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09-12 R1 Help

12K views 138 replies 35 participants last post by  arcticfuel 
#1 ·
I'm considering picking up a 2009 Yamaha R1 but it will need to take some pretty serious engine enhancements. I'm looking to build the bike to 185 - 190 rear wheel hp. I currently ride a 2005 GSX-R1000 with Web cams, ported head, lightened/balanced crankshaft, 1070cc piston kit and all the usual add-ons. The bike is putting nearly 200 horses to the ground.

I want the same from the R1. I love the looks and sound of the bike but I need the performance to be there too. I ride 99% street and 1% track so my main focus is upping the horsepower for those long straights I'll encounter out on the highways around Chicago.

If anyone has built one of these motors I need all the input and advice you can give me. The R1's in World Superbike (and even Josh Hayes' AMA Superbike R1) impress me. Clearly I have no need for that type of power but a strong 185 rwhp would be nice. Thanks.

GSXR
 
#39 ·
Why the need to best anyone else or try to be faster? Unless you make your living scraping corners it just seems awfully stupid. I'm definitely concerned with power but I always go after delivery, as in replace the exhaust, uncork it (with this bike ECU flash, remove the AIS and cut up the airbox), and map it. On the street midrange is king, and peak HP is absolutely worthless. Freeway riding to me, at any speed, is like watching old people fvck.

Instead of spending an exorbitant amount of $ porting the motor and installing new cams, rods, etc, why not map it, flash the ECU and spend the big bucks on suspension? I've spent more $ on braking and suspension than power by twice the amount and then some. Doing all that work is dumb when you can just buy the BMW for small dick syndrome and carry around your dyno sheet with you in your wallet. You'll never be "different" as these are all production bikes.

If you want the latest/greatest then go put a deposit down on the Panigale and be done with it, or find a used Turbo Busa.
 
#40 ·
Why not pursue power?

While the advice may be sound, why does the forum insist on answering questions the OP never asked, treating him like shit, questioning his motives, etc?

Since we're all on our little soap boxes of self righteousness, I'll hop on board.

Nobody needs a liter bike for the track period. If all you people care about is handling, you're on the wrong bike. The R1 is not a race bike, it is a luxury item that Yamaha sells to cater to the liter bike market.

A well built 600 will destroy most liter bikes lap times on most tracks, in the hands of most of you jokers (me included). If you can't honestly admit to that you're full of shit. I'm talking about street bikes / club racers, not pros (alien riders and big budget builds with engineers to tweak every little thing, constantly). Obviously this depends heavily on the track type.

All a liter bike does is make you a LAZY rider on the track. I'm lazy, I like tracking my R1. I hate having to work hard to set up a pass on someone I'm barely faster than, and I can't easily out power them. So I started riding the R1 and wow, passing is a breeze. Yep. Most liter riders are "that" guy on the track.

Sure, there a few real racers on here, and they are good. I guarantee you, the real racers here actually appreciate the pursuit of power in addition to handling. Nobody wants to be pulled on by a slightly slower rider because they have a few more horses.
 
#41 ·
I am really really hoping, this thread stays on track and continue the discussion about power of the 09 and the build. Let's please not screw up the thread hell if we dont agree with OP and his intentions we can at least agree on being curious how much HP he can get out of the 09. I also hope this thread doesn't turn side ways and FIkays coming in to lock it because we are not getting anywhere with this discussion.

Anyway with 180rwhp plus, wouldn't you keep stock gearing? I mean if you did any gearing wouldn't the bike just be a wheelie machine with that power.
 
#43 ·
Agree, i also hope this thread gets back on point. I don't agree with the OP's purpose, and it kills me thar my wife and kids are going to be driving on the same roads this Guy is out riding on...BUT..... i would like to get a detailed build thread on the 09+ R1. I could possibly be in the market for one of these in the future and would like to see what they can do, and how much it costs.
 
#42 ·
The stock gearing on the bike is rather short, its got a fairy big rear sprocket and I notice riding at 70 mph on the road my rpms are way higher than my 1000RR was.

As for getting more juice out of it, I agree its lacking top end hp. But if most of your riding is street and you wanna actually do an engine build (which I have nothing against) you are going to end up with a race bike engine, not a street bike engine. You will lose whatever manners it has and end up selling it becuase it will be far too focused, too hot running, and reliability is completely thrown out the window.

Why don't you just wait for the next gen R1 crossplane to arrive which I promise you will have enough power that no rider of your same skill level will pass you at a track day with a huge straight (not barber)
 
#44 ·
Broc, with a Suzuki GSX-R1000 it's easy. Here's how you do it:
http://www.kwsmotorsports.com/s1000.htm

XxMcCoyxX - same advice. Plenty of dyno sheets there that look just like mine (as well as at Carpenter's Racing, RC's Performance, etc. and so on). Call them and tell them their bluffing. My point is power is easily accessible for the GSX-R1000 but the task to find it for the R1 is a bit more challenging and ultimately leads the seeker across the pond.

Here's how Keven Stephenson of Rev2Race responded in regards the 09+ R1:

"yes 190 bhp at the back wheel is posible, but would depend on what electronics you use. i have had 218bhp with motec and pistal pistons."

I told him I was serioulsy considering this project. I want to do a bike that not everyone is doing. The R1 is just that bike.

Right now my GSX-R1000 is having bigger camshafts put in, little bit more head work and the counter-balancer removed as the result of a Marine Crankshaft lightened/balanced crank. I know it's going to be a beast when it comes back because the work I'm doing has been done a million times by a million other tuners. I'm seriously considering selling it to get my hands on a 2009 R1 with decent miles (under 10,000) and start over with the Yam.

I think it would be a darn good project and I think a lot of people would get a lot out of my ups and downs going through the build. From what Kevin and Tim have said, it can be done. It just sounds like a very specific set of parts, electronics and tuning are needed to bring it all together.

My GSX-R1000 will be done in about a month. Until then I'll keep looking for answers and updating this thread. I plan to actually call Dano's Performance this week and ask him some questions about the cross-plane crankshaft motor. Maybe my motor won't have to go overseas for the power I seek. We'll see.

GSXR
 
#45 · (Edited)
1) The question was about how to get out power of an 09 R1 some stubids turn the subject on safety on riding on Chicago roads. I would say if you dont know anything technical to suggest to the guy then go away from his thread. And post stubidities as trolls etc somewhere else id***s!
2) As Radley told you and I am sure Kev too, if he answers, you need at minimum a YEC kit to run this motor to its limits. The most important concern is labour for your ported head and full rebuild of the motor. That would cost you really big money. I understand that the 09 runs already a very tight squish. To raise significally the compression will be tricky with that head. Several YEC parts are around on www.ebay.co.uk in much lower prices than the official yamaha pricelist. Have a look around there. Lastly if you really want power go on ebay and look for this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250965056084
All you have to do is bolt it in and go! No idea how you can bring it/import to USA though! Contact the guy, i know he has some engines still available. So thats over 200+ bhp and good luck riding the damn thing on Chicago!


Kind Regards,
 
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This post has been deleted
#46 ·
gsxrassassin! Wasup man! Glad to see you're coming over to the REAL side :fork
Now all you gotta do is dump that Chevy(GSXR) when you get it back and change your user ID and your home! LOL! I had no idea you had posted on here until you emailed me. Look forward to the build! Question, have you even gotten a "Hello welcome to the forum" yet?
 
#50 ·
1) I'm opposite of the OP in that I ride 90% track and 10% street on my R1...I have a cruiser for the street. I can say that I do not "rip up twisty public roads". I'm going to the convention so maybe that will change a little at the gap, but to date I have never even come close to putting a knee down on the street...not worth it as there are far too many uncontrolled variables for me. I'll stick to the track where I can actually go fast in a reasonably safe fashion :dunno

I also know guys that run fast open roads with no traffic and while I don't agree with it its a no harm no foul kinda thing but the OP said he hits 186 EVERY ride. Again if that isn't the case, different story.

2) I agree that the OP opened the can of worms on how he rides. While he would get asked what he was trying to get to 200hp for keeping to technical details would have gone much better.

Honestly, because I ride track I'm interested in someone building the motor and figuring out what mods give what power and how reliable the engine becomes after doing them. What track rider wouldn't be :fact
 
#52 ·
What's the budget for this project? Sounds like this bike will never be raced where mods might be restricted, correct?

I would love to see this project completed, but it's gonna be pricey! Definitely need some serious head work and aftermarket cams. Not sure what kind of power or rpm's the stock bottom end can handle either. Airbox will need to be modified, or replaced with the race one. Obviously all the normal "bolt ons" as well. I bet it would cost an extra $10-25k for the parts/labor.

Or the easier option, build the usual bolt on engine, then throw a 40 shot of nitrous on it. Cost of 3-10k depending on brands of parts.

This engine's strength is the area under the curve, not peak numbers. With that said, I would think you'd be pretty happy with ~180-185 hp as long as you don't sacrifice the awesome midrange to get there.

Hopefully some of the engine building experts will find this thread, and give some specifics on what it would take to achieve your goal.
 
#95 ·
Exactly what I was wondering. Does the OP have the means (disposable income) to fund this project or if it's just a bong-pipe dream.

What's the budget for this project? Sounds like this bike will never be raced where mods might be restricted, correct?

I would love to see this project completed, but it's gonna be pricey! Definitely need some serious head work and aftermarket cams. Not sure what kind of power or rpm's the stock bottom end can handle either. Airbox will need to be modified, or replaced with the race one. Obviously all the normal "bolt ons" as well. I bet it would cost an extra $10-25k for the parts/labor.

Or the easier option, build the usual bolt on engine, then throw a 40 shot of nitrous on it. Cost of 3-10k depending on brands of parts.

This engine's strength is the area under the curve, not peak numbers. With that said, I would think you'd be pretty happy with ~180-185 hp as long as you don't sacrifice the awesome midrange to get there.

Hopefully some of the engine building experts will find this thread, and give some specifics on what it would take to achieve your goal.
 
#54 ·
This is going to take a bit to clean up.

Since it's in Mechanical Help, please either provide mechanical assistance or ideas, or refrain from posting.

Thank you.
 
#55 ·
I searched high and low for someone in the states back in...'08-09 to give me the type of reliable HP I was interested in getting on the R1. Tons of tuners told me it’s not the way to go. It took me a while but I found out two things. One all the power is in good head and cam packages. Two you're not going to find it in the states. I was interested in a package for either my '05 or '07 and was coming up dry for years. I found a tuner (Kevin) outside the states that has a head and billet cam combo that was far more affordable than you would think. That was for my '07. I'm gonna go back and find that email exchange we had. I'm fairly positive boring and crank work was not necessary and that kit would have been good for close to 190HP. The R1 doesn't respond to boring as the GSXR's do. All of the work is in the head.

gsxrassassin actually was raggin on me telling me to give it up on the idea of more power out of the R1 lol. I believed it was a matter of not being able to find it here as opposed to it not being available at all and didn't stop searching. I found Kev and that opened up the DOOR! gsxrassassin even opened his eyes to all the info. You see he’s about to make the swap right lol. I'm going to go back and find those emails.
 
#60 ·
Now, the 04-06 generation R1 was different. In talking to Kevin I remember him having a package available for them but the numbers weren't as big. Don't get me wrong the numbers were good, but you're talking a newer generation with the '07 and then the '09. The '09's numbers were RIDICULOUS!
 
#65 ·
Got the PM Graves. Thanks for chiming in and thanks for being in support of this effort. I wouldn't mind riding around on a Josh Hayes special edition (heck, I'd take a Josh Herrin special edition at this point). I will be in touch shortly.

Hopefully these links will work - look at this guy's R1. Notice he still has mirrors on it. Interesting, right? I also included some links to other groups that have parts for the awesome crossplane motor. Check it out:

http://www.yamahar1.co.uk/apps/bikes/bike.php?id.3081

Big Bore Pistons anyone?
http://www.campbellenterprises.com/...amaha-r1-pistons-cp-yzf-r1-racing-pistons.php

Cams Anyone?
http://www.superbiketoystore.com/sp...haft-Set-Yamaha-R1-2009-2012-/prod_16268.html

Engine Packages Anyone?
http://www.gw-racing-parts.de/index2.php?view=tuning&HID=28&type=YZF-R1&von=2009&bis=2011&lan=en

http://danosperformance.com/Yamaha R1 Superbike Package.htm

The information is out there. The builders are out there. I spoke with Kevin Stephenson again and he's a living, breathing R1 encyclopedia. I have to trust a guy who's getting 190 rwhp out of this motor routinely.

It's encouraging to know there are other R1 riders out there building this thing into a road-going missle. I will be joining them shortly. As I put my bike together I will include pics. If I have to send the motor out for work I'll ask the tuner to update me with pics so I can keep everyone in the loop.

GSXR
 
#67 · (Edited)
Got the PM Graves. Thanks for chiming in and thanks for being in support of this effort. I wouldn't mind riding around on a Josh Hayes special edition (heck, I'd take a Josh Herrin special edition at this point). I will be in touch shortly.

Hopefully these links will work - look at this guy's R1. Notice he still has mirrors on it. Interesting, right? I also included some links to other groups that have parts for the awesome crossplane motor. Check it out:

http://www.yamahar1.co.uk/apps/bikes/bike.php?id.3081

Big Bore Pistons anyone?
http://www.campbellenterprises.com/...amaha-r1-pistons-cp-yzf-r1-racing-pistons.php

Cams Anyone?
http://www.superbiketoystore.com/sp...haft-Set-Yamaha-R1-2009-2012-/prod_16268.html

Engine Packages Anyone?
http://www.gw-racing-parts.de/index2.php?view=tuning&HID=28&type=YZF-R1&von=2009&bis=2011&lan=en

http://danosperformance.com/Yamaha R1 Superbike Package.htm

The information is out there. The builders are out there. I spoke with Kevin Stephenson again and he's a living, breathing R1 encyclopedia. I have to trust a guy who's getting 190 rwhp out of this motor routinely.

It's encouraging to know there are other R1 riders out there building this thing into a road-going missle. I will be joining them shortly. As I put my bike together I will include pics. If I have to send the motor out for work I'll ask the tuner to update me with pics so I can keep everyone in the loop.

GSXR
i'll be waiting on your call. i hope the info i gave you earlier was some help. it looks like the stuff i sent you was almost eaxctly like some of theses builds.
 
#66 ·
Whassup Toddyzfr1 II? That's real talk - I was not impressed with the lack of information available and thought the R1 motor wasn't a very good choice to build beyond manufacturer's spec. As it turns out, I was just in the wrong part of the world. The Red Coats have been building the heck out of this thing forever.

Toddyzfr1 II knows I can't completely give up the Zuks - I still have my 1441 Busa.

GSXR
 
#70 ·
LudjakR1 said: "Anyway with 180rwhp plus, wouldn't you keep stock gearing? I mean if you did any gearing wouldn't the bike just be a wheelie machine with that power."

That's an excellent Q LudjakR1 and I've been thinking about that. On my Giggy I actually went down two teeth in the back. With the lighter crank the motor will want to spin up really fast making it toss the front wheel in the air.

With this machine's torque-ier (yes, I know that's not the correct spelling) characteristics I'm sure I'll have to either go +1 in the front or -2 in the back. Acceleration is only efective if all the energy is going straight, not up. Thanks for the post.

GSXR
 
#71 ·
Brian TX said "What's the budget for this project? Sounds like this bike will never be raced where mods might be restricted, correct?"

Hey Brian - It's starting to look like this project may be north of $10K. Graves sent me some very, very useful information and really put things into perspective for me in regards building this motor and it ain't cheap.

I will use this bike the way I use all my bikes - mostly street (90%) and a couple tracks days each year (10%). I can't wait to run this thing once it's done. I'm a long away from that but I won't be stopped - and I hope to take you all along for the ride.

GSXR
 
#72 ·
In all of the talk about power I realized I never got feedback on braking and control.

Z064Life said: "I have ohlins..." (damper)

This is pretty good information being that Z rides mostly track. That means he trusts this damper. Is anyone using a different aftermarket damper with good results? I personally was looking at either Scotts or GPR.

And what about braking? Braided lines, rotors, master cylinders, calipers, etc.? Let's hear what you guys and gals have and what works for you. I need this information to build the perfect street/track weapon. Thanks.

GSXR
 
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