Yamaha Yzf-R1
YAMAHA YZF-R1
NEW METAL 2015
THE REVOLUTION
Yamaha breaks out an all-new YZF-Ri and special-edition RIM. Awesome electronics and 200 hp put European OEs on notice.
KEVIN CAMERON
Times have been hard for motorcycle manufacturers and, up until recently, new models scarce. Now it's time to begin again, and Yamaha is doing it in a big way with a revolutionary new YZF-R1 and limited-production YZF-R1M. The first wave of motorcycle electronics came from Europe, but the second wave—this Yamaha with its MotoGP-inspired suite of lean-angle-sensing Traction Control, Wheelie Control, ABS plus linked braking, and Slide Control—is profoundly greater.
The first wave brought us Band-Aids for specific problems, but Yamaha has centralized all capabilities by placing a “six-axis” Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU) on both of these models. The IMU, which would fit on your palm, contains gyros to measure rotations around all three axes (roll, pitch, and yaw) and accelerometers to measure rate of speed change along each axis. This is the technology of an ICBM’s inertial guidance, miniaturized and made affordable. In our own inner ears we have similar functions, which is why we can close our eyes in the shower and not lose our balance.
With the IMU’s measurements, the bike’s ECU knows the bike’s angle of lean, knows if it is pitching nose down or nose up and exactly how fast, and knows almost instantly (recalculating 125 times per second) if the back of the bike is swinging out from too joyful a throttle movement. Knowing the lean angle adjusts the multilevel traction control for the reduction in available tire
grip caused by cornering. Nose-up pitch signals “wheelie in progress,” and the system smoothly controls it through throttle by wire.
“Yamaha can sell this whole motorcycle, with these systems on it, for less than the AMA’s electronics price cap,” Yamaha Racing Manager Keith McCarty said. The AMA had set an $18,000 cap on roadrace electronics, but the MSRP for this Ri is $16,490. This has been the story of digital systems; expensive to develop
initially, they become almost ridiculously cheap once produced in quantity. Think of phones and computers.
Remember this: The closer a manned system approaches its limits, the more human capabilities stand out as the limiting factor. As in combat aircraft, the more details that are handled by electronics, the better the human operator can get on with higher decision-making.
I asked Yamaha Product Planning Director Derek Brooks how it feels to ride a machine with such an integrated control system:
“Most surprising to me is that this bike is smaller, lighter, and more powerful (than the previous model), but the systems are almost transparent,” Brooks said. “There’s no feeling of anything strange happening. You’re riding a very controllable motorcycle.”
Engine and chassis are new. The 998CC inline-four, a four-valve engine with a 79.0 x 50.9mm bore and stroke, retains the “crossplane” (crankpins at 90 degrees to each other instead of the traditional
180) crankshaft that the Ri inherited from the Mi MotoGP engine. Short-skirted “ashtray” pistons can be this light and thin because they are cooled by oil jets. Compression ratio is a torque-boosting 13.0:1, made possible by the accurate dimensional control of CNC-machined combustion chambers. Valve actuation has been switched from bucket tappets to lighter, Fi-like finger followers. Power goes to the six-speed gearbox via an “assist slipper” clutch, which, in addition to smoothing corner entry, uses engine torque to increase plate-clamping
THE NUMBERS
YAMAHA YZF-R1/R1M
Base price: $16,490/$21,990
Claimed wet weight: 439 lb./443 lb.
Wheelbase: 55.3 in.
Claimed horsepower: 200 hp
Claimed torque: N/A
Rake/Trail: 24074.0 in.
force during acceleration. Claimed output is “approximately 200 hp.”
In a first for the industry, Yamaha has developed fracture-split titanium connecting rods. Titanium can be alloyed to equal the strength of high-tensile steels but has only six-tenths of the density of steel. That translates into reduced bearing loads, a bit less friction loss, and faster throttle response. The fact that Yamaha invested the R&D to produce such rods in quantity tells us this bike is not a homologation special. It is the future.
An all-new Deltabox chassis gives a 10mm shorter 55.3-inch wheelbase for quicker chassis response. Titanium headers and an under-engine titanium muffler canister save weight, as do magnesium wheels. To make room for the canister, the aluminum swingarm is top-braced.
Fully adjustable KYB suspension—a 43mm fork and bottom-link-pivot shockgive 4.7 inches of wheel travel. The front brake uses twin 320mm discs with Nissin four-piston radial-mount calipers. Quoted wet weight of 439 pounds includes 4.5 gallons of fuel, which is about 27 pounds. The aluminum tank saves 3.5 pounds over previous steel parts.
Yamaha tells us the new Ri’s style comes from the Mi MotoGP bike. I like it because it is a welcome change from 10 years of “supersonic” points and edges.
Four-time AMA Pro SuperBike Champion Josh Hayes played a collaborative role with nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi in the development of Yamaha’s latest Open-class sportbike. Hayes rode it both in Japan and in the US. What did he think of the bike?
“There was no negative to putting grippy tires on the machine,” Hayes said. “On the previous bike, if you just bolted grippy tires on it, without anything to accompany that change, you could create some pretty big headaches for yourself.”
And the RiM?
“For a trackday enthusiast who also commutes on his motorcycle, you couldn’t come up with something better,” Hayes added. “To be able to push a button and instantly stiffen the suspension and give it more of a racetrack feel is pretty awesome. I was impressed.”
Most impressive to us is that this new Ri exists as a regular-production motorcycle, unlike the prototype Honda RC213V-S, and is priced well under the $25,000 Kawasaki H2 and the $20,995 Ducati 1299 Panigale.
The second wave of high-performance motorcycle electronics has begun, and Yamaha is leading the way.
YAMAHA YZF-R1M
ANALYZE YOUR RIDE ON YOUR SMARTPHONE; MAKE SUSPENSION CHANGES WITH THE APP
Yamaha’s revolution is also available as the R1M, with a suite of premium features (and carbonfiber bodywork) to interest the rider who can afford to indulge his or her taste for something more.
For about a third more, the buyerfinds Öhlins Electronic Racing Suspension, carbon-fiber bodywork, and a Communication Control Unit (CCU) with CPS that enables the rider to capture ride data and then download it via Wi-Fi to the Yamaha Y-TRAC smartphone and tablet app. Once the data is downloaded, the rider can analyze it overlaid with the track map. Setting changes can then be made via the Yamaha YRC app and upload those changes back to the R1M.
So there you are, diving into meat and potatoes at someplace rather good, when glancing at yourtablet you realize how you can save two-tenths in turn four. Moments later, meal still pleasantly warm, you have made the necessary changes and take up knife and fork once more.
Life is indeed good.
Seriously, folks, once you put things like the IMU and CPS on a bike, any system you can imagine becomes not only possible but inevitable at some future time. Just this process took place in MotoCP: Code writers saw that with CPS, the bike knows which turn is next, so they could preset theTC.thewheelie control, the suspension, the engine responseany of it-for each corner individually. They could write in suspension changes as the fuel load decreased. We could...
The only thing keeping this MotoCP level of control from happening on the R1M is more computer code in the ECU.
We dreamed of this for decades. It is at hand. -KC
KAWASAKI H2R VS. H2
CAN WE ALREADY BE A LITTLE UNDERWHELMED BY KAWASAKI'S POTENT H2 STREETBIKE?
MARK HOYER
There's some good news follow ing the full release of specs for the supercharged new Kawasaki Ninjas: The HhRtrackbike remains the fire-spitting, glowing hot 300-horse no-holds-barred monster we showed you in our December issue, even though its
$50,000 price tag means most of us will never throw a leg over one.
But our shoulders slumped a bit when we saw that the H2 streetbike tipped the scales at a claimed 525 pounds wet and that its output had dropped into the “200 hp” range.
Insiders have said the actual output is higher than stated, which is essential for the success of this model. Crushing horsepower and a supercharger really are the H2’S key selling points; other machines have all the electronics (or more), plus you can get a steel trellis frame and a single-sided swingarm elsewhere (cough, Ducati, cough) for less money.
But face it: Building an “extreme” motorcycle for the street forces a manufacturer to make concessions not only to emissions and sound regulations but also potential liability, which doesn’t seem to be the case with cars.
That is, it seems a little discriminatory that in a world where people don’t blink at 250-mph production cars with 1,000 hp, a motorcycle manufacturer feels compelled to limit streetbike top speed to 186 mph and get cagey when claiming more than 200 hp. Let’s set ourselves free!
Sermon over: We’re happy to report
THE NUMBERS
KAWASAKI H2/H2R
Base price: $25,000/$50,000
Claimed wet weight: 525 lb./476 lb.
Wheelbase: 57.3 in.
Claimed horsepower: 200 hp!300 hp
Claimed torque: N/A
Rake/Trail: 24.4/4.0 in.
that the only changes to the reduced-power H2 engine are camshafts, head gasket, clutch, and a street-legal exhaust. So a little software hacking and an aftermarket silencer ought to pump things up to more astronomical levels. Anybody out there in ECU land able to hit CTRL-C on an HARbox and paste it to the HA’s?
Whether you will or won’t buy an HA or an H2R is now a moot point because online ordering ended December 19. But we sure enjoyed reading the fine print on the track-only H2R’S purchase page, which included a list of guidelines for potential H2R buyers to acknowledge before they could place deposits.
First and foremost was a firm reminder that the H2R is for closedcourse use only. But what if you own an H2 and simply want to buy the parts necessary to convert it to R spec? Denied! You need proof of H2R ownership (“product registration, VIN confirmation, etc.”) to buy spares. Further, “In addition to regular periodic maintenance, service inspections are required every 15 hours of engine operation above 8,000 rpm.” And, finally, there’s no warranty.
Nevertheless, we have seen nearly all the new 2015 models, and the H2/H2R Kawasaki very much remains in a class of one. But we’ve got a free trackday and dragstrip rental for the first owner who presents us with a hacked H2.
We’re serious.
MOTOGP REFUGEE
HONDA FINALLY DELIVERS A MOTOGP-INSPIRED V-4 STREETBIKE. WELL, NOT QUITE...
If you wondered why Honda raced inline-fours in World Superbike and V-4s in MotoGP, wonder no more. A high-technology V-4 streetbike prototype based on the championshipwinning RC213V MotoGP racerwas revealed at the EICMA show in Milan. This new machine, known as RC213V-S, might also be the basis of a future World Superbike entry. No technical information was provided, but two examples were shown.
Honda’s work with V-4s dates back to the daring but unsuccessful NR500 oval-piston GP project of 1977-’81.
Prior to that, all Honda GP engines had been inline four-strokes, and championship-winning fours had carried the Honda name to world prominence. Yet engineers were dissatisfied with the inline-four because it consists of two 180-degree twins set end to end. Each such twin wobbles vigorously about its center, applying a bending moment that flexes and mayintime crack the crankcase and cause cylinder base-gasket leakage.
The NR500 was built as a V-4, its crankcase and two cylinder blocks forming a compact, box-like structure that maximally centralized engine mass. If a 90-degree cylinder angle were chosen, the right and left cylinder pairs of such an engine could be self-balancing in the same way as Ducati’s 90-degree V-twins. NR500 failed to win
a single GP point but did conceptually fatherthe long line of Interceptor/VFR V-4s, which culminated in the World Superbike-winning RC30 and RC45. Although for some time Honda’s V-5 and later V-4 MotoGP engine architecture was compared unfavorably with the inherently more mass-forward inline concept favored by Yamaha, Honda has made the V-4 dominant in MotoGP in 2011-’14. Hard to argue with success!
Just a year ago, Honda revealed its MotoGP production racer, the RCV1000R. With its fabulous fit and finish, that machine was hailed at the time as a likely basis for a pricey, exclusive “racer replica” to be sold to the same upmarket buyers who in 2006 inhaled the 1,500 Desmosedicis offered for public sale at $72,000 a copy. This is a natural response to the movement of disposable income up toward the tip of the economic pyramid. Because 1,500 times $72,000 equals $108 million, this is not a market anyone can ignore. Kawasaki’s supercharged H2R is another example of “upmarketing.”
It also makes sense for Honda to use the same basic R&D to cover MotoGP (with pneumatic cylinder heads), World Superbike (with metal valve springs), and a super-exclusive sports/ collector market, ratherthan developing and producing separate designs for each. Does this foretell a general Honda abandonment of the inline-four engine? We wait and see. -KC
DUCATI 1299 PANIGALE
MUCH BIGGER BOOMS FROM DUCATI'S NEW SUPERBIKE FLAGSH
BRUNO DePRATO
Biggest news here is that Ducati officially cracked the 200-hp mark. But before we get to this most extreme Superquadro engine ever, let’s start from the beginning.
When Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali was asked about the internal geometry of the Panigale 1199 engine—with specific reference to the rod length
of 110.1mm in relation to its 60.8mm stroke—he affirmed that he wanted the Panigale to be as compact and well balanced as possible. When I heard a larger-displacement Panigale was in the works, with the extra cubes coming from increased stroke (the bore already was a record-setting 112mm), I wondered if Domenicali was ready to compromise
with even shorter rods to compensate for the extra stroke.
Ah, dead wrong! Domenicali went for an even bigger bore: 116mm! Together with an unaltered stroke of 60.8mm, that makes for an actual displacement of I,285CC. That’s the way, Claudio. Well done! A 116mm bore is Chevrolet Big Block territory, reminiscent of those Reynolds Aluminum V-8s that powered the legendary McLaren Can-Am racers of the 1970s. That memory alone makes my blood churn.
The new Panigale 1299 sets fresh standards in the superbike fraternity, with a claimed 205 hp at 10,500 rpm and a ter-
THE NUMBERS
DUCATI 1299 PANIGALE/S
Base price: $19, 295/$24,995
Claimed dry weight: 367 lb.
Wheelbase: 56.6 in.
Claimed horsepower: 205hp@ 10,500 rpm
Claimed torque: 106.7 lb-ft. @ 8,750 rpm
Rake/Trail: 24.0/3.8 in.
riñe 106.7 poundfeet of torque at 8,750 rpm. Simply put, there is nothing like that on two wheels, with the possible exception of the new supercharged special from Japan. Valve size is the same as that used in the 1199: 46.8mm titanium intakes, 38.2mm steel exhausts. By keeping the same valve and port size of the 1199, Ducati engineers
have created a more flexible and torquey powerplant. The higher speed of the intake charge helps disprove the old notion that extremely oversquare engines must have poor torque curves.
For more agile steering response, Ducati has given the Panigale 1299 24 degrees of steering rake, which is a half-degree less than the 1199. Trail is consequently down from 100 to 96mm. Even more meaningful: The swingarm pivot has been lowered 4mm, for better geometry to the front sprocket and superior traction. Also, as before, there are two versions, standard and an S
The Panigale in its original 1,198cc displacement remains only as a race versionthe Panigale R. This machine, with technical solutions extracted from the limitededition 1199 Superleggera, features titanium valves and connecting rods, plus an ultracompact crankshaft is a polished piece that features tungsten inserts for perfect balance. The claimed dry weight of this race Panigale R is now a svelte 357 pounds.
model. The former is fitted with an inverted 50mm Marzocchi fork, a gas-charged unit made of aluminum. The S bumps up the hardware quotient with full LED headlights and Öhlins electronically managed semi-active suspension featuring an inverted 43mm fork. Brakes on both bikes are by Brembo, with M50 calipers acting upon a pair of 330mm front discs. To tame all that power and torque, the electronics suite of these 1299 Panigales is among the most complete in production today.
APRILIA RSV4 PR
The extensively revised R5V4 RR superbike has received minor chassis changes and an extensively redone 65-degree V-4 making a claimed 201 hp. APRC rider aids are among the best on the market. R5V4 RF “Race Pack” special edition (pictured) gets special paint, an Öhlins fork and shock, plus forged aluminum wheels.
BMW S1000RR
The reigning superbike king got major changes in 2015 that resulted in lower weight, a more agile chassis, and a claimed 197 hp. We rode one in Spain (January issue) and came away impressed and convinced that it will take a lot to unseat this bike from the performa nee-per-dollar throne.
APRILIA TUONO V41100
One of our favorite nakeds gets punched out to 1,070cc for a claimed 175 hp. RR standard and upgraded Factory versions will be available, both with Aprilia’s APRC rider-aid package. Will the 405-pound (dry) Tuono unseat the KTM 1290 Super Duke R as our favorite Open-Class Streetbike?
