Yamaha YZF-R1 (2014)

Quick Review by Maxabout Team

Yamaha R1 is one of the oldest and most famous bikes in the world of sports bikes. This bike has evolved with time and that's the reason why even after almost 15 years, it's the first choice of many speed enthusiasts worldwide. There are many Indians also which admire this bike and this article will take them further close to their favourite bike.

The full fairing and twin headlights style of Yamaha R1 has always impressed the bikers. It always looks fascinating with full body cowl and the newest version takes the game even ahead. The new aggressively styled fairing has been extended and comes with almost no graphics except R1 printed on it. Yamaha has used nickel bolts on its fairing to mount it on the R1 and that looks cool with nicely integrated side indicators. Its cowl has full-size integrated rear view mirrors and tinted visor at its front which makes its appearance compact and sporty with twin circular headlights. New Yamaha R1 has projector headlights which are placed very near to each other forming the nose of this bike. It looks extremely aerodynamic when seen from the side thanks to its upswept muffler, under cowl and racing strips on its wheels. Its split seat and funky rear cowl complements the overall designing. The rear LED tail light and fatty tyre makes it look macho and attractive at the back. Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade is its biggest challenge and Yamaha has made sure that R1 maintains its credibility by getting ranked high on the styling parameters.

This department is a let-down for this bike. When competitors like Honda Fireblade are featuring full digitized instrument panel, Yamaha has stick with their combined analogue–digital instrument console. R1 sports a circular dial for its analogue Tachometer while it has LCD for its digital speedometer, odometer, trip-meter, clock and water temperature meter. Just above the blue colored LCD, you will notice many LED indicators which also tell about the gear position. A 998cc liquid cooled in-line 4-cylinder engine supplies the power to this racing machine. This DOHC 4-stroke engine has been mated with a six speed manual gearbox with a gear shift pattern of one gear down and four gears up. This engine generates a power and torque output of 182 Bhp and 115.5 Nm which can be achieved at 12500 rpm and 10000 rpm respectively.

This bike is Yamaha's fastest sports bike in India. There are certain factors which contribute to its high quality of acceleration and performance. Firstly, it uses a light weight frame which helps it to cut down its weight and get better power to weight ratio than its competitors. Secondly, Yamaha has induced their (chip controlled throttle) technology which is inspired from MotoGP. This helps this bike to get off to a flying start after every gear shift. This situation further improves with its well matched gear ratios which always prompt you to rev this bike hard which is the only way to keep it on the move. The maximum power arrives at 12500 rpm and with its smooth gear transitions; it's quite easy to reach there. As per Yamaha, R1 clocked a record top speed of nearly 285km/hr. While doing so, you shouldn't be complaining about the refinement level of this engine. You will need only 3 seconds to reach the speed of 100km/hr from standstill. The bike is certainly impressive and feels better than its rival in terms of power delivery at high speeds.

You don't look for much comfort on these bikes. Still, Yamaha has tried their best to please you with its well-padded rider seat and adjustable foot-pegs. One can set these foot-pegs according to their height which keeps you on the safer side. The knees stick firmly around its fat tank to give you a tight grip of this bike. It offers extremely sporty posture which gives you a clear view of the road. You always have to bend forward to reach its handle bar which is also convenient to hold and gives you an aerodynamic position. The front suspension system of R1 is similar to the other Moto GP bikes of Yamaha. Its front telescopic forks are self-adjustable which works individually. The rear suspension includes swing arm with new linkage which adds confidence and comfort to this bike. The braking system of R1 has dual discs of 310mm at its front while at the back; it has a single disc brake of 220mm.

Yamaha R1 is a racing bike which needs to have a quick and responsive handling and to do so; Yamaha chose a lighter aluminium frame which also reduced its wheelbase to 1415mm for swift and light handling. The bike comes with a ground clearance of 135mm which improves its dynamics and that's quite evident at high speeds. The new age suspension system is able to hold this bike properly at high speeds as you never feel the weight of this bike while changing lanes frequently. Yamaha R1 is delightful around corners as it steers perfectly and always boosts your confidence. The road grip provided by the fatty tyres used in this bike is really commendable.