Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

YAMAHA YZF-R J and YZF-R J LE 2006 The LE come. with forgecl-aluminum Man:he.lnl wheel•• introduced 18 months ago - isn't as efficient as it could be, though, since its intakes are quite far from the optimum high-pressure central location favored by, say, the Kawasaki ZX-IOR But the unchanged styling package does offer a riding position that, thanks to the shape of the tank and airbox, still feels notably slim and compact - not much bigger than its 600cc Super-,;port R6 sister, if not quite as small-seeming as a ZX-I OR. You do still feel snuggled within the Yamaha rather than perched atop it, with lots of weight on your shoulder-,; and forearms yet with a relatively spacious riding position that lets you tuck back behind the screen and pull your knees well in for maximum speed down the long Catalunya front straight. I regularly saw 170-plus mph on the digital speedo before sitting up and squeezing the adjustable brake lever to stop hard for the second-gear, tumone chicane. The only downside to the riding position is still the heat from the exhaust, which thanks to the catalyst being mounted toward the rear of the system, between your legs still makes it unlikely anyone would relish riding the RI in jeans. Interestingly, the catalytiC 4-1-2 titanium exhaust (well, except for the stainless-steel section around the EXUP box positioned directly under the sump, incorporating a titanium butterfly valve) running up behind the engine and bifurcating into twin tiwrapped under-seat silencer-,;, is still only Euro 2-friendly - like its rivals in the sportbike sector, Yamaha has another year to figure out how to meet the more stringent 2007 Euro 3 nonms without sacrificing too much perfonmance. The RI dash is dominated as before by a large central analogue tach, which is very readable, as is the digital speedo on its left, incorporating a clock, while the bright shifter light on the right can be reset to suit your preference, and the multifunction dash readout is quite complete and easily scrolled through. A new addition for this year is a lap timer incorporated in the trip reading above the shifter light, which you operate on the go by pressing the starter button. Very neat. Aided by the deep indentation in the Yamaha's fuel tank/airbox shroud, there's The cIa.h I••Imllar to Ia.t year's R1 clash except for the addition of a lap-timer function. surprisingly reasonable protection from the wind and rain via the dramatically restyled, predatory-looking fairing, which, with the addition of large running lights in the end corner-,;, has the same ultradistinctive slant-eyed Six-light "face" immediately recognizable as a member of the R-model family. Alongside the curiously muted color-,; chosen for the new bike - red/silver and blue/black combos, and an EnZed-worthy all-black - Yamaha has Wisely marked its 50th birthday by also offering the new RI clothed in its most famous race color-,; ever, the Yamaha USA-inspired yellow-and-black livery that Kenny Roberts (Senior, not Junior!) took to a hat trick of 500cc World tides in 1978 through 1980. Reviving this at all was Yamaha USA:s idea, by way of marking the Japanese marque's half-eentury celebrations stateside, but it's perhaps an indication of the underlying rivalry between Yamaha's operations on both sides of the water (think MT-O I!) that Yamaha Europe originally decided not to offer the KR color scheme on the new RI until public reaction to the appearance of Rossi and Edwards at laguna Seca on their M I racer-,; painted this way forced them to hurriedly think again! Or perhaps those marketing executives in Amsterdam are all just too young to have been around at the time! Anyway, post-laguna, you will indeed be able to buy both stock RI and LE alike all around the world in what is obliquely termed by Yamaha the Inter-Color, but which the rest of us might as well end up calling the Roberts-replica paint scheme. Meanwhile, the YZF-R I LE base color is a more subdued dark blue tint entitled Gun Smoke, with matching anodized exhausts and a touch of gold about the lettering and various components. ReVVing the engine to 13,500 rpm in the gear-,; down the long front straight produced literaily eye-popping midrange pickup as Ifelt the Ram-air kicking in above 10,000 rpm or so. I can't honesdy say I noticed any difference in engine perfonmance compared to the previous model, and probably that three extra hor-,;epower is only available right at the very top end - but the RI engine pulls strong 42 OaOBER 5, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS and hard practically off idle, yet has an undeniable appetite for revs. You're eager to fulfill this not only in order to buy a ticket to the RI's impressive top-end speed, but also for a concert performance from the emotivesounding air-intake roar, which really cements the impression of going fast (you are!), as well as delivering to bystander-,; the lovely-sounding howl from the twin silencer-,;. But what came over strongly in riding the RI in the wet was the surprisingly torquey nature of the engine, and its flexible power delivery, thanks to the revised mapping and the effective EXUP valve. Pickup from a closed throttle is a model of smoothness compared to some other fuel-injected bikes, in contrast with which there are no irritating jerks or hesitations, just a liqUid-smooth, clean, precise throttle response. This made riding the RI much easier in the rain, where the balanced riding stance and quite widespread 'bars also help with maneuverability and correcting slides. And while this is not really something you'd normally notice on a racetrack, the very stable mirrors look okay and are well-pOSitioned by sportbike standards. While not quite as small and 600cc Super-,;port-sized as the ZX-IOR, the RI is agile and easy-steering by Superbike standards, yet with a great sense of control - plus it feels balanced and predictable, especially on a slippery track. The new, longer swingarm hooked up just fine in my single dry session, even though there's now less weight on the rear wheel than before. And that's before you sample the brakes, which are still as brilliant as when I fir-,;t tried them 18 months ago. The one-piece Sumitomo caliper-,; prOvide fantastic stopping power in the dry - just the kind we've come to expect from Brembo radial setups, but with a more sensitive, less fierce initial lever response than the Italian brakes. So, you can just finger the Sumitomos lightly to cram off a little speed for a fast, sweeping tum, then squeeze hard for a balls-out stop at the end of the Catalunya back straight or beyond the pits for tum one, all with a great sense of stability and control. The RI's great brakes contribute mightily to the sense of confidence you get from riding this bike hard, aided on the LE by the slipper clutch, which I really, really liked. On the LE, you can stay on the power harder longer than with a conventional clutch, where rear-wheel chatter is always a danger if you try to use too much engine braking without having the idle speed cranked up way high. Then you can stand on those sexy Sumitomo stopper-,; while you downshift through the gear-,; bam-bam-bam-bam, twostroke-style, to your chosen ratio. Then let the clutch out and resume normal service, all without a trace of chatter, but still with just a hint of engine braking. I tell you, the new YZF-RI LE is going to be very hard to beat in Supemock next year, with the added benefit of that slipper clutch and the Ohlins suspension on top of the great package the stocker already represents. But, while I could indeed feel the extra compliance of the rear Ohlins in my dry session on the LE, I had a lot of feedback from the stock Kayaba forks in the wet, where it really counts. Probably the big advantage of the costlier Swedish front end is the fine-tuned adjustment you can obtain in setup with it - but the Kayabas felt pretty good for box-stock forks. Those Pirellis represent benchmark current street-tire performance, and the Yamaha allowed this to be demonstrated to the full on each lap, cresting the slightly offcamber rise leaning over to the right, leading on to the Catalunya back straight. Cranked right over hard on in third gear, or even short-shifting to fourth at 10-12,000 rpm as the flexible engine will gladly let you do, cresting the rise with the power on and the front wheel light even on street tires had the 'bar-,; snapping once quite abruptly in my hands every lap, before the Seqi steering damper (fitted as standard) took over and did its job by resuming normal service. Ithink it's an important factor that, with the engine sitting low in the bike, and with the frame rails running over rather than around it, the RI's center of gravity is also quite low, which improves stability under acceleration or braking because of less pronounced weight transfer, as well as making it easier to flick from side to side in a tight chicane, like tums one and two at Barcelona. This is a seriously good motorcycle - certainy the best four-cylinder Japanese sportbike I've yet ridden - and it's sure to be a major force in Super-,;tock racing on both sides of the pond in the coming year. Yamaha USA confirms that it does indeed meet AMA Supemock requirements, and it's hard to see how Yamaha Deutschland's current domination of European Super-,;tock is going to be overtumed in the coming year. This isn't just an Evo RI compared to before - the new LE is the Special One, and its companion standard bike's improved, too. Happy birthday, Yamaha: It looks like Shimamoto-san and his team gave you probable cause for continued eN celebration after the party's over'

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