This is the bike we’ve been waiting for. It’s the bike we’ve been salivating over, dreaming of, everyone hoping, praying it would go as good as it looked.
Put simply, it does.
Sportbike riders around the world, rejoice, for the R1 has returned!
It’s a genuinely hard job to know where to begin to describe this bike. Do I start with the engine that revs with almost the same urgency as a 450cc single-cylinder motocrosser? How about ultra light, R6-size chassis? Or what about the sheer mind-bending array of electronics that’s previously only been heard of on Vale and Jorge’s Sunday bikes?
Everything about the 2015 YZF-R1 screams, “We’re Baaacckk!!” in an almost creepy, Shining kind of way, like Yamaha was just waiting for its time to strike. While the Euros have been heading the electronics arms race over the last few years, Yamaha has been quietly toiling away behind closed doors and closed race teams, developing what is by far the most technologically advanced machine in the company’s production bike history. It’s so advanced you can program the R1M from your phone! Just typing that feels weird.
There’s so, so much to get your head around when you think about this machine. YZR-M1 DNA is littered throughout the design. Everything works in conjunction with everything else, with the end result being a sublime riding experience that a pre-2015 R1 could only dream of. The way this thing goes about building revs, roaring up the range and delivering blazingly strong acceleration is addictive. The way the chassis steers under brakes is so confidence inspiring. And the way the two combine with the Traction, Wheelie and Slide Control (yes, it’s got Slide Control) via the six-axis Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to fire you out of corners and on your way to the next which is coming up very, very fast, is what makes motorcycling so damn fun.
Mechanically—never mind electronically—this machine is a cut above what was previously offered by Yamaha. It’s a machine that’s been designed purely with the racetrack in mind, and its road-going persona has taken a distinct second place. The “No Compromise” tag, first coined with the original 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1, is back. Yamaha has set out to create the ultimate sportbike—engine performance is focused mainly on high rpm power, and the chassis sharpened to give that tangible feedback on critical cornering points of tip-in and initial acceleration track riders and racers love. This machine weighs 15 pounds less than before (454 for the old R1 versus 439 for this one, and the R1M weighs a touch more at 441), and the lack of girth is instantly recognizable when you first sit on the R1. There’s no longer that chunky midsection feel and just pushing the bike around the pits you can feel it. The seat is flatter and the reach to the ’bars has increased 55mm over the 2014 R1—a feature taken from the M1 MotoGP bike—aimed at giving a more comfortable race tuck. There’s also 10mm more leg room from the seat to the ’pegs and your feet now sit 5mm closer to the ’bars. The riding position is purposeful, and makes you just want to crank that throttle wide open.
Flicking the key, the dash lights up like the proverbial Christmas tree. In here you’ll find all your go-fast bits like the 10-stage Traction Control System (TCS), four different Power Modes (PWR), three-stage Launch Control (LCS), three different levels for your quickshifter (QSS), four-stage Lift (wheelie) control (LIF) and my personal favorite, the four-stage Slide Control System (SCS). And, if you’ve got the R1M, access to the top notch Öhlins electronic suspension. Got all that? Did I mention you can change the R1M by your phone?
All of these parameters are changeable on the fly via the mode button on the left handlebar (bar the suspension, which is done via the roll switch on the right), however, I chose to stop for many of my adjustments because the signals at the base of the dash can be a little hard to make out at times, especially if you’re moving and have to focus on the road. What’s that about men only being able to do one thing at a time?
To read more of our 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 and YZF-R1M first ride in this week’s issue of Cycle News, click here
For more Cycle News Sport Bike motorcycle reviews, click HERE.
For more Yamaha motorcycle reviews, click HERE.
