07 r1 review

[redr1]

I tried out the 07 R1 on the weekend, albeit a short test ride. I have to say it fell short of my expectations, and I found my 05 bike more responsive to throttle, quicker steering and better braking. I am wondering if Yamaha have tamed the 07 too much. Anyone else had a similar experience?

[Marmoot]

The 06 was. I tried it and it felt like an armchair: soft-sprung, upright position, wide fairing, narrow seat.

My regular bike was an SP1 RC51 at that time.

[R6_kid:Me]

I've heard they need to be geared down (3+ teeth) at the back to make the engine more usable. Yamaha's main market is the US, and they have to make the bikes nice for n00b americans to ride. It's been doing good in Superbikes so must be good with a few mods.

[robertydog]

Must admit that i havent ridden one yet but the price puts me off a bit. I go on to the R1- forum and the yanks are haveing a few troubles with theres regarding the lag they get when powering on. Im been quite happy to tweak my 05 up a bit and im more than happy.

[redr1]

Must admit that i havent ridden one yet but the price puts me off a bit. I go on to the R1- forum and the yanks are haveing a few troubles with theres regarding the lag they get when powering on. Im been quite happy to tweak my 05 up a bit and im more than happy.

Yes I found that lag quite a put off, like a turbo charger but the power just never arrived. Seems like a power commander is a must for this bike.
I am with you, I'll hang on to my 05 for a bit longer with a few mods and play with the colour scheme.

[Blackbird]

I tried out the 07 R1 on the weekend, albeit a short test ride. I have to say it fell short of my expectations, and I found my 05 bike more responsive to throttle, quicker steering and better braking. I am wondering if Yamaha have tamed the 07 too much. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Interesting comment. I was reading a UK magazine comparative test last night and their conclusion (if I remember the year correctly) was that an 03 model would leave the later ones for dead.

[unhingedlizard]

I have a few friends in the US that have busa's and blades as thier first bike. Maybe the taming is to stop the yanks from killing themselves?
Or to tell everyone you can have a 1000cc monster with two years riding experiance?

[Sanx]

I took one for a test ride a couple of weeks back. Apart from it having very little range on reserve there were a few things I didn't like about it. The clutch cable-operated, so was quite heavy and the lever's lack of adjustment ment my left hand was aching after ten minutes or so. The engine was schizophrenic. Absolutely sod-all below 7,000 rpm, and a monster above it. The handling was great and the riding position comfortable and the brakes were just awesome. Oh - and the mirrors were bloody useless.

Killer for me was the engine. I need a bike of every-day use, not just something for the track. Below 7,000 it felt like an anaemic 400, not a litre superbike.

[vifferman]

Doesn't the '07 R1 have that new-fangled variable intake tract thingo (technical term)? Mebbe that's what cause the "snooze below 7k RPM" behaviour...

[Cr1MiNaL]

The 06 was. I tried it and it felt like an armchair: soft-sprung, upright position, wide fairing, narrow seat.

My regular bike was an SP1 RC51 at that time.

I didn't know u rode bikes?

[bimotabob]

Interesting comment. I was reading a UK magazine comparative test last night and their conclusion (if I remember the year correctly) was that an 03 model would leave the later ones for dead.

Could the dreaded peak of performance bikes be coming?
I never would have though it possible so soon but with tougher
emission and speed legislation restrictions slowly coming in the companies may be finally changing their outlooks.
Harder to justify faster road bikes now really, maybe the 130hp 270hp bikes
of the future are not around the corner?
Nah probably be just a slight dip in progress though

Cheers

[Blackbird]

Could the dreaded peak of performance bikes be coming?

Cheers

Probably not. The 07 R1 is more orientated to track work and high revs than the earlier models which had greater flexibility for everyday road riding. I've extracted this piece from the 4 page article (minus dyno graph) which puts it in context.

Charting nine years of supposed progress

Look at the dyno graphs on the left and tell me which bike suits your riding best. The early model? Me too. From idle right through to 8000rpm, the old bike makes significantly more power and torque than the new one. And that's just on full throttle. Which most of us very rarely use on the road. Have a look at the graphs for part throttle (which is far more appropriate for road riding) and the differences are even more striking.
This isn't how it's supposed to be. The 2007 R1 swaps five valves for four, has Yamaha's midrange-enhancing EXUP valve and variable length air intakes that supposedly give decent bottom-end and midrange power at one setting, with plenty of top-end at the other.

But the old bike has two big advantages. Firstly, the dimensions. The old fella gets to 998cc from a relatively small bore and long stroke (74x58mm), where the new bike has a wider bore and shorter stroke (77x53.6mm). Long stroke engines make more torque and power at lower revs but can't rev as high as short stroke engines, which usually make more power, but need much higher revs to do it. And this allows the second advantage. Because the old bike only revs to 11,750rpm, it can be short-geared to get there quicker. The new bike, which needs to rev 2500rpm higher than the old one, has taller ratios to let it get there, which means it takes slightly longer to get to 9000rpm. By this point the bloke on the old geezer has changed up and buggered off.

[unhingedlizard]

Could the dreaded peak of performance bikes be coming?
I never would have though it possible so soon but with tougher
emission and speed legislation restrictions slowly coming in the companies may be finally changing their outlooks.
Harder to justify faster road bikes now really, maybe the 130hp 270hp bikes
of the future are not around the corner?
Nah probably be just a slight dip in progress though

Cheers

Anyone else remember when people said this about the GSXR1100's of old?!
140hp, 3000kgs and a three metre wheelbase?