We buy big bikes simply because they make us feel good. Sure, they cost more than a 600, and insurance rates can be a killer, but the sensations that 1000cc screaming at 10,000 revs give us are worth twice the devastation the costs do to our bank accounts.
And then there are the looks of course. A literbike has a menacing presence that can't be matched by any import tuner or tricked-out American muscle car, and both car and bike owners know that the two-wheeler will ultimately trounce over anything in its path anyways. Unfortunately, the cops are also aware of this, so we have to deal with a bit of the blue heat from time to time.
The bike manufacturers continue to feed our desires for speed and attitude, and the 2007 Yamaha R1 has had a complete redesign with those goals in mind. Anyone who's owned or ridden one in the past knows what this bike is all about, yet Yamaha decided that it needed to be even faster, lighter and sleeker.
The most obvious feedback came from the new motor's lack of midrange stomp. Earlier R1's are known for their sharp midrange smack, yet the new four-valve-per-cylinder (previously five) motor suffers from an odd lag in throttle response below 5500 rpm. Around town it was annoying because splitting between cars or shooting away from traffic lights required a good twist and even a bit of clutch slip to get out of tricky situations. On the twistiesit was blatantly obvious that the bike doesn't like to dip under the 5500 mark, and this also translated into rather poor scores in the wheelie department too.
The cause is likely the fly-by-wire throttle system not catching up quickly enough to sudden low-rev throttle inputs, but we had a solution. Our inexpensive, stylish and easy remedy was to install a larger rear sprocket from Stealth. The two larger teeth in the rear transformed the power delivery significantly, and low-end response became noticeably punchier and more enjoyable. Now it pulled away off idle and wheelied out of corners in second gear-the way it should be.
The Super Streetbike approach to sampling the new R1 was to do a couple days of riding and cover all the basics; city ripping, canyon runs and a couple parking-lot stunts on the stock bike gave us a quick idea of what it had to offer and what minor mods would instantly improve it.