wow very cool, nice freaking find.

 

Oh my god those bikes are gorgeous. I wish I could get the shorty Akras

 

Pretty cool to see this because there is also great read in SportRider on Josh Hayes champ R1.

Couple snipets of interest. The cans on the bike are that short for... weight? crazy. Huge focus on getting the bike lean. Apparently the R1 is hard to get down to the 370lb minimum. No more marchesinis, now OZ 17" Magnesium wheels specially treated to prevent wheelspin. Hayes rides with zero electronics. He couldnt get the bike sorted, to many variables. Just mapping and torque delivery the focus now and he won like that:bow

 

Good right up in same issue on the WSBK r1, they test drove it and the power sounds fvcking awesome, 221 hp, lofting the front through all the gears, awesomeness. Good issue, lot of Yamaha stuff in it.

 

:thumbup

 

I had a good talk with former AFM #1 rider who raced the 09 model. The WBSK model actually dealt with the issues he was talking about. The main being making it longer and raising the steering head up. Amazing how similar fast people talk about the same issues on the 09+ models. He's racing BMW this year. How can you argue against 200 HP?

 

Nice find :fact

 

Very cool comparison.

 

Its like the WSBK spec bike is totally different.

Seems like Rossi's comments that the WSBK are almost prototype bikes is true..

 

longer tail looks way better

 

:fact

 

The WSBK one looks better.

 

Wsbk looks better. Weird that yamahas top two rr programs wsbk and gp dont have outside sponsership this year

 

Swing Arm

That rear swing arm is totally Different and Beefy.

 

I can always count on you to find cool, informative stuff like this! Thanks for sharing!

 

Page 70 is the reference to the Aprilia hp. No mention in the Crutchlow write up of hp.

 

From what I can see is a bike that has been radically changed and modified from the off the floor model. Says to me that our beloved R1 wasnt designed that well, atleast chassis wise.
That woulde have to explain the fairly radical difference in the two bikes? right?

 

Once the novelty of the Cross Plane Motor fades the bike really starts to fail in comparison to the previous model. :fact

Just my 2 cents. :thumbup

 

Might be the case!

 

i regret ever having bought the 09 :fact

I regret getting rid of the 07 even more. :fact Especially now with things the way they are. :fact

 

Wow Brian that says something coming from you. Both of your bikes were really nice.

 

not gonna get into a debate. not worth it. :no

If you enjoy yours then that is great. :thumbup

I prefer the 07-08 :thumbup

 

not gonna get into a debate. not worth it. :no

Indeed. Not looking to argue. Just trying to get a more complete version of the story so I can better understand the source. I love mine (and really after the mods I've done I had better), but honestly I kind of think I might have gotten more of a kick out of a Ducati Superbike. Hard to say as I've never ridden one. What I do know is the 09 for me is the easiest streetbike to ride fast. BMW would probably also be up there, but it's hard to say where because its top end you really have to work to get to. It's an absolute joy on the track, but in the real world it has to be ridden more like a 600 than a literbike. My next bike purchase will be determined by where I spend time riding, as I intend to track the R1 this season.

 

Each design variant of the R1's is pretty different IMO. I garaged a friends 05 and it made it easy to keep mine. The handled so different and the lumps had way different character.

All years are good.