FIRST RIDE
Cruising at 125 mp h with the tac h
need le stuck on the 8000- rev ma rk is
so mething the RI will do all da y, with
power in hand if you need to qui cken
the pace to pass a car before it pulIs out
on you. You can work the gea rbox to
make things happen mo re quickly, and
with just a 600-rp m difference between
fifth and sixth gea r, this is a worthwhile
move - the top four rati o s a re quite
close , with a bigger gap to the bottom
two. The gearshift is clean and precise at
speed - the direct linkage obtained by
having it pa ss s tra ig h t throu gh th e
lowe r frame spar is typical of the attention to detail on this bike - with clu tchless upward shifts a matter of course.
But at slower speeds, the gearbox is really clunky, a nd the bottom three gears
always feel notchy. Yamaha is aware of
the problem and is tryi ng to correct it,
but it 's not so bad that it seriously
impi nges on you r riding pleasure. It just
needs work .
Ano ther thing that Yamaha need s to
do is to fit a steering dam per - bu t the
Rl doesn 't hav e o ne , says Miw a,
beca us e of U.S. p roduc t-liability concerns. If this sounds like a bit of COTp
