FEATURE
EVOLUTION OF THE YAMAHA YZF-R1
P80
how aggressive it looked. The
new, super angular bodywork was
viciously beautiful with the slanted
nose peak housing's new four-
beam projector headlights.
The bum was
just as nice
as the face,
with the
all-new un-
derseat exhaust
system sticking out
the back and creating
one of the most recognizable
features on the market at the time.
It was indeed a pretty thing.
It seems inconceivable then
that after such a gigantic over-
haul, this edition of the YZF-R1
didn't go on to become a total
commercial success.
Amazingly, it just didn't
grab people like the new
CBR1000RR or the ZX-10R and
fell a bit flat in the sales charts.
It didn't get any better for Ya-
maha in 2005 either, as Suzuki
brought out what was arguably
their finest GSX-R1000 of all time
in the legendary K5. Only graph-
ics and colors were updated for
2005, but for 2006 the YZF-R1
got a 20mm longer swingarm, the
"THAT DEEP, THROATY, LUSTY ROAR
FROM THE TOTALLY REVAMPED
998CC INLINE FOUR THAT WAS SO
FAR REMOVED FROM THE SCREAMER
FIRING ORDER IT MAY AS WELL HAVE
COME FROM MARS."
