FEATURE
EVOLUTION OF THE YAMAHA YZF-R1
P76
THE YEAR IS 1998…
Miwa-san's greatest and most long-lasting ad-
vancement when creating the first YZF-R1 was
to mount the gearbox output shaft above the
crankshaft, rather than in a line as per common
wisdom. This created the world's first 'vertically-
stacked gearbox', ensuring an ultra-compact and
lightweight engine and setting the blueprint for
all other engineers to follow. The offshoot of this
meant the chassis and wheelbase dimensions
could be reduced while using a longer swingarm
to aid traction under acceleration. Miwa-san had
created a monster.
The cylinder head on the first YZF-R1 was noth-
ing flash. Miwa-san still used the five-valve head
so dear to Yamaha's heart, carburetors took care
of fueling as EFI was still four years away and no
ram air and electronics? Don't be stupid… This
was before the age of traction control, anti-wheel-
ie, ABS and whatever other anti thingy you can
put on a bike these days. The only traction control
available was your right hand.
The 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1 simply blew the
919cc CBR900RR into the past and it's no under-
statement to say this was the first superbike of the
The 1998 R1 was
designed to be
the ultimate "no
compromise"
road motorcycle.
(Below) The 2009
bodywork was
either love or
hate, but there
was no mistaking
the signature look
of this R1 on the
road or track.
