Test 10 - 2012 Yamaha R1 30 Miles
Total Mileage 310
Ever since the so called Big Bang R1 came out I have lusted after one, I love the aggressive looks and they sound amazing. I am sorry but I really didn't fancy those nasty looking BMWs and as I had only ridden the new Blade yesterday it would be good to compare to litre sports bikes back to back.
The R1 is completely different animal to the Fireblade and I can see why journalists rate it so highly. Unfortunately in the real world with a not very good rider on it it just doesn't work. The engine has so much low down grunt, riding around town is a nightmare, you just open the throttle slightly and you are already right behind the car in front, at tick over in second gear you are doing 40mph so trying to keep to the speed limit means going into 1st but then the acceleration is to fierce.
Out on the open road it is much more at home, although from 4-6,000 rpm there is quite a lot of vibration which is really annoying, after that the engine is much smoother but by that time you are already doing 80mph in second gear. If you change into 3rd or 4th then the bike shudders when it accelerates making it even worse.
When you do get the perfect stretch of road when you can open it up properly the power just hits you like an explosion, where most IL4s are smooth and inlier this is all or nothing.
Handling wise it didn't seem as planted as the Fireblade and the ride was a lot firmer. It still handled brilliantly though a proper "think and it steers" bike.
This demo was fitted with traction control and a 3 way power setting, I left the TC on max all the time and had a bit of a fiddle with the power settings but they all felt the same at the speeds I was going.
I am sure on a track or traffic free mountain road, for up to an hour, this bike would be amazing, once you got used to the power it would be faster and maybe more fun than the Blade but on the kind of roads normal people ride on most of the time it was just too much of a handful. Some people would like that and say the bike has character, I just think it makes for a more difficult and tiring riding experience.
