Sporty – Test Yamaha R1 and R1M 2015: with or without M, we love! – Yamaha’s comeback in Superbike

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Yamaha R1 and R1M 2015 test: with or without M, we like !

Sporty - Test Yamaha R1 and R1M 2015: with or without M, we love! - Yamaha's comeback in Superbike

Yamaha’s brand new sports bike is currently landing in French dealerships. But it was on the other side of the world, in Australia, that Site discovered the 2015 Iwata Superbike, in its two versions R1 and R1M.. On track !

Yamaha’s comeback in Superbike

Remember the first Yamaha YZF-R1: 150 horsepower for 177 kg dry, a compact size and an incredible face. By introducing this formidable Superbike in 1998, the Iwata firm plunged sports motorcycles into the third millennium … two years ahead !

R1 and R1M 2015: availability, colors and prices

  • YZF-R1:
  • Availability: immediate in the

  • Colors: blue "Race Blu" or red "Racing"

  • Price: € 18,499
  • YZF-R1M:

    • Availability: all sold in France (a little over 100)

    • Colors: Carbon "Silver Blu"

    • Price: € 22,999

      • Switched to electronic injection in 2002 (with a gain of 2 horses by the way), renewed and recognizable by its double pot under the saddle in 2004 (172 hp according to the manufacturer’s sheet), equipped with 4-valves, Variable intake, ride-by-wire and anti-slip clutch in 2007 (180 hp), the R1 stood out again from the rest of the production by integrating the Crossplane timing of the M1.

      Video test of the new Yamaha R1
      In addition to this first full test of the new Yamaha YZF-R1 and R1M 2015, also discover our !

      But the successive arrivals on the market – and on the circuits – of more agile, more powerful and / or more sophisticated motorcycles (, and, in particular) did harm to the YZF-R1 … The Blues had to react !

      While in 2012 Yamaha presented us in Valencia its "new" R1, a simple evolution of the 2009 model equipped with a new traction control (read our), the engineers who remained at Iwata were secretly laying the foundations for their next Superbike, that that would allow them to come back to the fore !

      "The creation of this brand new motorcycle took us three years"Leon Oosterhof, Yamaha Supersport Product Manager, told Site."Our reference model was our prototype then engaged in MotoGP: the M1 of 2012".

      The famous n ° 46 also contributed to the development of the R1 2015, while the n ° 99 remained much more distant … "Valentino may have been gone two years (at Ducati in 2011 and 2012, NDLR), he was the one who validated the Crossplane setting during the 2003-2004 offseason", tries to justify our interlocutor without evoking the character much more" bankable "of the Italian vis-a-vis his Spanish teammate…

      Yamaha would not therefore have forgotten that it is thanks to Rossi – to Burgess and his men – that the M1 ended up achieving its objective, its "Mission 1": to win the title in the premier class of the Moto Grand Prix. Who better than Vale could help the Japanese manufacturer to produce the best Superbike? ?

      Finally, the good care provided by "The Doctor" – a little – and the Japanese engineers – above all! – seem to have borne fruit. On paper, while the R1 last year showed rather modest characteristics for a Superbike (182 horses for 206 kg), the 2015 version is much sharper. !

      Starting off, so to speak, from a blank sheet (read our Technical point on page 4), the Blues deliver this year a sports car whose "CP4" develops 200 horsepower without the forced air intake and whose full weight is limit to 199 kg.

      Only the maximum torque value is less good: 112.4 Nm at 11,500 rpm on the new generation R1 against 115.5 Nm from 10,000 rpm on the old one. The trackers, however, who represent the heart of the target of this machine approved for the road but intended for the track, will hardly complain..

      In order for their bike to rise to the top of the Superbike hierarchy once again, Hideki Fujiwara (Project Leader) and his team also worked a lot on electronics, which has become a key factor in designing a – very – good sports bike..

      "The use of electronic control systems derived from MotoGP materializes a significant advance in the design of Superbike machines", considers Yamaha before certifying that"the new YZF-R1 also stands out from its competitors for this reason".

      Ride-by-wire (YCCT), variable admission (YCCI), engine maps (PWR), traction control (TCS), departure assistance system (LCS), quickshift (QCS): the acronyms change from one manufacturer to the other, but the principles are well known to "sport" bikers. However, it must be recognized that the R1 is differentiated by certain points.

      "Equipped with the first inertial sensor (IMU, Inertial Measurement Unit) on six axes never seen on a production motorcycle, the R1 ushers in a new digital era", insist the Japanese (note in passing that this instrument placed under the buttocks of the pilot and on the battery must not be moved under any circumstances, otherwise it will be inoperative!).

      The patented anti-drift system in particular (nicknamed SCS for Slide Control System) is intended to be more efficient than its own TCS – although the latter now takes into account the angle of the motorcycle – and any other on-board system on its rivals. Not content with preventing highsides, it would allow the pilot to slide gently from behind…

      Likewise, anti-abrasion (LIF) is intended to be finer in the management of wheelies during re-acceleration. If this turns out to be correct, the Yamaha would have a valuable asset against some competition machines that are sometimes brutal in their interventions..

      "For the first time, everyone can benefit from technologies previously reserved for factory riders, such as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo riding their YZR-M1", summarizes the manufacturer … who went even a little further !

      In terms of braking in fact, the R1 innovates by incorporating an integral ABS which automatically couples the rear brake to the front brake and moderates the power of the only rear brake on a curve, in order to avoid "lowsides" this time. If the already benefited from an ABS-UBS, this is a first for a sports Yamaha.

      Likewise, on the special R1M version (read our), the Kayaba suspensions of the "short" R1 give way to an Ohlins "ERS" (Electronic Racing Suspension) set whose hydraulics are controlled electronically, fully automatically. or manual, at the pilot’s choice.

      Banned in WSBK in the Superbike category, this configuration is authorized in Superstock 1000: we can’t wait to see what our compatriots Florian Marino (Team MRS) and Jeremy Guarnoni (Team Trasimeno) will achieve on their R1Ms this season (read).

      To see the R1 challenge its competitors at the highest level – in SBK, therefore -, it will take a short year. In front of it, Alexandre Kowalski explains in fact that Yamaha did not want to rush his – big! – back to Superbike.

      Commercially, however, the R1 is throwing itself into the competition this month. The fight promises to be intense because sales volumes in the hypersport niche are extremely low in France, and other tempting novelties are landing at the same time at the competition (Aprilia, BMW, Ducati)…

      At first glance, however, it appears that the Yamaha has a master advantage: its boils! The R1 is indeed the only "Superbike" on the market to take the features of the prototype of its brand entered in Grand Prix. And even if its more open fairing or its openwork backsplash differs from the M1, it’s hard not to fall in love….

      Particularly vicious clever, the Blues have also set up the box of the factory team of MotoGP – that of Rossi and Lorenzo! – in the pits of the Eastern Creek circuit in Australia, where the world presentation of this new Yamaha takes place.

      Two copies (one R1 and one R1M) are on display, surrounded by desks on which stand the most beautiful pieces of this 2015 novelty: the "CP4" of course, but also the fully polished tank, the large air box, the magnificent Kayaba fork, tiny LED lights, extremely light aluminum hardware, even lighter magnesium oil pan, etc..

      The site may dig in every nook and cranny, something is missing … Or rather someone: "sorry Mr. Yamaha, but your developer "Valentino" is not here? No ? Too bad, we would have liked to ask him a few questions about the R1 and ask him for some advice on the trajectories to follow…."

      It was therefore without Rossi – but with the Yamaha test riders – that Site took to the track. To allow us to glimpse the potential of its new sports car, Yamaha has scheduled five 20-minute sessions on the Australian circuit (4.5 km of happiness!). A little tour of R1, anyone? In the saddle !

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