Last KSR trackday of the season was a cold one! With a high of 11 degrees along with a 50% chance of rain throughout the day being forecasted, it wasn’t looking too good. However, I was really excited for this trackday; I would be testing out a new bike!
Throughout my time with trackdays and 3 years of racing, I have always been on a Yamaha R6 (SuperSport 600cc) bike. These bikes have no rider aids but much more manageable power, lighter weight and generally known to be more agile to ride. I spent a lot of time on the R6 developing my skills and I think I understand the bike fairly well. However, at this last track day of the year, I had spoken to a friend about testing out the Yamaha R1 (Superbike 1000cc). I had started thinking about moving to a Superbike late this year and this would be a good opportunity to try one out. I had only ridden a superbike on track once before a few years ago and only for some slow parade laps.
The bike I was riding was a 2020 R1 that was in stock street trim with an aftermarket muffler. It was fitted with some Michelin DOT tires but because of the cold temperatures I decided to use tire warmers on it. All in all, I really enjoyed the bike and was very surprised at how easy it was to ride. The handling characteristics were incredible; it didn’t feel any different than my R6 on initial turn in and in transitions. On paper, it’s a significantly heavier bike but while riding, that weight was very well masked. The engine was incredible. I have never been on a bike that powerful that is constantly wanting to rip your arms off and wheelie even at 200+ kmh. The sound of the crossplane motor was music to my ears and the way it built power coming out of corners was immensely satisfying. The electronic riding aids were seamless. The transmission was super tight and smooth featuring both a quick shifter and auto-blipper. I really liked the slide control system as you could absolutely feel it working on corner exit keeping everything in check. It was almost easier than the 600 as instead of me having to modulate the slide manually, the electronics just took care of it!
Being in stock street form, the bike definitely had some limitations. The brakes were almost scary; street pads, ABS plumbing and stock master cylinder were significantly worse than what I was used to and didn’t give me much confidence. The street steering damper also felt more like a cosmetic addition, providing almost 0 assistance. The riding position was not ideal; the stock clip-ons were not outward enough for my riding style and the rearsets were quite slippery. The suspension felt a bit ambiguous at times but I didn’t push it anywhere close to its limitations. All these short comings are typical of any street bike and with some changes, I could see myself getting up to speed and at a good pace very quickly.
Well, now the search begins… I’d really like to move on to a 2020+ R1, if you see any for sale, send them my way! They seem really hard to come by. If you ever have an opportunity to try out one of these bikes, absolutely take it! Thank you to Derek for trusting me with your bike; I had a blast.
A few laps
Throughout my time with trackdays and 3 years of racing, I have always been on a Yamaha R6 (SuperSport 600cc) bike. These bikes have no rider aids but much more manageable power, lighter weight and generally known to be more agile to ride. I spent a lot of time on the R6 developing my skills and I think I understand the bike fairly well. However, at this last track day of the year, I had spoken to a friend about testing out the Yamaha R1 (Superbike 1000cc). I had started thinking about moving to a Superbike late this year and this would be a good opportunity to try one out. I had only ridden a superbike on track once before a few years ago and only for some slow parade laps.
The bike I was riding was a 2020 R1 that was in stock street trim with an aftermarket muffler. It was fitted with some Michelin DOT tires but because of the cold temperatures I decided to use tire warmers on it. All in all, I really enjoyed the bike and was very surprised at how easy it was to ride. The handling characteristics were incredible; it didn’t feel any different than my R6 on initial turn in and in transitions. On paper, it’s a significantly heavier bike but while riding, that weight was very well masked. The engine was incredible. I have never been on a bike that powerful that is constantly wanting to rip your arms off and wheelie even at 200+ kmh. The sound of the crossplane motor was music to my ears and the way it built power coming out of corners was immensely satisfying. The electronic riding aids were seamless. The transmission was super tight and smooth featuring both a quick shifter and auto-blipper. I really liked the slide control system as you could absolutely feel it working on corner exit keeping everything in check. It was almost easier than the 600 as instead of me having to modulate the slide manually, the electronics just took care of it!
Being in stock street form, the bike definitely had some limitations. The brakes were almost scary; street pads, ABS plumbing and stock master cylinder were significantly worse than what I was used to and didn’t give me much confidence. The street steering damper also felt more like a cosmetic addition, providing almost 0 assistance. The riding position was not ideal; the stock clip-ons were not outward enough for my riding style and the rearsets were quite slippery. The suspension felt a bit ambiguous at times but I didn’t push it anywhere close to its limitations. All these short comings are typical of any street bike and with some changes, I could see myself getting up to speed and at a good pace very quickly.
Well, now the search begins… I’d really like to move on to a 2020+ R1, if you see any for sale, send them my way! They seem really hard to come by. If you ever have an opportunity to try out one of these bikes, absolutely take it! Thank you to Derek for trusting me with your bike; I had a blast.
A few laps
