Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128313
Given an opportunity to ride the bike both at Eastern Creek and on the road , in conditions ranging from stop-and-go traffic in the Sydney suburbs to twisty mountain roads high above Woolongong, it was easy to establish that the RI's powerplant works well in both extremes. On the track, the bike nat-out rips with enough torque to run second gear through the tight stuff instead of the first gear that de Vries recommended. And it's powerful enough that despite the length of the Eastern Creek front straight , it still had something left in it when it was time to downshift one gear for the high-speed turn one . Get the thing to 8000 rpm and from there onward the feeling is intense, the front wheel getting light and making you glad that Yamaha opted to put a steering damper on this RI fo r the first time. On the street, the Rl 's engine again showed its stuff. and cruising at Austra lian highway speeds of 100 kmph (62 mph) proved to be a lesson in patience and selfcontrol. Cru ising through the small towns along our tour route at the prescribed 60 kmph (37 mph ) was next to impossible. If you even made eye contact with the throttle, you were in danger of getting "done up" by the local law enforcement in the land of the speed camera. Still.even at low speeds. throttle pickup on the R I was smooth and precise w ith nary a hiccup. Ditto, naturally, for the racetrack at higher rpms midcorner. One thing that separates the RI from its competition is the rather unique exhaust note that comes from the new under-seat exhaust system . With its four-piece titanium exhaust system (four into one into two) des igned to give off a distinct sound (w hile also aiding ground clearance and aerodynamics). Yamaha moved the catalyzer from the muffler section to the midsection (before the split to the mufflers). Again. get it up in the high-rpm range and it sounds like a jet taxiing. Cool stuff. Although the new pipes look and sound better than before, there is a negative to the new routing: Riding the bike on the street while wearing jeans was akin to sitting on a sand dune in the Sahara desert wearing noth ing but your tighty-whities. Ouch! Admittedly. we did our riding on a very hot summer day in Australia. but still... Perhaps it will be a nice feature for a wintry day, but when it comes to summer hot , hot , hot . Other than wearing four SPECIFICATIONS 2004 Yamaha YZF-R I LIST PRICE D ISPLACEMENT ENGINE TYPE $10,699 998cc Liquld-cocled , in-line four-cylinder BORE x STROKE 77 x 53.6mm COMPRESSION RATIO 12.4:1 CARBURETION ......EFI w/servo-driven secondary butterflies IGN ITION Digital TCI TRANSMISSION Six-speed START ING SYSTEM Electric FUEL CAPACITY ..4.76 gal. WHEELBASE 54.9 in. RAKE{TRAIL 24°/97mm SEAT HEIGHT 32.9 in. FRONT TIRE 120/70-17 REAR TIRE 190/50-17 FRONT SUSPENSION Fully adjustable 43mm inverted Kayaba FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL..........4.72 in. REAR SUSPENSION ..Fully adjustable SOQI piggyba shock ck REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL 5.12 in. FRONT BRAKE........Duai 320mm discs. w/twin four piston calipers REAR BRAKE 220 disc wlsingle pisto n caliper FINAL DRIVE CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 14 MARCH 3, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary Chain 379 Ibs.