I am looking into buying either an 2009 or 2010 R1. The two years look exactly the same on paper except for the colors. However, are there any subtle changes that have been made to fix any quirks, defects, or noises on the 09 R1's? The reason I ask is obvious, I'd rather get the 09 if it's exactly the same as the 2010, and then have more money leftover to mod it.

Thanks for the help.

The 2010 is not out yet.

Opps my bad it is! I'll have to do a little reading.

It looks the same except for hopefully some behind the scene bug fixes.

 

The 2010 has a 4way adjustable rear suspension while the 2009 has a 2way.

 

What is four way?

My 09 has high speed compression, low speed compression, rebound and preload. What else is there?

I heard a rumor that the under tail exhaust was going away too, has that been found to be untrue?

 

What is four way?

My 09 has high speed compression, low speed compression, rebound and preload. What else is there?

I'm not sure what additional adjustments will be added to the rear suspension.

There were NO mechanical changes to the 2010 R1. :fact

Maybe next year. Ask again next year at this time.:fork

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelspeccompare/6/1882/0/compare.aspx

 

The 2010's still have undertail exhaust, if they didn't then I wouldn't want to buy one haha.

I'm am mostly hoping to find someone who knows about "behind the scenes" changes made to the chassis, engine, suspension, etc... Any big changes I'm sure would be publicized but it's the little ones to boost reliability and fix any 09 issues that I'm looking for. Obviously, if Yamaha didn't make any fixes for 2010 then I would spend the $3500 less and get an 09.

 

There were NO mechanical changes to the 2010 R1. :fact

Maybe next year. Ask again next year at this time.:fork

 

There were NO mechanical changes to the 2010 R1. :fact

And how do you know this?

 

a bit off topic, but doesn't it look strange in the "euro style white" without the red frame. not in a bad way as it still looks lush, but just weird seeing one like that.

 

The white with black frame of 2010 looks much better than the red frame of 09 IMO. With some white wheels and a few pieces here and there it would look incredible.

 

there are no differences. The rumor has it though that they are going to do *revisions* for the 11 model, seems the motorcycle companies are changing things up every 2 years now. it will be exciting to see what they do for the 11 model but subject at hand, there are no changes what-so-ever on the bike for 2010 besides paint...but paint is paint. =)

 

uhh have you been living under a rock man l.o.l, just kidding. yes the mfg's have been changing, revising, doing major overhauls on there front line 600 & 1000cc machines for quite sometime now.

 

Somebody said they have some friends in R&D at Yamaha and there are "unpublished" changes to the crankshaft (strengthening it) I don't know about this though, seems it would just add more rotating weight and reduce overall horsepower. I'm sure they just kept on producing the same exact bike, changed the colors and called it a 2010, oh and yes, they pushed the price up a grand also, yippee!

 

It would be nice to know the difference between what 4way and 2way is supposed to mean on that chart.

 

+1 I have an 08 and it says 4-way on the Yamaha site- any ideas what 2-way vs 4-way is?

 

Typo. Nothing but a typo.

 

the 2010's rear sets dont have as much adjustability and diffrent paint. also supposedly the bottoms of the projector lens are fogged to prevent damage to plastics in extreme heat climates.

oh and they jacked up the price a grand