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/985130
VOL. 55 ISSUE 20 MAY 22, 2018 P111 I found the system to be more manageable on the least intervention, as levels two and three would throw the front down too hard at the first sign of a wheelie. Level one allows you to carry the front wheel more out of a corner and keep the gas wide open, which, when you're searching for tenths of a sec- ond, means everything. Switching over to the R1M, the first thing you notice at speed is the chassis turns at a more progressive rate thanks to the 200-section rear tire. The R1 runs a 190 on the rear and will turn in faster, but you don't get as much tire on the ground at full lean for when you wrench open the throttle. The 200 on the R1M gives the bike more stability when you're banked over, and works with the Ohlins system to give a more compliant ride at my pace than that of the KYB-equipped R1. Compared to the previous generation Ohlins Smart EC system that I preferred to use in manual mode at my home track of Sydney Motorsport Park, the Smart EC 2.0 system feels like it can't do any wrong for the speed I'm going at. I'm sure in the intervening years I've probably lost a sec- ond or so of piss and vinegar, and in that time the electronic suspension has taken a huge step forward. Pro racers will no doubt want to have convention- ally-operated suspension, but I find the Ohlins 2.0 to be such an advancement over the OG suspension that I could probably just leave it and go club racing with it. On base setting, the ride is too soft for hardcore track us- age, but get into the dash and jam everything right up—braking support, corner support, accel- eration support as well as front and rear stiffness—and the R1M becomes a revelation. Combine the Smart EC 2.0 with all the brilliant components of the Bosch Inertial Measure- ment Unit like eight-stage TC and three-stage Slide Control, and you have a bike that makes you feel like a king. You can push the R1M seriously hard and each time you do, provided you're not Cam- eron Beaubier or Garrett Gerloff, the bike just laughs at you, "Is that all you got, boy?" The R1M truly deserves all the acclaim it gets, especially when you consider the price of a touch under $23,000 is $10,000 cheaper than the mid-level Ducati Panigale V4S that comes with the same suspension, and $2000 cheaper than the Honda CBR1000RR SP2. But if the R1M is too much of a stretch, you can get 95 percent of what the M can offer you in the base R1, which retails for $16,690, and unless you actu- ally need the Ohlins suspension and the beautiful color scheme of the R1M, that's the one I'd be going for—mainly because I'm a tight-wad. Regardless, either R1 will make a marvelous addition to any garage. CN 2018 YAMAHA YZF-R1/YZF-R1M ($16,699 R1, $22,999 R1M) ENGINE: .................. Inline four-cylinder, DOHC, 16-valve, liquid-cooled DISPLACEMENT: ........................................999cc BORE X STROKE: ...........................73 x 50.9mm COMPRESSION RATIO: ...................................13:1 CLUTCH:...................................... Wet multi-plate TRANSMISSION: .....................................6-speed CHASSIS: ........................... Aluminum twin-spar FRONT SUSPENSION (R1): ........43mm Inverted KYB fork with adjustable compression and rebound damping, and spring preload. 4.7 inches travel. FRONT SUSPENSION (R1M): .....................43mm Ohlins Smart EC 2.0 electronic suspension, Objective Based Tuning Interface REAR SUSPENSION (R1): ........ KYB monoshock with adjustable rebound and compression damping and spring preload adjustment REAR SUSPENSION (R1M): .....Ohlins Smart EC 2.0 electronic suspension, Objective Based Tuning Interface FRONT WHEEL TRAVEL: ............................. 4.7 in. REAR WHEEL TRAVEL: ............................... 4.7 in. FRONT BRAKE: .................... 320mm dual semi- floating discs, radially mounted dual monob- loc 4-piston calipers, Unified Braking system, ABS as standard REAR BRAKE: ..... 220mm disc, dual-piston caliper, Unified Braking system, ABS as standard FRONT TIRE: ..120/70 ZR17 Bridgestone RS10 (Bridgestone R11 as tested) REAR TIRE (R1): ...... 190/55 ZR17 Bridgestone RS10 (Bridgestone R11 as tested) REAR TIRE (R1M): .. 200/55 ZR17 Bridgestone RS10 (Bridgestone R11 as tested) RAKE: ...............................................................24° WHEELBASE: ............................................55.3 in. SEAT HEIGHT: ...........................................33.7 in. FUEL CAPACITY: .....................................4.5 gal. WEIGHT (WET, CLAIMED): ..................... 441 lbs. COLOR: Raven/Team Yamaha Blue; Carbon Fiber/Liquid Metal (R1M) S P E C I F I C A T I O N S