The new YZF R1 from Yamaha proves to be a real handful in the wet and twitchy in the dry and does little to convince Tom Robertthat sports bikes are useable everyday vehicles
I HAVE, of late, taken to wondering about the point of sports bikes. I mean, is there really any sense in having in your garage a machine like the R1, which can get from nought to 60mph in under three seconds, go on to 104mph in first gear and keep going on until it runs out of steam at 185mph? No is the sensible answer, but then sense has nothing to do with it, any more than it has to do with owning a Kawasaki ZX-10, a Honda Fireblade or a Suzuki Hayabusa or GSXR-1000.
All of these cost about the same as the R1, and all of them have a top speed which is similarly irrelevant in two ways.
One, because you can't use it anywhere short of the autobahn, and secondly because bikes like this aren't actually about illegal speeds, but rather how they ride at legal speeds.
In other words, what is important is how they get away from traffic lights, how they go around corners and how they stop before you hit a tree.
This is what Suzuki and Yamaha applied themselves to a few years back: creating fast but manageable bikes that would thrill the pants off you without placing you in a shroud.
The jury's still out for me on whether Kawasaki have also managed this with the twitchy ZX-10, and after a couple of days with the Yamaha R1, it's right there with the Kawasaki in the "Whoa there, careful boy!" category.
Mind you, it wasn't helped by the fact that the first day of riding was in steady rain. With a suspension similar to Fred Flintstone's "bouldermobile" and a wheelbase which didn't seem much longer than its little brother the R6, riding the R1 hard in the wet was like dancing with an epileptic ballerina. The front wheel dithered in slow corners and sought out every tramline while the back end did a passable imitation of the "sidewalk" from The Rocky Horror Show.
Right, that's my entry in the mixed metaphor of the year award sorted out. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to lie down in a darkened room for a while.
The good news is that the next day, as I got used to the bike in the dry, it was a whole different kettle of ball games.
It was still twitchy but much more manageable this time, with a clean, sweet power curve from idle, building beautifully to loads of mid-range oomph from about 5,000revs, accompanied by an exhaust note like a squadron of annoyed wasps.
At the end of the two days, as I got off the R1, stretched my aching back and shook out my wrists, would I buy one of these over a Fireblade or a Suzuki?
Afraid not, for I never felt that it had the forgiving nature of the Honda, and I never felt the natural affinity which Suzuki have built into both the GSX and the Hayabusa.
Having said that,if you're wired to the moon and like your excitement on the edge all the time, this bike has your name written all over it.
FACTFILE - YZF R1
Engine:998cc, four-cylinder four-stroke with four valves; 186bhp at 12,500rpm, 87lb ft of torque at 10,000rpm
Transmission:six-speed gearbox, chain final drive
Top speed:185mph
Dry weight:177kg
Price:€15,350
For your nearest dealer, contact Danfay Ltd www.yamaha-motor.ie
Test bike supplied by Charles Hurst, Belfast www.charleshurstgroup.co.uk