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Last weekend I was finally able to get my dream bike, a brand spanking new R1, which I part chopped my Sprint ST1050 for.
I’ve now done 400 miles on the R1 and am starting to get my head round it. This may sound strange but after riding a Sprint for 18 months I had really got into the sports-tourer way of riding.
Due to the Sprint’s geometry there was no point hanging off into corners so I simply sat there and tipped her in by active counter steering and puting my weight through my inside hip and foot. Sounds weird, but it’s very effective. Also, due to the weight of the Sprint you had to brake early, tip her in smoothly so the suspension didn’t overload and then put on the power after the apex. Given the Sprint’s power delivery you could do this lent right over and have a load of grip. Gear changes were something you did to stop your feet going to sleep given that the bike has a torque curve like Table-Top Mountain. So, all in all the Sprint was a comfy laid-back sports tourer with enough sports to mix it with the crowd.
The R1. Take me to court and call me ASBO man! What a laugh!!! It makes you want to be completely irresponsible, and that’s just while I’m running her in.
Why am I getting my head round it? To be honest, it’s like learning to ride a bike all over again, and I’m having to reprogram my brain to tell it that things are happening faster than before. After a week’s riding and 400 miles I’m going into corners a good 10mph faster than on the sprint, holding the speed through the turn and firing out the exit tap dancing on the gear lever in a vain attempt to keep the revs below 6,900. The bike’s geometry is different, bum up, head down, shoulders forward – makes it a doddle to move round on the bike, and it feels completely alien as the Sprint held me in place with it’s geometry. So I’m now having to learn how and when to move. Moving around felt really weird at first and I thought I was upsetting the bike too much. Now it’s starting to get better and I’m beginning to feel in harmony with the bike but definitely more work needed here!
The weight. Hee, hee, hee, it feels lighter than my mountain bike. Chucking the R1 into a corner is easy. A slight movement of the bars and over she goes. Multiple corners are awesome and compared to the Sprint she is like a 400 the way she flicks from side to side responding to every movement in a poised, yet encouraging way. Mid corner she seems to be saying “Want to lean a bit further Mike? Go on you know you want to. See easy wasn’t it, now open the throttle.”
This leaves the acceleration. Okay, so the R1 gives 189bhp at the crank on full song and I am nowhere near the main power band running her in at 6,900 revs. But I know it’s there, waiting for me. Waiting to reach out for the horizon, rip it up and throw it behind me. I can’t wait! The R1 is a right gutless madam below 4,000 and she doesn’t pick up her skirt and start running until around 8,000RPM. (Gutless being a relative term!) So I’m stuck with a halfway house for another 200 miles. And that’s a good thing. Getting used to the bike and being able to fully open the throttle would take more self-control than I have!
It’s surprising that there is still a lot to learn. Moving around more, different entry and exit points on the corners with more aggressive lines through them, and a healthy dollop of respect for the licence busting volume control on my right handlebar.
Well, as MeatLoaf would sing. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad… [
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Stunning looking bike in blue…Great report Mike,the bikes brill when on song,Prezzos 06 R1 is so nimble it is like flicking a 400 round,its so easy to lean into corners and handles with pin point precision,get them tyres warmed up and Valentino would be impressed.[
]Great review and I am looking forward to further updates. I am very tempted by the prospect of a R1 myself
I had the 600 mile service today. At last!!! It was so frustrating over Easter as I had run out of miles (being on 568 on Good Friday) so could not go out on the bike as I didn’t want to go over the 600 miles in case there are ever any issues around warranty work. As well as being an absolute nightmare for my much better half Karen, I was productive in that I painted the bathroom on the basis that having this week on holiday I wanted to spend as much time as possible on the bike, and not up a ladder with a brush!
I’ve had a bit of a dilemma about running the R1 in. The book says no prolonged use over 6,900RPM for the first 600 miles, followed by a limit of 8,600RPM for the following 400 miles. Some people have been saying to just rag it from the word go, others have been saying to stick to the book, and yet others have been saying running in by the book = tight engine that lasts forever whilst ragging it gives a loose engine that doesn’t last. Ask 10 people and get 10 different answers.
Well, after having a chat with a friend of mine who knows a hell of a lot about engines and hearing his rationale (Cheers Bob) I decided to do something slightly different to the two extremes (typical). As the first oil that gets put in a bike is mineral based to help the engine wear in I kept to the 6,900 limit per the book until the first service. However, at the 600 mile service they have put in fully synthetic all singing and all dancing oil that will be good until 6,000 miles. So, if Yamaha are happy that no more little bits of metal will be coming off the engine and floating round in oil after 600 miles I’m happy to start using the engine properly on the basis that as it is so powerful I doubt I’ll get anywhere near the throttle stop so won’t be over-working the engine! Therefore, with the service completed I headed out from Cannock onto the A5 and thought to myself, “right, let’s see what all the fuss is about…”
Well
she can’t half motor! Note to self. Join a gym for upper body work and make sure Karen knows how to put dislocated shoulders back in. You get a good powerband come in at around 7,000 revs which is sublime and smooth, the thrust generated given away by the speed that the revs rise even on half throttle. But… If you go over 10,000RPM crouch down and hold on…. Yamaha have a techy bit of kit that they pinched off the Moto GP bike and stuck in the R1’s airbox. It’s called YCCI (Yamaha Chip Controlled Intake) which in a nutshell lifts the air intake funnels out the way at 10,000 revs. This cunning magic gives a stack load more horsepower due to the shorter route the air has to take giving a faster pulse, and that’s as techie as I’m going to get about it.
So you’re accelerating at the same speed as a normal supersports, like a GSX-R (snigger – sorry Gix, couldn’t resist) for example, then you hit 10,000 revs, then you wonder where the NOS bottle is hidden as you take off and prove that the theory of relativity works. Yep, 180 horsepower is addictive, and I’m nowhere near really giving it some!
The corners are coming along. I’m still not hanging off properly, but am shifting my weight around more. Anyway, here’s a question for you about corners. Flying down a straight and braking for the corner I grip the tank with my knees for obvious wedding tackle reasons. However, as I always brake late and only stop braking just before I tip in (literally just giving the suspension a chance to settle) how do I stop myself sliding forward when I have a knee dangling in the slip stream and half my rear off of the seat? If I stop braking before moving I’d have to brake earlier and if I moved after braking I’d upset the suspension on corner entry. Am I missing a trick or doing something wrong?
I think I may just have to keep to my Mike Hailwood style and stay sat squarely on the bike…
Try a lower gear and use engine breaking,little front braking and a little back break before you tip in to corner,does depend what speed your doing but works for me round twisties as I just stay in 3rd or 4th and use roll on roll off.
Sounds like you are enjoying the new machine more and more with each ride. Keep us updated Mike ~ good reading!
Nice one Mike. Running one in must be soooo tempting. I remember hearing proddy racers talk about running their bikes in on the paddock stand after a rebuild by holding them at varying revs with the back wheel in the air. Still, if you’re keeping the bike best not do that eh?
Hope Karen’s physio bills don’t get too high now you’ve got a feel for the bike!Well, what a difference a month makes. I’m now on 2,500 miles, the R1 is fully run in and I have started playing with her.
The downside to getting a new model is always waiting for the accessories to come out. I have waited an average of a month for all the bits, but the R1 looks much better for them. To list them, I’ve had a seat hump (plus removed the pillion pegs to tidy up the lines), tank pad, Ohlins steering damper (more on that in a bit), scottoiler, and crash bungs.
The Yamaha steering damper. Oh dear. As you will know the R1 does like to shake it’s head a wee bit. Now, Yamaha own Ohlins so you would have thought that their top superbike would get a decent damper. Sadly no. The stock damper is unadjustable, pretty useless at its job, and after I had taken it off I found that I could hear air as well as oil going through the valves. So why does the Kwaker ZX10-R come with an Ohlins damper as standard and the Yammie doesn’t? Naturally, with the Ohlins damper in place the steering feels far more stable and when the front lifts it’s beautiful and controlled, particularly when the front kisses the tarmac again.
Riding has been a revelation. After, quite honestly, struggling a bit with getting through corners decently and getting frustrated with myself for not doing the bike justice I found it suddenly clicked into place. All of a sudden the shape of the tank makes sense, and sliding around is second nature. Everything feels so natural it’s like the bike has been built round me. It’s quite simply stunning and the feedback through the bike means that you know exactly what’s going on at all times – amazing.
Didn’t know Yam owned Ohlins. As you say, you would have thought they would have sorted the damper probs out.
That’s a beautiful bike Mike, cheers for the pics. Hope you enjoy the track days.
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