B y B LA KE C O N N ER
PH OT OS CO URTESY OF Y AM A HA
(' i n c e the R1 was introduced in
'-.,)) 1998 , it has gone through a couple
of fairly significant updates . Every two
yea rs the company has do ne some thing to fres hen up its flags hi p sportb ike. In 20 00 the bike was restyled
completely; in 2002 th e bike received
fu el injection, a new cha ss i s an d
another fac elift in wh at we 'll ca ll th e
true second generation of th e bik e.
For 2004 the compa ny need ed to
make a huge leap forw ard inste ad of
j u st takin g another bab y st ep o f
progre ss . Th ere's n o d oubt ing that
the Suzuki GSX -R 1000 ha s b een a
thorn in Yam aha' s side. Th e Suzuki's
monst er motor , st ab le ch assi s, and
w inn in g ra c ing res um e, co m bi ne d
with a new iteration of the b ik e for
2003, h av e g iven t he oth er thre e
Japanese co m panies fi ts.
So for 2004 Yamaha has c o mpl et ely redesign ed th e R1 in wh at is
now the true third generation of th e
bik e. There is a lot m or e to the bik e
than just a resty le, li k e a complet ely
redesigned motor and chas sis, redu c ti on in weight , and m ore pow er t o
com pete with the Suzuki.
Cycle News will hav e the opportunity to ride the bik e in December , but
man , does that seem like a long way
off. So just like you , we have t o sit
aro und wondering what it' ll be like to
ride until then . But here is th e information we have so far.
eN
26
SEPTEMBER 17,2003'
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