-
Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
-
Latest Headlines: NASCAR
-
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
New Models
BIKES: 2012 Yamaha R1
Neale Bayly checks out the newest R1 from Yamaha.
As a new model for Yamaha, the 2012 R1 is actually not really all that new, but with the addition of traction control and some styling updates, it has certainly evolved. (Photo: Brian J. Nelson)
Pinned to the tank by the down forces, seeing the blinking yellow light flashing on the dashboard, and having the gentle feeling of someone holding me back slightly, I knew the traction control was working. At triple-digit speeds with my knee buried firmly on the track, it was an eye opening experience to think that, if it wasn’t for Yamaha’s new traction control system (TCS), my rear tire would be spinning at this moment. With the TCS set on level five of a possible six, I negotiated the next turn to a repeat performance as we exited and started the short run up to turn 15. Repeating this pattern for the rest of the session, I felt progressively more comfortable out on the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, where the abundance of sand in every direction hadn’t been instilling a lot of confidence up to this point in the level of grip available.
As a new model for Yamaha, the 2012 R1 is actually not really all that new, but with the addition of traction control and some styling updates, it has certainly evolved. As the liter bike with the biggest cult following in this country and the highest sales figures, the good news is the styling has not been radically changed and the new model is still all R1. Standing out from the other inline four-cylinder machines in this class with its crossplane crankshaft arrangement, it’s most certainly the laziest feeling four-cylinder superbike you’ll ride. Introducing this crankshaft arrangement in 2004 with the YZR-M1 that Valentino Rossi won his first world championship for Yamaha with, the crossplane crankshaft equipped M1 has gone on to win four more since. And, if you have been paying attention to this year’s MotoGP it’s doing very well against the potent combination of Honda and one Mr. Stoner.
This new crankshaft arrangement came to the public with the R1 in 2009, and since then we have seen Ben Spies win a World Superbike crown, and Josh Hayes take a couple of AMA Superbike championships, and he looks to be heading for his third. Watching Hayes exiting turn 10b at Road Atlanta a few weeks ago with Blake Young struggling to minimize the gap Hayes was pulling up the hill, you could see with your naked eye how effective the Yamaha design is at getting the power to the ground where it’s needed most.
When you first ride the new Yamaha R 1, it feels like a big bike, and it’s also deceptively fast. The slower-revving sound of the engine from the uneven firing interval doesn’t quite equate to the forward progress the motorcycle is making, much like the feeling you get riding a big Ducati twin. Yamaha’s take is that it makes it easier to accelerate earlier in the corner, and allows better traction control, and I see no argument here.
Out on the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, the first couple of sessions were about learning the track, getting re-acquainted with the R 1 and checking out the traction control. With years of staying in one piece from not opening the throttle too hard, once I started dialing the traction control down to level four or level three, I rarely saw the light go on, so I left it on level five the rest of the day. You can also turn it off if you so desire, but I’m not sure why you would want to. It was also interesting to see how hard it was to make the rear wheel spin when I tried to be more ham-fisted with the throttle, as the big Yamaha puts its power to the floor so smoothly. It didn’t hurt we were riding on super-sticky Michelin Power Ones either, as they stick like the proverbial snot to a blanket even with the amount of power the R1 is throwing at them.
By now we should all be familiar with Yamaha’s fly-by-wire throttle system, or YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) to be precise. First introduced on the R6 in 2006, we got to put it to the test on the fast, flowing Qatar MotoGP track and came away very impressed. It found its way onto the R1 a year later, and it seems only natural that Yamaha would go on to add traction control, even if they have waited a while. The YCC-T throttle action is actually the only area of complaint I have with the whole Yamaha package. Growing up with heavy, cable-operated throttles, the super-sensitive feeling is a little too touchy for my un-sensitive hand. The slightest bump, and there are a few at the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, can put movement in my throttle hand and upset the bike. This is most undesirable if you want to be on a neutral throttle and you find yourself accidentally accelerating or decelerating.
Plus, heading towards turn 5 where I wanted to roll off the throttle to set up for the turn, the bike would just fall flat on its face no matter how gently I tried to close the throttle. This was not something that made me comfortable when I was leaned over and putting a lot of trust in the front tire. So I found myself having to adjust my strategy to ride around it, and while it wasn’t a problem anywhere else on the track, the abruptness at that particular moment was certainly unsettling.
As with the previous R1, there are three drive modes you can choose from, but I always prefer the full power setting, so I left it there all day. Combining this with the seven positions of traction control, you have 21 choices to choose from before you hit the track. It actually sounds more complicated than it is. Just pick your drive mode, A, B or C, which range from full power to greatly reduced power for wet conditions, and then select your favorite level of intervention from the traction control and go out and ride. You can switch between levels of traction control once riding by closing the throttle and pulling in the clutch. You just have to be parked to turn it off completely. During our street portion of the ride, I dialed this back to B mode as the big Yamaha still has more than enough power for any situation you will encounter and this makes the ride more settled. Especially on the bumpy sections where the sensitive fly by wire can engage if you are un-sensitive like me. I also wished I had a pair of asbestos pants during our half day ride as the heat from the under-tail exhaust system is still fairly oppressive. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the silencers are more compact this year to tidy up the bike’s appearance, but they are not cooler.
The way the traction control works seems fairly straightforward; Sensors detect any disparity between the front and rear wheel rotational speed, caused either by rear wheel spin or the front wheel being off the floor in an extended wheelie. A new ECU is alerted and adjusts the YCC-T and both the ignition and fuel injection to ensure the motorcycle is still accelerating forward as hard as possible without spinning the wheel. The effects are very minimal when it is working, and it is more a light interruption than a disruption to the rider. The bike also doesn’t slam to the ground after it limits your wheelie. Exiting turn 3 in second gear, I spent my entire last session hamming it up for Mr. Nelson’s camera before floating the front wheel to terra firma once I was ready to brake for the next turn.
There are no changes to the 998cc engine, and only some fine-tuning to the chassis components. The twin-spar aluminum frame remains the same, while the rear Soqi gas-charged shock gets a new progressive spring. This is softer at the end of its travel for road use, while being stiffer at the beginning to help with traction. It is still adjustable in all the normal ways, and I found it a little too reactionary over the bumps as set up for our test, so slowed down the rebound to settle things down. Once adjusted it performed perfectly, and with the 43mm Soqi inverted fork behaving in the same way up front, I was able to concentrate on the business of turning fast laps.
Stopping power on the Yamaha is extremely powerful, thanks to a set of Sumitomo six-piston calipers clamping down on 310mm discs. They are never overwhelming though, with a nice transition from trail braking to full-power stopping, and as much speed as the R1 can generate down the straights, you are going to need all they can give. I’m not sure there is much difference from a conventional four-piston setup, but there is certainly no down side. One interesting thing to note is the forks now ride in a new triple clamp that looks as if it’s been sourced from a performance catalogue, or Ben Spies’ old World Superbike. Very trick.
Yamaha lists the dry weight of the R1 as 474 pounds, and in the tighter corners you certainly know you are on a heavier bike as it takes some muscle to turn. Wheelbase remains the same at 55.7 inches, as does fuel capacity, seat height, and the position of the handlebars and foot pegs. Prices start at $13,990 for the Team Yamaha blue-and-white or raven color scheme, $14,190 for the pearl-white and candy-red options, or $14,490 for the pearl-white and rapid-red version. This one happens to be my favorite, as it seems to make the bike stand out the most, and for a few hundred extra bucks would certainly be my choice.
Clearly Yamaha has taken an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach to the new 2012 Yamaha R 1, and just worked on improving an already solid platform with the addition of traction control as well as a few updated styling effects. With the power levels and performance capabilities of all superbikes being beyond most of us mere mortals these days, I applaud this step to limit development costs by basically continuing with an existing model, while making improvements from a safety and ride ability perspective. It’s still deceptively fast, and the most wicked intake roar of any liter bike made, and it’s lost none of its style or excitement factor along the way.
As a new model for Yamaha, the 2012 R1 is actually not really all that new, but with the addition of traction control and some styling updates, it has certainly evolved. As the liter bike with the biggest cult following in this country and the highest sales figures, the good news is the styling has not been radically changed and the new model is still all R1. Standing out from the other inline four-cylinder machines in this class with its crossplane crankshaft arrangement, it’s most certainly the laziest feeling four-cylinder superbike you’ll ride. Introducing this crankshaft arrangement in 2004 with the YZR-M1 that Valentino Rossi won his first world championship for Yamaha with, the crossplane crankshaft equipped M1 has gone on to win four more since. And, if you have been paying attention to this year’s MotoGP it’s doing very well against the potent combination of Honda and one Mr. Stoner.
This new crankshaft arrangement came to the public with the R1 in 2009, and since then we have seen Ben Spies win a World Superbike crown, and Josh Hayes take a couple of AMA Superbike championships, and he looks to be heading for his third. Watching Hayes exiting turn 10b at Road Atlanta a few weeks ago with Blake Young struggling to minimize the gap Hayes was pulling up the hill, you could see with your naked eye how effective the Yamaha design is at getting the power to the ground where it’s needed most.
When you first ride the new Yamaha R 1, it feels like a big bike, and it’s also deceptively fast. The slower-revving sound of the engine from the uneven firing interval doesn’t quite equate to the forward progress the motorcycle is making, much like the feeling you get riding a big Ducati twin. Yamaha’s take is that it makes it easier to accelerate earlier in the corner, and allows better traction control, and I see no argument here.
Out on the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, the first couple of sessions were about learning the track, getting re-acquainted with the R 1 and checking out the traction control. With years of staying in one piece from not opening the throttle too hard, once I started dialing the traction control down to level four or level three, I rarely saw the light go on, so I left it on level five the rest of the day. You can also turn it off if you so desire, but I’m not sure why you would want to. It was also interesting to see how hard it was to make the rear wheel spin when I tried to be more ham-fisted with the throttle, as the big Yamaha puts its power to the floor so smoothly. It didn’t hurt we were riding on super-sticky Michelin Power Ones either, as they stick like the proverbial snot to a blanket even with the amount of power the R1 is throwing at them.
By now we should all be familiar with Yamaha’s fly-by-wire throttle system, or YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) to be precise. First introduced on the R6 in 2006, we got to put it to the test on the fast, flowing Qatar MotoGP track and came away very impressed. It found its way onto the R1 a year later, and it seems only natural that Yamaha would go on to add traction control, even if they have waited a while. The YCC-T throttle action is actually the only area of complaint I have with the whole Yamaha package. Growing up with heavy, cable-operated throttles, the super-sensitive feeling is a little too touchy for my un-sensitive hand. The slightest bump, and there are a few at the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, can put movement in my throttle hand and upset the bike. This is most undesirable if you want to be on a neutral throttle and you find yourself accidentally accelerating or decelerating.
Plus, heading towards turn 5 where I wanted to roll off the throttle to set up for the turn, the bike would just fall flat on its face no matter how gently I tried to close the throttle. This was not something that made me comfortable when I was leaned over and putting a lot of trust in the front tire. So I found myself having to adjust my strategy to ride around it, and while it wasn’t a problem anywhere else on the track, the abruptness at that particular moment was certainly unsettling.
As with the previous R1, there are three drive modes you can choose from, but I always prefer the full power setting, so I left it there all day. Combining this with the seven positions of traction control, you have 21 choices to choose from before you hit the track. It actually sounds more complicated than it is. Just pick your drive mode, A, B or C, which range from full power to greatly reduced power for wet conditions, and then select your favorite level of intervention from the traction control and go out and ride. You can switch between levels of traction control once riding by closing the throttle and pulling in the clutch. You just have to be parked to turn it off completely. During our street portion of the ride, I dialed this back to B mode as the big Yamaha still has more than enough power for any situation you will encounter and this makes the ride more settled. Especially on the bumpy sections where the sensitive fly by wire can engage if you are un-sensitive like me. I also wished I had a pair of asbestos pants during our half day ride as the heat from the under-tail exhaust system is still fairly oppressive. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the silencers are more compact this year to tidy up the bike’s appearance, but they are not cooler.
The way the traction control works seems fairly straightforward; Sensors detect any disparity between the front and rear wheel rotational speed, caused either by rear wheel spin or the front wheel being off the floor in an extended wheelie. A new ECU is alerted and adjusts the YCC-T and both the ignition and fuel injection to ensure the motorcycle is still accelerating forward as hard as possible without spinning the wheel. The effects are very minimal when it is working, and it is more a light interruption than a disruption to the rider. The bike also doesn’t slam to the ground after it limits your wheelie. Exiting turn 3 in second gear, I spent my entire last session hamming it up for Mr. Nelson’s camera before floating the front wheel to terra firma once I was ready to brake for the next turn.
There are no changes to the 998cc engine, and only some fine-tuning to the chassis components. The twin-spar aluminum frame remains the same, while the rear Soqi gas-charged shock gets a new progressive spring. This is softer at the end of its travel for road use, while being stiffer at the beginning to help with traction. It is still adjustable in all the normal ways, and I found it a little too reactionary over the bumps as set up for our test, so slowed down the rebound to settle things down. Once adjusted it performed perfectly, and with the 43mm Soqi inverted fork behaving in the same way up front, I was able to concentrate on the business of turning fast laps.
Stopping power on the Yamaha is extremely powerful, thanks to a set of Sumitomo six-piston calipers clamping down on 310mm discs. They are never overwhelming though, with a nice transition from trail braking to full-power stopping, and as much speed as the R1 can generate down the straights, you are going to need all they can give. I’m not sure there is much difference from a conventional four-piston setup, but there is certainly no down side. One interesting thing to note is the forks now ride in a new triple clamp that looks as if it’s been sourced from a performance catalogue, or Ben Spies’ old World Superbike. Very trick.
Yamaha lists the dry weight of the R1 as 474 pounds, and in the tighter corners you certainly know you are on a heavier bike as it takes some muscle to turn. Wheelbase remains the same at 55.7 inches, as does fuel capacity, seat height, and the position of the handlebars and foot pegs. Prices start at $13,990 for the Team Yamaha blue-and-white or raven color scheme, $14,190 for the pearl-white and candy-red options, or $14,490 for the pearl-white and rapid-red version. This one happens to be my favorite, as it seems to make the bike stand out the most, and for a few hundred extra bucks would certainly be my choice.
Clearly Yamaha has taken an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach to the new 2012 Yamaha R 1, and just worked on improving an already solid platform with the addition of traction control as well as a few updated styling effects. With the power levels and performance capabilities of all superbikes being beyond most of us mere mortals these days, I applaud this step to limit development costs by basically continuing with an existing model, while making improvements from a safety and ride ability perspective. It’s still deceptively fast, and the most wicked intake roar of any liter bike made, and it’s lost none of its style or excitement factor along the way.
2014 Star Motorcycles Bolt
LATEST HEADLINES: MOTORCYCLING
-
BIKES: 2014 Star Motorcycles Bolt
Ken “Hawkeye” Glassman rides the brand new Star Motorycles… -
BIKES: Neale Bayly Rides Peru Tests Eclectic Group Of Willing Participants…
Final original series produced under SPEED™ banner premieres… -
GEARBAG: The ICE Device
For $10, they send you five small capsules, 10 data forms, an ICE… -
BIKES: AMA Go Ride! Month Wraps Up
AMA Go Ride! Month in April 2013 concludes today after a month-long… -
BIKES: 2013 Honda CB1100 First Ride
Check it out as MotoUSA gives Honda's concoction of old and new-school… -
BIKES: Kawasaki Videos Win Four Awards At NY Festivals
Two Kawasaki promotional videos have been recognized as being among… -
BIKES: Organizational Changes For MAG Media Group
MAG Media Group (MMG), a division of Motorsport Aftermarket Group,… - More News
