2020 YAMAHA YZF -R1 & YZF -R1M
R I D E R E V I E W
P94
I
had fun riding the base model R1,
and while I was impressed with it, af-
ter lunch, I got on the YZF-R1M. Within
three corners, I could tell this was a
real weapon of a machine.
The YZF-R1M is a much more pur-
pose-built bike. It feels like a race bike.
When I got on the brakes hard, I im-
mediately felt that it had more stopping
power, and when it got a little loose
on the brakes, it still felt extraordinarily
controllable and confidence-inspiring.
The R1M settled into the corners better
than the standard model, the suspen-
sion action was far superior to the
YZF-R1, and the slick Bridgestone tires
fitted to the test bike just topped the
whole package off.
When I got off the track after the
first session, I was beaming, giving
the system to manual mode,
which has its own set of preset
or manually-entered modes for
suspension performance.
The brakes get a smaller ABS
pump (see electronics), new
pads and the linked braking sys-
tem has been removed, so now
when you hit the front brakes,
you won't engage the rear. You
must do that manually now.
Electronics
The base model R1 gets the
same six-axis IMU, 10-stage
lean-angle-sensitive traction
control, four-stage slide control,
four-stage, recalibrated wheelie
control, three-stage launch con-
trol, up and down quickshifter
with three different sensitivities,
four different power modes
and TFT instrument panel
as the R1M, but the higher-
spec version gets the elec-
This is the first production machine
to get the Ohlins ERS shock.
The carbon fiber gives the
R1M an alluring character,
however, for the price, it would
be nice to see the bike come
with adjustable rearsets.
