OK, so this place has gotten a little boring lately, with not nearly enough of the discussions on motorcycle technology that I love to read and participate in.
There's at least one other thread about the 2011 R1...and it's pretty worthless, with most members chiming in with the usual, brilliant comments, such as "it will have 2 wheels" and "Yamaha will sell one in blue."
In this thread, let's skip the usual, jaded drivel, and have some actual, realistic speculation on some of the changes and features that should be included on the new R1 for 2011.
As sick as I am of hearing about the new BMW S1000RR, it absolutely must be included in any discussion of new 2011 models from the Big 3 Japanese OEMs.
This new Beemer has absolutely blazed a new trail in several facets of Superbike performance - most notably in power, as it absolutely annihilates everything else in the dyno room...at least in top-end power (I'm sure the R1 beats it in low-end, and there's no question that the CBR hammers it in the midrange, and up to around 11K RPM).
And then there are the electronics. While the BMW wasn't the first sportbike to offer traction control (the 1198S comes to mind), it has so far been the first to offer it at a relatively affordable price point.
I have also heard rave reviews of the S1000's handling. A friend of mine who owns one, and who happens to be a member of this Forum, has compared the handling of the bike to the current-model R6. On our recent trip to the Smoky Mountains, he remarked that he much prefers the handling of the Beemer to his previous street bike, a 2007 GSX-R1000 - a bike widely acknowledged to be one of the best-handling machines in its class.
So, how will the Japanese factories, specifically Yamaha, answer the new BMW?
I think most of you would agree with me that the current R1 is a bit long in the tooth when you place it side by side with the (arguably) 2 class leaders, the Honda (oil burning issues aside) and the new BMW. The R1 is a very impressive and unique machine, and has, in my opinion, the best throttle response, and connection between the rider's right wrist and rear tire, of any of the current literbikes, and possibly of any production motorcycle ever built. But it also lags behind the competition in several key areas:
- Power: It's down at least 10 HP (top-end) on practically every other literbike
- Weight: While it can be tough to pin down the actual dry and wet weights of a motorcycle if you don't have a scale at your disposal, it's common knowledge that the '10 R1 is in the neighborhood of 480-485 lbs. fully-fueled and ready to ride. That's quite a bit heavier than my '07 model, which is around 460 lbs in stock configuration, and way heavier than the lightweight of the class, the Honda. (Incidentally, the '09 GSX-R can be brought down to pretty close to the Honda with the installation of an aftermarket exhaust.) Yamaha need to put the 2011 R1 on a serious diet. To be competitive, the R1 needs to be brought back down to the weight of the 07-08 model, at the very most. This would be a loss of at least 20 lbs, but that's what the new R1 is going to need in order to get competitive again.
- Handling: This might be a sub-category of weight, but when I rode the 2009 R1 on Deal's Gap last summer, I noticed that the steering was quite heavy in comparison to my '07. No doubt, part of this can be blamed on OEM Dunlop tires that had already been used and abused by our own Slomack, plus the fact that I did not have the opportunity to tune the suspension ride height or damping to my preferences. While initial turn-in was average, the motorcycle required a lot of effort at the inside bar to steer it down into a turn, and then required an inordinate amount of pressure at the inside bar to hold it at a static lean angle. All of this cannot be attributed to worn tires or suspension set-up. The bike just needs to be made more nimble. And there is no question that the bike is heavy when you sit it next to a current-gen Honda CBR1000RR or Ducati 1198. So, Yamaha possibly needs to address suspension geometry to quicken steering.
- Electronics: In order to get back to the top of its class, the 2011 R1 is going to need to come with Traction Control and ABS as standard equipment. With the traction advantage already provided by the uneven firing order, it would seem that adding a traction control system would be the next logical step...and with the sophistication of the current ECU, I would think that TC could be incorporated without too much trouble. The YCCT ride-by-wire system should also ease the incorporation of TC. It seems that everything is already in place for the inclusion of a TC system. As far as ABS, we are already more than 10 years into the 21st Century. Every new sportbike should have ABS on the option list.
So, in summary, these are the changes Yamaha needs to make to the 2011 R1 in order to put it back where it belongs...at the top of its class:
- At least 20 more HP. This is a conservative suggestion. Most dynos are placing the 09-10 R1 at around 145 RWHP, so a bump of 20 HP would still place it significantly below the class leader (the Beemer). However, together with a weight reduction, and other improvements, I believe it would make the R1 competitive again.
How could it be achieved? The obvious answer would be a substantial bump in compression ratio. At 12.7:1, the current R1 is "in the middle" when compared with the other literbikes. Modern construction and materials would easily support a fairly big bump in CR...say, to 13.1:1. This would also improve low-end and midrange. The second obvious answer would be more Revs. Again, modern technology would allow for a bump in RPM, as demonstrated by the BMW. Obviously, Yamaha would have to do some major lightening of engine internals to support this, especially with the uneven firing order.
- Minimum 20-lb. weight reduction. Not much to explain here...they just need to do it. Other OEMs (ahem, Honda) have proven it's possible.
- TC & ABS. Several companies are now offering TC & ABS as optional equipment...but it's my feeling that Yamaha should be the first to include these technologies as standard equipment, included in the sticker price. Granted, this sticker would be higher, but people would be willing to pay for it. I also think that Yamaha could get ahead by developing a proprietary version of traction control, whose function could be integrated with and complemented by the already brilliant function of the YCCT and uneven firing order of the crossplane crankshaft. The current-gen R1 already has the best throttle response in the business, and the addition of a good traction control system would make it a world-beater.
If Yamaha were to add the above features, and make the changes I suggest here, while keeping the price increase to an acceptable level, I believe it would put the R1 well on its way to being the dominant Superbike again.
Regardless, it will be very interesting to see, over the next few years, how the Japanese will answer the advances and gains in market shares now being achieved by the Euro OEMs.
I welcome the thoughts of R1-Forum members on this subject. Let's try to keep this a civil, informative, technical discussion.
There's at least one other thread about the 2011 R1...and it's pretty worthless, with most members chiming in with the usual, brilliant comments, such as "it will have 2 wheels" and "Yamaha will sell one in blue."
In this thread, let's skip the usual, jaded drivel, and have some actual, realistic speculation on some of the changes and features that should be included on the new R1 for 2011.
As sick as I am of hearing about the new BMW S1000RR, it absolutely must be included in any discussion of new 2011 models from the Big 3 Japanese OEMs.
This new Beemer has absolutely blazed a new trail in several facets of Superbike performance - most notably in power, as it absolutely annihilates everything else in the dyno room...at least in top-end power (I'm sure the R1 beats it in low-end, and there's no question that the CBR hammers it in the midrange, and up to around 11K RPM).
And then there are the electronics. While the BMW wasn't the first sportbike to offer traction control (the 1198S comes to mind), it has so far been the first to offer it at a relatively affordable price point.
I have also heard rave reviews of the S1000's handling. A friend of mine who owns one, and who happens to be a member of this Forum, has compared the handling of the bike to the current-model R6. On our recent trip to the Smoky Mountains, he remarked that he much prefers the handling of the Beemer to his previous street bike, a 2007 GSX-R1000 - a bike widely acknowledged to be one of the best-handling machines in its class.
So, how will the Japanese factories, specifically Yamaha, answer the new BMW?
I think most of you would agree with me that the current R1 is a bit long in the tooth when you place it side by side with the (arguably) 2 class leaders, the Honda (oil burning issues aside) and the new BMW. The R1 is a very impressive and unique machine, and has, in my opinion, the best throttle response, and connection between the rider's right wrist and rear tire, of any of the current literbikes, and possibly of any production motorcycle ever built. But it also lags behind the competition in several key areas:
- Power: It's down at least 10 HP (top-end) on practically every other literbike
- Weight: While it can be tough to pin down the actual dry and wet weights of a motorcycle if you don't have a scale at your disposal, it's common knowledge that the '10 R1 is in the neighborhood of 480-485 lbs. fully-fueled and ready to ride. That's quite a bit heavier than my '07 model, which is around 460 lbs in stock configuration, and way heavier than the lightweight of the class, the Honda. (Incidentally, the '09 GSX-R can be brought down to pretty close to the Honda with the installation of an aftermarket exhaust.) Yamaha need to put the 2011 R1 on a serious diet. To be competitive, the R1 needs to be brought back down to the weight of the 07-08 model, at the very most. This would be a loss of at least 20 lbs, but that's what the new R1 is going to need in order to get competitive again.
- Handling: This might be a sub-category of weight, but when I rode the 2009 R1 on Deal's Gap last summer, I noticed that the steering was quite heavy in comparison to my '07. No doubt, part of this can be blamed on OEM Dunlop tires that had already been used and abused by our own Slomack, plus the fact that I did not have the opportunity to tune the suspension ride height or damping to my preferences. While initial turn-in was average, the motorcycle required a lot of effort at the inside bar to steer it down into a turn, and then required an inordinate amount of pressure at the inside bar to hold it at a static lean angle. All of this cannot be attributed to worn tires or suspension set-up. The bike just needs to be made more nimble. And there is no question that the bike is heavy when you sit it next to a current-gen Honda CBR1000RR or Ducati 1198. So, Yamaha possibly needs to address suspension geometry to quicken steering.
- Electronics: In order to get back to the top of its class, the 2011 R1 is going to need to come with Traction Control and ABS as standard equipment. With the traction advantage already provided by the uneven firing order, it would seem that adding a traction control system would be the next logical step...and with the sophistication of the current ECU, I would think that TC could be incorporated without too much trouble. The YCCT ride-by-wire system should also ease the incorporation of TC. It seems that everything is already in place for the inclusion of a TC system. As far as ABS, we are already more than 10 years into the 21st Century. Every new sportbike should have ABS on the option list.
So, in summary, these are the changes Yamaha needs to make to the 2011 R1 in order to put it back where it belongs...at the top of its class:
- At least 20 more HP. This is a conservative suggestion. Most dynos are placing the 09-10 R1 at around 145 RWHP, so a bump of 20 HP would still place it significantly below the class leader (the Beemer). However, together with a weight reduction, and other improvements, I believe it would make the R1 competitive again.
How could it be achieved? The obvious answer would be a substantial bump in compression ratio. At 12.7:1, the current R1 is "in the middle" when compared with the other literbikes. Modern construction and materials would easily support a fairly big bump in CR...say, to 13.1:1. This would also improve low-end and midrange. The second obvious answer would be more Revs. Again, modern technology would allow for a bump in RPM, as demonstrated by the BMW. Obviously, Yamaha would have to do some major lightening of engine internals to support this, especially with the uneven firing order.
- Minimum 20-lb. weight reduction. Not much to explain here...they just need to do it. Other OEMs (ahem, Honda) have proven it's possible.
- TC & ABS. Several companies are now offering TC & ABS as optional equipment...but it's my feeling that Yamaha should be the first to include these technologies as standard equipment, included in the sticker price. Granted, this sticker would be higher, but people would be willing to pay for it. I also think that Yamaha could get ahead by developing a proprietary version of traction control, whose function could be integrated with and complemented by the already brilliant function of the YCCT and uneven firing order of the crossplane crankshaft. The current-gen R1 already has the best throttle response in the business, and the addition of a good traction control system would make it a world-beater.
If Yamaha were to add the above features, and make the changes I suggest here, while keeping the price increase to an acceptable level, I believe it would put the R1 well on its way to being the dominant Superbike again.
Regardless, it will be very interesting to see, over the next few years, how the Japanese will answer the advances and gains in market shares now being achieved by the Euro OEMs.
I welcome the thoughts of R1-Forum members on this subject. Let's try to keep this a civil, informative, technical discussion.
