Beware the new R1

Thought I'd share my thoughts of the new R1. I'm curious to here from anyone
else that owns one.

Traded my '02 R1 in on one of the new ones a couple of months ago and I'm
starting to regret it. Don't get me wrong it's an improvement in some areas:
stability, handling and the looks to finally top the 916 for honours. I have
no doubt tht thing would be awsome on the track, haven't had the opportunity
yet, but as a road bike it sucks! The old one was much more fun to ride.

First gear is way too high - good for around 170 to 180kph combined with a
reduction in bottom end power and serious detonation problem below 5thou
means a little old lady on her 1963 Vespa is going to give you a serious run
for your money at your favourite traffic light drag strip! This thought has
been echoed buy the one '04 R1 rider I have met up with on the road. I could
go on and on about how rediculous first gear is but to paint a bit of a
picture imagine this:- 'returning from a run up the Putty Rd through
Windsor'. A very steep hill up to a roundabout with lots of weekend traffic
in front of me. Trying to creep along behind the cars (start - stop) was
impossible. Due to the incline/gearing/pinging/lack-of-bottom-end a serious
amount of revs was required to prevent from stalling but with such high
gearing you couldn't even come close to feeding the clutch out so it was an
absurd mix of mega revs and furious clutch slipping, I felt like hoping off
and pushing!

It's definately more stable than the old one (she used to get a little
frisky coming out of tight bumpy turns) but I think thats mainly due to the
fact that you've got significantly less torque pulling you out of the
corner. Imagine a 45kph corner that you perhaps exit at around 90 to 100kph
in second gear (I assume typical for an experienced rider) and accelerate to
maybe 150 before slowing for the next corner. At exit the bikes pulling
7thou and nowhere near making serious steam, in fact to get anywhere near
maximum power you've gotta be doing around 180kph in second! A good example
of the difference in acceleration between the '02 and '04 both of roughly
the same weight is in 1st gear the '02 would lift begin lifting the front
wheel at around 5000 with half throttle, the new one with 2/3 throttle takes
till 8 - 9000 by which time your doing over 100kph and it's time to back
off.

After some heavy duty research on the net today I have found a product that
will recalibrate the speedo to compensate for a change of final drive ratio
(i.e. sprockets). I imagine a lot of you out there have re-geared your bikes
and now have a dodgy speedo (obviously excludes speedos drive from front
wheel) so go to www.yellr.com for a solution. Looking at a 10 to 20%
reduction to improve things so I'll be out there with a 17" back sprocket!

I've tried every top shelf fuel plus octane boosters to solve the pinging
problem but nothing has worked and whatever you do don't run it on standard
premium! Something I only learnt recently is there is a difference between
premium and Optimax/Synergy8000 etc (98RON) even if the premium (94RON)
comes from a brand name servo such as Mobil. With standard premium the thing
pings so badly taking off from the lights you have people in the surrounding
cars staring and thinking the bottom end has thrown in the towel (before
accelerating past you!) and you'll be checking the conditionds of your
warranty (In my experience something Yamaha has never had much interest in).
Yamaha has been of no assistance what-so-ever offering only "that it is a
characteristic of the bike" and is now officially off my Christamas card
list. I suspect the ignition curve could be remapped (i.e. retard the bottom
1/3) to solve it but that would require a smarter man than me to resolve.
I'm not sure if a Dynajet Power Commander does ignition mapping but even if
it did I'm reluctant to spend $1000 to solve a design problem. I even test
road a demo bike to ensure it wasn't just mine - but no difference.

Anyone considering buying one of these bikes is welcome to contact me to
discuss further. Personally I would recommend the GSXR1000 as a far better
road bike proposition. My not be as stylish but in my opinion far better to
ride and at $17500 on road with Yoshimura pipe and free suzuki jacket is a
bargain. (R1 is $20300 on road) Come to think of it I may have to visit my
local Suzuki dealer.

NA

Anyone wanna swap an '04R1 for a '03R1?

 

Easy answer. ZX10R.

--
Cheers
Dave (Mojo67)
FZR600 >> ZX6R >> ??? Brisbane
http://users.bigpond.net.au/mojo67/mojo67.htm
I used to never be able to finish anything but now I

 

Nah, but I'll swap you an '87 CBR1000F and an '89 GPX600R for it. ;-)


BTH
It's two for one! How can you refuse? ;-)

 

Thats why Ducati moved the goal post with the *996*

A recent test had the Ducati beating the R1,BUT the R1 was a whole bunch
cheaper and Valentino said they are ok )

CDIHL

 

Doesn't the 10R have the same 'long first gear' arrangement? I seem to
remember reading that somewhere while I was trying to decide between the 10R
and the ZZR1200 that I finally bought (I'm *very* glad I chose a 'road' bike
and not a 'track' bike).

MrBonk
www.mrbonk.com

 

I understand the gearing is similar but the power distribution is
different which makes it no problem.
See <http://www.motorcycledaily.com/08july04_1000comparo.htm>
ty

 

Sorry to hear your tale of woe I've ridden the new 04' FireBlade and
ZX10R - both were an absolute hoot (the 'Blade at Eastern Ck, the '10 on
the road). As much fun as they were neither were even vaguely suitable
replacements for my '02 ZX9R.

The '9 is a SPORTS-tourer and I'm glad I went for something with some
real-world rideability. It's not as quick as my mates' Blades/R1s/Gixxers
on the track, but I can hold my own up McQuarrie Pass or Kangaroo Valley.

I spend 99.9% of my time on the road (as do most riders I think) - it's
strange that all/most these new litre-class sports bikes really only shine
on the track, the rest of the time...well you already know about that.
Sure you get a ZX10/FireBlade/R1/Gixxer you have bragging rights....but so
what? I'd rather have a bike you can ride day in, day out, without needing
a standing appointment with the chiropractor!

Just out of interest, did you test-ride the '04 R1 before handing over the
$$$? If you did, where did you take it - a lap around the block?

James
ZZR250==>ZX9R

 

aaaahh the dangers of getting the latest and greatest

seriously what does the 04 r1 do that that 02 model couldnt

i think the 03 looks better than the 04 anyhow, while nice, it looks very
bizzy and under pipes are so very cliched

imho

 

sounds like a good reason to change the jetting (don't believe those who
say you need to split the cases)

 

Anyone wanna swap an '04R1 for a '03R1?

Don't got an '03R1 to swap, but you can take your pick of '88 GPX250, '90
ZX10, '87 GPZ1000RX, and '80 Z1R-II. None of them have any problems with
to-tall first gears.

I'd tell you how good they are at wheelies if I was any good at pulling
them.

 

Well, that settles it then. '04 R1s for everyone!

 

Sure you get a ZX10/FireBlade/R1/Gixxer you have bragging rights....but so

And those bragging rights aren't going to mean much to the guy who just
carved you up on a real-world road on a slightly less razor-edged bike.

 

First gear is way too high - good for around 170 to 180kph combined with a reduction in bottom end power and serious detonation problem below 5thou

Its not designed for the road dude.. its a track bike with lights.

 

Yamaha have been a bit slack in getting out the Valentino-replicas, they
should be milking it every ounce

CDIHL

 

I was actually refering to the styling not the performance and while the 996
is a very nice bike it's still wearing a 1994 costume!

As far as recent tests go; have you seen the 999? I don't care how good it
is there's no way I'm going to be seen on an abortion like that! If it was
any uglier we'd be calling it a VFR800

NA
(with tongue in cheek)

 

I had been shopping around for a while but no R1 demos were available due to
demand so I waited. Impatience finally got the better of me and I signed up
while browsing one Saturday at a local dealer who shall remain nameless for
the time (oh how I could tear shreds out of those people!). Same old story
"no demos would be available for some time due to demand" so I took the
plunge safe in the knowledge it 'should' be an improvement over the old one
and signed up. Went to pick the bike up on the following Tuesday and
surprise surprise they now had a demo bike available! (from the same
delivery of bikes mind you)

 

I believe the 999 designer could have been the same guy who did the BMW 7
and 5 series? )

Yeah, not a thing of beauty but it does grow onya all the same

CDIHL

 

that that was fucking stupid!!!!

sorry.....you dissed the VFR....for that you can rot in hell

mh

 

apparently 180 in 1st, for starters...

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

Went to pick the bike up on the following Tuesday and surprise surprise they now had a demo bike available! (from the same delivery of bikes mind you)

So you test rode it first, then told them to shove it?