Anyone have one of the newer crossplane R1's? How are they? Love the sound of the engine, so I'm thinking of picking one up as a street bike, but I hear/read very mixed reviews.
i have one. what do you want to know? the motor feels great. the brakes are great. the front end sucks as a race bike. as a street bike it's awesome minus roasting your balls off. change the exhaust and put a slip-on/midpipe asap, get it flashed and enjoy it. i love mine even though it's a race bike now.
"Newer"? Did they come out with a new one in 2014? Or are you talking about the same one that came out in like 2009?
dude, his name says 748. that means everything is new to him! lol How is the traction control on that bike? have you ridden a duc 1198s or a new zx10r to compare?
Trackstar posted a vid of one getting dynod with an underslung gp style exhaust. That sound alone has had me wanting one. Mean.
sorry, talking about 2009 and up. I guess I'm trying to figure out how heavy it feels. I've read a few reviews where people complained about sluggish handling. I'm coming from an 1198, so I am used to slow-ish steering.
i can tell you that it works well, the ride home was in the rain with a tire covered in chain grease (the bike was brand new with 0 miles. the tech didnt even tighten my clip ons down and he covered the chain in so much grease that it got all over the tire). i've never owned or ridden a bike with TC before so i have no comparison. for the 1197 miles i rode it on the street, i rode at level 2 or 3 on the TC since i could never really get the grease off that side of the tire.
at slow speeds you can feel it's weight for sure. it's the heaviest of the liter bikes. but anything other than parking lot or stop and go bs traffic i could never notice the difference. oh the stock steering damper is GARBAGE. throw it away. burn it. just put something else on there.
I have a 2012 50th WGP edition, I put an Akrapovic full system on it and reflashed the ECU and I love this bike! Traction-control is virtually invisible, usually the only way I know that it kicked in is a flickering orange light on the dash, I've never actually "felt" the TC kick in. Used to have a Ducati 1098R, and although the TC worked great, it was very obvious in the way it applied the TC. 2012 and newer R1's have the TC. Get online and you can find them very reasonable price-wise. I love mine, will probably be one of the few sport bikes that I'll keep for a very, very long time! And yes, that motor sounds SO GOOD! Especially with aftermarket pipes.
The sound is the main reason I'm looking at the bike. Stan, how would you say it compared to the 1098R?
I have a 2009, bought new with 8k street miles on it. RidersDiscount had a slamming price on the Bazzaz FI/TC/QS -- Fuel injection, Traction Control, Quick Shift module for it. Huey at Marietta Motorsports set it up and did all the tuning/mapping settings. It's a BRILLIANT road bike. Nimble light and connected at road speeds. I've never had it on the track, but I'm very happy with it as a street sport bike. It's unbelievably good in the wet. I've poured water from my boots and blasted through 5 or more inches of water on 285 on it without missing a beat. First thing to do if you get one--drop the stock midpipe/cat--that's where the bike gets its reputation for being hot, it sits in a an windshadow behind the engine along the swingarm and the heat vents upward exhausting between the seat and the tank--OUCH. I went with the Akra half system from the stock headers back. I also have an 1198s. The bikes are two radically different beasts. The R1 is a much more livable bike. If I was going for a weekend I'd take the R1. An afternoon, probably the 1198s. On sound alone, few things compare to the Ducati, maybe the Brutale 750 with its neck fully rung--that bike has the perfect moto-madness sound, seriously if you've never thrashed a Brutale 750, I highly recommend it. The R1 is grunty and sound kinda pissed like is going to tear up the road. It's smoother than the sound would seem to indicate.
Also don't forget to reflash the ECU since it's restricted in stock trim. Its a relatively cheap mod and there's quite a few thing you can do through reflashing. http://www.flash-tune.com/?wpsc-product=2012-2013yamaha-r1-mail-in-ecu-flashing-service-duplicate - Removal of YCC-T Throttle Restrictions - Reduced Engine Braking - Raised Idle - Removal of all gear based or speed dependent restrictions - Professional Fuel Map Modification including high/Low Load adjustment - Optimized timing maps for 91+ octane Fuels - Enable Quickshifter - Reduced fan temperatures 205/195°F - Other Options available Upon Request
Ya, all let them keep on professing about their wrist action. not a single person who said that could ride a new zx10r or bmw without the tc.
I agree with you about the Brutale, I just prefer my 910R. Sounds really good when Stan and I and another guy with a 910R ride together. Two 910Rs and a crossplane R1 make some beautiful music together.
Because as I was riding the 1098R, I couldnt' get out of my mind, that the carbon fiber tailsection was $5300 dealer cost ! Same reason I didn't pull the trigger on a Ducati Desmosedici a while back, (one-piece CF tailsection that cost $17,000) If I can't ride a bike without constantly thinking, "Don't crash, whatever you do, don't crash this thing" then it isn't fun anymore. As for the question about sound vs. the Ducati, as already posted, they're both intoxicating sounds, but for me, the R-1 sounds so much like a MotoGP bike, and that sound has never failed to bring a grin to my face when I twist the throttle. And even stock, an R-1 has monster mid-range. Reflash the ECU and that will take care of the top-end as well. I have a bazzaz unit with the quickshifter for the bike, but just haven't had the chance to put it on yet. Once that is done, I think I'll be all set. This is probably one of only a few sportbikes that I'll end up keeping for a long, long time. Oh, and as for Traction Control, the yamaha is much more transparent, I have never "felt" the TC, but only seen a flickering orange light on the dash to let me know it was working. The TC on the Ducati 1098R was way-more intrusive. You could definitely feel when it intervened. I have a full akrapovic system on the R-1, and that thing just sings Sooooo good!
Whoa there Nelly! Traction control on a street bike is a great idea, and on some if these 200hp beasts a necessity. Between the uncertain traction situations you may run into and the general lack of skill/awareness of the average street rider, it's one of the best safety devices available. Racing is a different story. It's a controlled environment and the riders are of considerable skill. They should be good enough to not need it.
