that rewards any bike with a talkative front-end that turns easily. It's here that you can feel the difference that the changes to the springs, geometry and the weight distribution make. Turn-in is achieved through an almost subconscious effort and changes to line once cranked in seem ridiculously easy through minimal handlebar pressure.

The '02 R1 was a superbly planted mid-corner machine and despite numbers going closer to the '01 model, the new model has lost none of that security. In fact it's the mid-corner grip that is noticeably so much better, allowing the throttle to be opened earlier with increased confidence. This applies whether on the track or the road.

Maybe it's because you can get on the gas so hard that the '04 R1 will head-shake if the front wheel encounters a few bumps or a rise in the bitumen. I certainly found a few, bumps that is, that I'd never noticed before on the way into Turn two. There's no doubt that the bike deals with them, and I certainly didn't experience any problems on the road simply because riding that far up the rev range in traffic would make you a candidate for a Darwin award.

Launches make it difficult to make concrete assessments as there isn't enough time to really get to know and work any new model in different environments. Despite that, it would appear that Yamaha has somehow managed to make the new R1 significantly better than its predecessor. Which, to be honest is a pretty big achievement. It's easier to ride and it's even slightly more comfortable, all of which bodes well for road riders. What's more whether you're into sports bikes or not, it is truly a work of art to look at.

WHAT WE LIKED:

NOT SO MUCH:

TRANSMISSION:
Type: Six-speed, constant mesh;
Final Drive: Chain.

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR:
Frame type: Alloy Deltabox V;
Front suspension: 43mm Kayaba inverted telescopic fork. Fully adjustable; for preload, compression and rebound damping;
Rear suspension: Link Type - Piggy back rear shock. Fully adjustable for preload, compression and rebound damping;
Front brakes: Dual radial mounted four-piston calipers. Dual floating 320mm discs;
Rear brake: Single 220mm disc.

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES:
Dry weight: (claimed) 172kg;
Seat height: 835mm;
Wheelbase: 1395mm.

PERFORMANCE:
Max power: 172hp at 12,000rpm;
180hp at 12,000rpm with forced air induction;
Max torque 10.9kg-m at 12,000rpm.

OTHER STUFF:
Price: TBA;
Test bike supplied by: Yamaha Australia;
Colours:Lava red, Yamaha blue, Mistral grey.