Everywhere I went on this motorcycle, it got a thumbs up. Admiring, even longing looks were cast upon it from envious car drivers and motorcyclists alike, and it wasn’t even the new ‘liquid silver’ color that seems to be the new Yamaha blue. In fact, our test unit was the Yamaha blue. It is a very good looking bike that has been doing this to its admirers since it was introduced in 1998, when it knocked Honda’s ground-breaking CBR900RR, a.k.a. the Fireblade, from the top of the most desirable bike to own list.
Since then, Honda has introduced the 929, and revised it into the current 954 model, Kawasaki has breathed new life into the ’02 ZX-9R and Suzuki has crushed the competition with its GSX-R1000 two years running, mainly by virtue of its King Kong motor.
Yamaha needed to do something to keep its liter bike in the thick of things. But what to do? More horsepower? Better handling? Lighter weight? How about a little of all three?
The engine is quite a presence with this motorcycle. It makes strong power everywhere. Pulling away from a stoplight, it only needs the slightest turn of the throttle to get you moving ahead of traffic. Driving out of a corner at 3000 rpm or 8000, it pulls equally smooth and equally hard, as there does not seem to be any discernable power band. It just keeps building more power with the increasing rpms. Using the six-speed transmission is a positive, precise experience. I never once missed a shift. The lever throw feels a touch heavy and long, but has a roller-bearing feel to its movement, smooth and polished. Pull at the clutch lever is a little stiff, but it doesn’t compare to the Gold’s Gym – like pull required on a Ducati. That said about the transmission, the motor virtually takes gear selection out of the thought process. For any given corner, it seems you have the choice of any one of three gears. Just turn the throttle, whatever gear, whatever rpm, the motor will do the rest efficiently, and as forcefully as you want. “As you want.”
Those last three words are firmly entrenched in the R1 project leader’s Yoshikazu Koike’s design goal. Rider control, harmony between rider and machine. This was partially accomplished with the introduction of fuel injection.
Throttle response with fuel injection has been somewhat of a chore to get right by all the manufacturers. Various styles of exhaust valves, flaps in airboxes and servomotors whirring and whizzing away have only gotten close to the Holy Grail of throttle response. To date, only one has managed to get close. Now Yamaha has hit the nail on the head. The engineers got the bright idea to make the fuel injection work like a carburetor by employing a CV carburetor slide controlled by vacuum created by the engine, just like on CV style carbs. This ensures that the motor only gets as much fuel as it can handle for a given rpm. It has to be felt, I can’t really convey how well it works in words. It just works, quite simply. All throttle positions, at any rpm, the response to input was, dare I say, ‘perfect’? I’m comfortable with that, as I’ve sampled other fuel injection systems on motorcycles, stock, and custom mapped (like my own bike) through various means of fuel curve manipulation devices. None of them work as well as the Yamaha setup. On the exhaust side, the familiar EXUP valve now has two valves to further aid the smoothing and organizing egress of spent air and fuel mixtures.
Power without control is wasted, and the chassis and suspension were not left alone. The new R1 has a stiffer chassis and swingarm that is supported by a slightly shorter travel suspension with revised springs and damping. A revised engine position sees it sitting 20mm higher to help turn in.
Brakes are typical R1. Powerful, linear, fade-free, but they aren’t as good as the ZX-9R’s or the 954’s. The Kawasaki and Honda brakes have upped the bar in this department. The reach to the brake lever is a bit far, even on the closest setting of the adjustable lever. This works smaller hands a little harder, and so it will fatigue a little quicker if you are braking and downshifting at the same time.
Sitting on this bike reminded me of the R6 I used to own. Small and light, the bike practically disappears beneath you. If it weren’t for the mirrors hanging out on the longish stalks, you’d feel like there was nothing in front of you. The instrument cluster is small, and does a good job getting the critical information to the rider. Background lighting is a pleasing light blue and is adjustable for intensity. Sitting atop the instrument cluster is a shift light, which is programmable for lighting at any rpm. But where is the clock? This may sound trivial, but this comes up because other bikes in this class have clocks included in their display.
Turn on the ignition key, watch the instruments cycle through their assigned operations and hear the fuel pump pressurize the injectors. Thumb the starter and the bike sounds like a Lexus on start up, a very healthy Lexus. Immediately, the bike is ready to ride away.
The ergonomics make demands of your flexibility, slightly more so than last year’s model. The reach to the handlebars remains short, but the pegs are higher and further back, and the bars are angled more downward. You’re in a more aggressive position, but it isn’t unlivable. I went through freeway riding periods where I thought the riding position was okay, other times I thought it was a bit uncomfortable. The seat is better than a 954’s, but that isn’t saying much. Passenger accommodations are there, but really are just token concessions to this being a street bike. Wind protection is par for a sport bike like this, and could be improved by fitting a double-bubble style windscreen. Lane splitting, or riding in stop-light traffic, the weight on your wrists becomes a distinct sensation of the riding experience. Sitting closer to the gas tank seems to help somewhat. In the twisties, the position works very well putting you in a good position, to move the bike around, and to move around on the bike.
Vibration at prime highway speeds detracts from the comfort level as well, although it can be damped a little with grips made of a softer material. Gas mileage was in the 42 mpg range, which could improve a little with a more controlled throttle hand, but will certainly worsen under sport / track day conditions. Still, the fuel injection seems to make the most of the dinosaurs in the gas tank with a little cooperation from the throttle hand.
Once off the freeway and onto a stretch of pavement more appropriate for this bike, i.e., twisty, the stiffer chassis and suspension contribute to the feeling of stability and control. The bike turns quickly, yet feels supremely stable all at the same time. The higher placed engine helps turn-in from vertical, but transitions form left to right and back have the slightly higher CG from the new engine placement making more work for you, and trail braking has the bike standing up slightly, requiring a small amount of counter steering to compensate. The fueling of the injection system combines with the chassis to give the rider a clear picture of what is going on both in the engine bay and at the back tire. Pick up of the throttle out of a corner is smooth and controlled. No snatchiness, or abruptness was evident anywhere in the rev range at any throttle position. Bringing the rear tire to the edge of the Dunlop’s considerable traction envelope was easy enough because of the motor’s power, but it was also easy to stop just short of going too far. This is a function of the entire bike / rider combination, but mainly it highlights the superb fuel injection.
The shock and forks all work very well at flattening the bumps. The suspension works very well, and I found there is enough adjustability to accommodate any riding situation. To nit pick a little, there seems to be a little too much high-speed compression damping in the forks, which has you backing off the preload to soften things up a little, only to find that the forks dive a fair bit when you grab the brakes. If you find this to be something that needs improving, adding a little oil to each leg will help with the dive until you see fit to revalve the damping. Out back, the shock also works very well, but with the same high-speed compression-damping characteristic. On the settings the bike was delivered with, the rear end had a tendency to squat a little too much under acceleration out of the corners, particularly low speed ones, causing the front end to get a bit twitchy and the bike to run a little wide. Adding preload and compression damping largely cured this. I say ‘largely’, because under very aggressive, i.e., too fast for the street, the handlebars can be made to wag a little, but it never got out of hand. Even landing wheelies with the front wheel slightly off center, the bike didn’t get out of shape.
A ride height adjuster would be a nice addition to a sport bike of this caliber, and would be effectively used to raise the rear in an effort to speed steering a bit and get a little more weight on the front during acceleration. Honda and Kawasaki both have included a ride height adjuster, so why not Yamaha? Stability, I feel would not be jeopardized, and grip at the rear tire should be largely unaffected. Raising the fork tubes in the triple clamps would have the same effect but would also reduce ground clearance, which by the way, is excellent. I never touched anything down. Still, the suspension should satisfy most riders on the street. See below for the suspension setup I used.
I was very impressed with this bike. It is focused, controlled, and well balanced. It seems to have the handling of the Honda, with more power and stability, the stability of the Suzuki but with better brakes. Riders modify their comfortable bikes to make more power and many times end up with a bike that doesn’t run as well after spending lots of money. This bike has the power, and for the most part, the suspension, but not quite (for me) the ergonomics. For the price of rearsets and a set of handlebars, the comfort level could be raised significantly for less money than the ‘more power’ route on a more comfortable bike in this class. I think that Yamaha is doing the ‘balance act’ better than anyone right now with the R1, and this is the open class street tool I would put my money down on if I were buying right now.
Suspension setup notes with 194 lb. rider wearing full gear:
Preload Compression Damping Rebound DampingFront: 5.5 lines showing 12 clicks out 18 clicks out Rear: Position #3 20 clicks out 24 clicks out
The U.S. MSRP of the 2002 YZF-R1 is $10,299. Visit Yamaha’s web site for further details and specifications.
