04/07/04 In keeping with a fine and long-established tradition, I gave myself an early birthday present. This year it's a 2004 Yamaha R1. I've decided that I like the Ducatis so much in the livingroom that I'll just keep them there as sculpture for a while. Also, since the Elise is going away (a separate story) I wanted to console myself somehow. Then there is a background agenda in that future versions of the dp1 will most likely be powered by the new R1 motor, so I thought I'd get some experience with it. The 'funny' part is that the R1 has nearly identical horsepower to the Elise! Of course it only weighs 379 lbs vs roughly 1,600 for the Elise, which in itself is no slouch. You'd expect such a machine to be a crazy, unmanageable beast (which with the throttle wide open I'm sure it is) but when ridden leisurely at part throttle, as required by the break-in procedure, it's amazingly docile. The handling is excellent and the suspension is firm without being jarring. The bike is light, agile and narrow between the knees. It inspires a confidence in a way similar to the 999 Ducati I test-rode a while back. In its first 7 miles on the way home from the dealer I already scrubbed the tires to within 1/4" of the edge, and that's just loafing along. Mirrors work, too. The engine does have a bit of the dreaded 4-cylinder tingle, especially at idle, but it's nowhere near as bad as the Hayabusa was and overall I think I can live with it.

This is the first Japanese bike whos styling I think is on par with the Italians. Of course some stickers and reflectors will have to come off and rear fender will get cleaned up. Also it needs smaller turn signals. All of that will happen in the next few days. There is a track day coming up in a couple of weeks, I'll have to see if they still have spots. Hopefully I'll get the break-in taken care of by then and the weather will cooperate. This should be a FUN track machine! The dash even has a built-in lap timer.

UPDATE: Just couldn't stay out of the garage... so minus reflectors, stickers and passenger pegs the R1 is already looking cleaner and meaner...

04/19/04 The day of turn signals. Got the new parts in so the R1 got some cosmetic changes. Looks much cleaner now (to me at least).

The pictures are so-so since it's late and I had to use whatever lighting is available in the garage. When it stops raining in a couple of days I'll roll the bike out and take some better ones.

While messing with turn signals couldn't resist updating the Ducatis as well. The 748 got clear lenses on its aftermarket front signals and the 900 got the original signals from the 748 to replace its rather clunky rear ones. Now I'm done tinkering for a while.

The Yamaha now has 169 miles on it and the tires are scrubbed all the way to the edge. What continues to amaze me about the bike is just how effortless everything is on it. Every time I'd go into a corner thinking it's a bit fast the bike would just shrug it off and I'd find myself playing with the line mid-turn just because I can. When using only half throttle and 6K RPM as I'm doing during the break-in period, the bike is completely docile and tractable. There's no hint of the beast within unless you accidentally twitch the throttle hand. Even a novice could ride it quite easily. The suspension is firm but very well controlled (I like it much better than the Honda and Aprilia setups I've tried and it's on par with the 999 Ducati). I also really like the sound. It's got just enough of an edge to it to let you know the bike is special but it's not too loud or obnoxious in any way. Just right. Yes, in case you can't tell, I'm very pleased with this machine :)

04/21/04 A pause in the rain inspired me to give the bike its first coat of wax and take a few gratuitous pictures. I'll wait for the roads to actually dry before I go riding...

Compare the effect of my cosmetic changes with the initial shot below. I'm happy with the results.