Some of you are asking more photoes and information from my 2001 R1 engine head work...I have already sent some photos and stories earlier...Please find the whole story published in Finnish motorcycle magazine on spring 2002 once more: I am sorry because of my poor translation....
YAMAHA YZFR1 2001 FINISHING WORK
Past four years – as long as Yamaha YZFR1 has been on the market – there have been written a lot from this motorcycle. Mainly those articles have been written from the introduction of the bike or test runs and comparisons with competitors. All the YZFR1 owners are interested from the engine improvements and this time we show how you can get the engine power up over GSXR 1000 level quite easily.
When I took the new YZFR1 motorcycle to my use on spring 2001, it took some while to get used to it’s big power. All the articles from the overpowered and poorly handling motorcycle turned out to be wrong. The motorcycle indeed is - by reasonably driving - very well under driver’s control. You can adjust the steering geometry to razor sharp, even tough, but with suspension and steering geometry factory settings the motorcycle encourage your confidence on the road. My opinion is that there is no need to install steering damper on the road. On the racetrack with extremely conditions the situation may be different especially after adjusting the steering geometry.
After the press test drive Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle on spring 2001,I got an idea to rise my YZFR1 motorcycle power up to same level or even a little bit higher. The clue for engine tuning work was still to keep the strong bottom power and suitability to normal road use but get a strong boost to middle and high end. Already from the beginning it was very clear that in this tuning work it is better to use the professional tuning company help only. By that way you can avoid wrong component choosing and you can be sure that machining will be done from the correct engine pieces only. By using real professionals you can be also sure that the power goes up, not only the noise. Near my neighborhood (in Finland) located professional race motorcycle tuning company, Siukola Motorsport OY. I decided to use their years of experience in this project.
I got the suggestion for mild professional engine tuning work. The cylinder head will be ported and the valves reshaped. Combustion chambers will be also reshaped and the compression ratio will be slightly higher in tuned engine. New camshaft timing as well as new dynojet needles for carburetors will be needed. Also the standard air filter will be changed to more easily aspirate one (BMC). The best advantage from the engine work will be achieved by using new and better exhaust system. The whole work will be finalized by dyno-run trying to find the whole potential available. In other words the question is only from the original engine parts reshaping and retiming in a way that the “hidden and available power” will be searched out. The standard engine has been assembled by using certain tolerances taking account the serial production requirements. The choosing of the new exhaust system was the question we discussed a lot. One over others is Yoshimura Tri-Oval limited edition 4-1 (hand made in Japan). This is full exhaust system, not only slip-on. This hand made limited edition Tri-Oval system is different than Yoshimura USA made. By using this system it is possible to keep the bottom power in spite of the fact that EXUP valve will be removed. The only disadvantage is it’s very high price and difficult availability. The importer in Finland had got only five (5) Tri-Oval exhaust pipes during spring 2001 to YZFR1 motorcycles from Yoshimura Japan. Three were already sold and two were still remaining. I did not wondered any more, I wanted it. This exhaust system material is very thin stainless steel and we saved around 2 kg weight if compared to STD exhaust system.
Finally the work begins:
Before tuning work we made comparable dyno-run (STD bike). The dynamometer gave us luckily from the rear wheel the figure 140 hp. It seems that this one is even a little bit better bike than average. Normally the average YZFR1 back wheel power in this dynamometer has been around 135 hp. I heard also that normally 2k models have given around 5 hp more than 1998 and 1999 models is spite of the fact that the Yamaha factory has informed that the power is equal (150 hp).
YAMAHA YZFR1 2001 FINISHING WORK
Past four years – as long as Yamaha YZFR1 has been on the market – there have been written a lot from this motorcycle. Mainly those articles have been written from the introduction of the bike or test runs and comparisons with competitors. All the YZFR1 owners are interested from the engine improvements and this time we show how you can get the engine power up over GSXR 1000 level quite easily.
When I took the new YZFR1 motorcycle to my use on spring 2001, it took some while to get used to it’s big power. All the articles from the overpowered and poorly handling motorcycle turned out to be wrong. The motorcycle indeed is - by reasonably driving - very well under driver’s control. You can adjust the steering geometry to razor sharp, even tough, but with suspension and steering geometry factory settings the motorcycle encourage your confidence on the road. My opinion is that there is no need to install steering damper on the road. On the racetrack with extremely conditions the situation may be different especially after adjusting the steering geometry.
After the press test drive Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle on spring 2001,I got an idea to rise my YZFR1 motorcycle power up to same level or even a little bit higher. The clue for engine tuning work was still to keep the strong bottom power and suitability to normal road use but get a strong boost to middle and high end. Already from the beginning it was very clear that in this tuning work it is better to use the professional tuning company help only. By that way you can avoid wrong component choosing and you can be sure that machining will be done from the correct engine pieces only. By using real professionals you can be also sure that the power goes up, not only the noise. Near my neighborhood (in Finland) located professional race motorcycle tuning company, Siukola Motorsport OY. I decided to use their years of experience in this project.
I got the suggestion for mild professional engine tuning work. The cylinder head will be ported and the valves reshaped. Combustion chambers will be also reshaped and the compression ratio will be slightly higher in tuned engine. New camshaft timing as well as new dynojet needles for carburetors will be needed. Also the standard air filter will be changed to more easily aspirate one (BMC). The best advantage from the engine work will be achieved by using new and better exhaust system. The whole work will be finalized by dyno-run trying to find the whole potential available. In other words the question is only from the original engine parts reshaping and retiming in a way that the “hidden and available power” will be searched out. The standard engine has been assembled by using certain tolerances taking account the serial production requirements. The choosing of the new exhaust system was the question we discussed a lot. One over others is Yoshimura Tri-Oval limited edition 4-1 (hand made in Japan). This is full exhaust system, not only slip-on. This hand made limited edition Tri-Oval system is different than Yoshimura USA made. By using this system it is possible to keep the bottom power in spite of the fact that EXUP valve will be removed. The only disadvantage is it’s very high price and difficult availability. The importer in Finland had got only five (5) Tri-Oval exhaust pipes during spring 2001 to YZFR1 motorcycles from Yoshimura Japan. Three were already sold and two were still remaining. I did not wondered any more, I wanted it. This exhaust system material is very thin stainless steel and we saved around 2 kg weight if compared to STD exhaust system.
Finally the work begins:
Before tuning work we made comparable dyno-run (STD bike). The dynamometer gave us luckily from the rear wheel the figure 140 hp. It seems that this one is even a little bit better bike than average. Normally the average YZFR1 back wheel power in this dynamometer has been around 135 hp. I heard also that normally 2k models have given around 5 hp more than 1998 and 1999 models is spite of the fact that the Yamaha factory has informed that the power is equal (150 hp).
