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Old 22nd January 2020, 09:20   #1
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Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Where it all began

It was in the year 2008-09, I can’t remember which one, that I happened to be left speechless looking at the BikeIndia magazine which had the Yamaha R1 India launch feature, they had a white-red color scheme bike featured. I just had to have that magazine. I still remember the pictures that were featured in the article can’t remember much of the content though, apart from one fact that has stuck in my head since then, the bike capable of hitting triple-digit speeds on the first gear. I was just awestruck blown away by the looks and capability of the bike as written in the magazine. Around that time I was just graduating from school and back then the superbike scene in India was just taking baby steps and was pretty much non-existent in Kerala or where I lived(a rural village in Palakkad Malappuram dist border area). But having been raised in the middle east I was not new to the concept of big bikes and being a car and bike nut right from when I was small I had the interest and knowledge on what the offerings from different manufacturers where. I just hadn’t had the chance to see them in the flesh a lot.

Years went by and the superbike scene in India started to mature, the dream to own a big bike one day also had started growing slowly in my heart and head. Even though the R1 always had a special place in my heart, it was classified as unobtainable in my head. I mean, it was something that just seemed way ridiculous a dream that it just can’t be achieved. So I had set more “realistic” dreams.

That’s when Kawasaki launched the Ninja 650 in India. I had just started working and started saving up for the Ninja 650 fund. Thanks to my father’s advice, I had always grown up learning the importance of saving and setting goals and the goal I had set was to get the N650 in cash without any loans, and the savings were going strong. But just like any middle-class person, priorities changed and life happened and the money kept aside for the bike always found a way to more important things. Not that I regret it but long story short I never ended up getting the Ninja 650. Then Triumph made it’s way to the Indian markets and I had a new dream bike, the Daytona 675R and as luck would have it the story repeats, saving funds were made and as quickly the fund grew the money found its ways to for the more important stuff.

All this while I was pretty lucky to own and enjoy some of the best small-capacity motorcycles that were available in the market. During the duration of the superbike dream, I did own the Pulsar 220F, CBR 250R, First Gen Duke 390 and the Yamaha R3, of which the CBR remains with me and parted ways with the rest of them. It did hurt, not being able to buy something I was so passionate about and I used to discuss this with a few close friends of mine all of whom I got to know from our common interest of biking. And it had become a running joke that every few years, I’d come up with a different dream bike and hype it up and then, in the end, nothing actually happened.

Then I thought enough is enough, I am not going think of a big bike until I am in a position where I could just go purchase one of these bikes like purchasing chocolates from the supermarket, on a whim. That resolution lasted until the next youtube video I saw of one of these bikes and then the vicious cycle starts again.

Which Bike to Buy?

Time went by and around Jan of 2019, I told a very close friend of mine(I know you are reading this :-P) that whatever happens, I will have a superbike in my garage by May 2020. Alas by that time the Ninja 650 was not of much interest to me anymore as I had outgrown the Twin pot engine phase and wanted a triple or 4 cylinder bike. And as luck would have it the Daytona was also not available anymore.

Brand New Bikes

I had no other plan than going for a brand new bike. So know I was left with the prospect of choosing from

Honda CBR650R

I was looking for a supersport so the CBR did not fit the bill and also I wanted something that was not a Honda. Moreover, when I contacted the Honda dealer in Bangalore they did not even have a display bike available, let alone a bike for a test ride.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R

As much as Kawasaki makes clean, smooth and bulletproof engines. Owning Kawasaki was a scary prospect with the spare parts cost and service charges but only they had another option in the 600cc market, so that was my only real option, even though I hated the way the front end of it looked. Now again here comes the kicker. I went to the Kawasaki showroom to get a quote and to do a test ride. And I couldn’t have been dealing with a more lethargic set of people there at the showroom. They had no interest in filling us in about the bike and when asked about test ride they said I could take a less than 1km route and that too with not even a single free stretch of road. Needless to say dejected I walked out from there.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX10R

I love everything about this bike, but the OTR comes to around 18L plus. Yikes! So that was not something I could pull off.

Get a used bike!

Now as 2019 progressed I became more and more serious about the plan, started really thinking of deciding on the 6R but the problem was that I still had my doubts about the 6R as I was just not sold on the looks of the bike. The thought process was that if I am spending a huge amount of money on a bike, at least I need to like the way it looks.
That is when the idea of getting a pre-owned bike came into my mind. As much as I hated the idea of a second-hand bike, the reality was that was my best bet to get the bike that I needed. So with that started the days of going through various Facebook Superbike classified groups and OLX listings, almost any bike I found was either too old or too high mileage or too high an asking price that I started looking at them just for the laughs. The fact that I wanted strictly a KL or KA registered bike made the search even tougher as I was not interested in going through the hassle of re-registering the bike.

So now as far as second-hand bikes go, these were the options I was looking at

Triumph Daytona
I could not find any within KL and KA on any classifieds, I had no interest in going through any dealers so did not even bother that route.

Honda CBR1000RR
Came across a beautiful SP edition bike, KL registered IIRC. The bike used to be owned by the friend’s friend but had been sold off to someone in Thrissur. But soon a few red flags popped out. The bike was still in the name of the previous owner, needed new tyres and the guy who “owned”
It now wanted the same price for which he had purchased it(I got to know the price at which he had bought the bike). So I dropped it like it was a hot plate.

Yamaha R1
The irony here is that I was never really considering this. Any listing available was just too high asking price and with way too many kms on it or had some shady stuff up with the bike and its owners, and not to mention finding a KL/KA bike was tough. Like I said I had no interest in going through dealers.

So so far from the 3 options, nothing was materializing and I was all but ready to drop the idea of a second-hand bike for good and just suck it up and save up for a brand new bike hoping that I would have more options available to me in 2020, that is when I heard that a friend might be parting away with his 2013 Yamaha R1, it was a 2013 WGP limited edition one of 2000 units produced and the bike was kept in immaculate mechanical condition, this was just too perfect an opportunity to let go. I asked my friend to talk to him and revert back and I had already jumped the gun and started dreaming and imagining myself owning a Yamaha R1 and it just seemed too good to be true and as it turns out that is what happened, got to know that he was not willing to let go of the bike. Well, in the process of licking my wounds I just casually told my friend to let me know if he ever changes his mind and in a few days, things were back to normal.

Decision Time!

Months had passed and I happened to visit my friends at Trivandrum and got the chance to ride another friend’s ZX6R, mind you that was my first superbike riding experience and I just loved it. I was head over heels over the way the bike rode, even though I hated the way it looked from the front, I called my friend and told him that I have made a decision and that I will have a ZX6R in my garage by May 2020 and preparations for saving up for the bike started again.

And as fate would have it sometime towards the end of December on a Sunday, I got a call from another friend saying that an R1 that belongs to a mutual friend has been put up for sale. When enquired it turns out to be the exact same one I had looked into a few months back. Thinking that this is just another cruel joke being played on me by life. I called my friend to confirm the news and what do you know the bike was indeed on sale, I immediately called up the owner of the bike and enquired if the bike was really up for sale and he said yes, yes it was. It was just unbelievable, this was too good an opportunity to not try, I enquired about the rate and it was very reasonable what he was asking for considering that the bike was in immaculate mechanical condition and had complete service history available and moreover it belonged to a friend and the bike was basically vouched for by a lot of my other friends too.

Now the rest of it just happened way too fast. Something in me had changed and I lost sight of everything else, I gave my solid commitment to the current owner that I will buy it from him and I even went so far as to arrange for loans even before doing the test ride. I know, not one of my brightest moments.
Within a matter of days, funds/loans were arranged and the same week my brother and I drove down to Trivandrum, Test rode the bike(came off the bike post the test ride shivering and made up my mind, this is it, this is going to be my next bike), initiated the ownership transfer process the very same day, wired the money to the current owner and collected the bike and kept it at a friends house and off I went back to Bangalore early morning next day.

It took a day of recovering from a Bangalore-Trivandrum-Bangalore 2-day drive for the fact to sink in of what I had just done.

Logical thoughts started flooding in
I have just taken on a huge financial commitment.
I had just purchased my first superbike and that too a liter-class ballistic missile.
Where will I ride this bike?
Where will I get this serviced?
How do I get spare parts?
What will the maintenance cost be, I just bought a 6-year-old discontinued model bike.
The bike is literally unrideable in traffic.

I know right, I am not a smart man.

And as all these thoughts started flooding in my head, my anxiety level started to shoot up, but then suddenly that memory of me staring into that BikeIndia magazine suddenly came up to my mind and immediately I knew, I just realized a long-time dream of mine and nothing else mattered.

So guys, let me introduce to you all my very first superbike the 2013 Yamaha R1 WGP 50th Anniversary edition(1810/2000).

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r14.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r18.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r19.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r111.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r117.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r123.jpg

Last edited by navin : 28th January 2020 at 11:45. Reason: few typos
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Old 22nd January 2020, 10:39   #2
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Buying/ RTO Procedures

Now, this is something that took some time. Ever since the Vaahan portal has been functional a lot of the procedures which usually happen within the state RTO and SRTO offices has changed. The new procedure has been put into place for the ownership change procedure.

As per the new rules. The seller needs to file an online request via the Vaahan web portal for change of ownership of the vehicle for which the RC card information and the name and details and Aadhar copy of the person buying the vehicle also need to be entered. The fee for raising the request is about Rs.185/- or so and the request is officially placed and a fully digitally prepared Form 29 and Form 30 is also generated, no need of filling any information in this form all it requires is the buyers and sellers signature.
Now the seller needs to take a print out of the said documents and surrender the original RC, valid insurance and PUC certificates and provide it at the currently registered authority(in my case the Vehicle is a KL01 reg so it had to be submitted at the KL01 RTO office). It usually takes a day for the RTO to process this request where they validate the application documents and RC, Insurance and PUC and issue an NDC(No Dues Certificate) where they state that vehicle is ready to be transferred from the Seller to the Buyer and they have no objection to the same and the request is ready to be submitted to the RTO/SubRTO under which the Buyer resides at(in my case it was the KL52 Sub-RTO).

This NDC needs to be attached with the initial set of documents that were submitted and the buyer needs to furnish this at his/her RTO and once they process the request the ownership transfer is complete. The second leg should also take about 1 day or so.

Post this the RC printing gets done and is dispatched. I have completed the entire procedure and the RC is printed but yet to be dispatched. This whole process took me about 2 weeks because there is massive confusion among agents as well as RTO officials on what the actual procedure is post this shift to Vaahan portal. Hope this will prove useful to anyone else who is looking into buying a second-hand vehicle.

To transfer the insurance from old owner to new, the old owner needs to get an NCB(No claim bonus) certificate signed and along with the original insurance paper provide it to the new owner who has to take it along with the newly issued RC and submit it at any of the offices of the current insurance provider, this is usually an instant procedure and no waiting time is involved.
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Old 22nd January 2020, 11:05   #3
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Now as that is out of the way let’s get into more about the bike.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r153.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r151.jpg

The bike is a 2013 manufactured Yamaha R1 WGP 50th Anniversary edition, which is painted in the legendary red and white factory race livery. This bike was a limited run with only 2000 units produced in these colors. This particular bike is No.1810/2000.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r150.jpg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r142.jpg

Engine

This has the cross-plane crankshaft which makes it sound entirely different than a traditional i4 engine. The sound of the cross-plane engine is an extremely polarizing one, people either love it or they hate it. But to me it is just music to my ears, I see it as a middle ground between an i4 and a v4 engine sound. The engine puts outs around 180 horses to the rear wheel.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r134.jpg

TC & Riding Modes

It comes with a 7 step Traction control which is something that was made available from the 2013 models onwards, so it has no ABS or any other electronic aids. The clutch is pretty hard and the bike heats up like crazy even in light traffic

The grey color button is used to toggle through the levels of TC
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-left_side_controls.jpeg

The bike comes with a power mode selector, there are 3 options available to the rider. Moda A, B, and STD

The mode sliding switch is used to toggle between the modes
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-right_side_controls.jpeg

Mode A being the full power mode, I am not at all ashamed to say this but I am yet to ride the bike in this mode. I do have the wish to keep myself alive and enjoy the bike more.

Mode B being the least powerful, akin to a rain mode in modern bikes and cars. This is where I spend most of my time so far.

Then the Standard mode which is pretty obvious, it’s the middle ground between A & B modes. The bike always reverts back to STD mode once the bike is switched off and on again.

Likes
  • The Cross-plane sound note. I mean come on, the startup sound and the sound it makes on slight blips in throttle is just heavenly.

  • The smoothness of the engine post 3k rpm. The bike just picks up speed like nobody’s business and the engine is completely vibe free while doing so.

  • The looks, those projectors, and RAM air intake combo just looks killer.
  • Handling, the bike is very precious and sharp, it goes exactly where and how you want it too. Though flipping the bike from side to side is a bit tough as you will definitely feel the weight in doing so. Nothing some good upper body strengthening can’t sort out.
  • Comfort at higher speeds

Dislikes
  • Clutch Lurching
    The cross-plane models are pretty notorious for an issue called “clutch lurching” wherein if you engage the bike is engaged into gear and you roll off the clutch the bike kind of jolts forwards repeatedly until you cross the 3k rpm mark and it almost feels like the engine is knocking, the clutch engagement off the line is not smooth, but this is just a 09-14 models behavior. There is a pretty simple solution to this which I’ll explain in another section. I was pretty weirded out by this at first but now I am okay with it and have learned to handle it, but I am considering doing sorting this out.

  • Cam Chain Tensioner Noise
    The cam chain tensioner is a hydraulic one. So on startup, the bike sounds pretty rough and rattling sound is pretty dominant, which is the sound of the cam chain tensioner, it needs a few seconds for the oil to pass through it for it to become quiet. But again this is something I added in Dislikes because it is not common but I kinda like the sound now, to be honest.

  • Battery issue
    The YamahaR1s are probably most notorious for this. The battery gets drained out pretty fast. If you do not ride the bike for more than a week or so and is left attended the stock battery dies out by that time. And another issue is when the bike if you do not turn the ignition off once the bike is killed the projector headlights suck the battery dry pretty damn fast and then it won’t have enough cranking voltage to crank the bike back up and you will have to either disconnect the light and try again or do the dhakka start(the fuel pups do prime so not much worries there). And the heat also somehow tends to contribute to this, if the bike console shows the engine temperature to be 100 or above it is best advised not to try and start the bike because not only will it not start but it will drain out the battery too. So if you have one of these high compression liter-class bikes do consider investing in a decent lithium-ion battery, lucky for me the bike already comes with it courtesy of the previous owner, so I am covered there.

  • Heating
    This bike does not like slow speeds, it just does not, the bike is very violent and tough to ride at lower speeds and there are considerable vibrations too and it heats up quite a lot. And Imean QUITE A LOT. You might be riding around in relatively less traffic at around 78-80 degree C and if you hit a bad patch of traffic for let’s say 30-45 secs the temperature shoots up to 99-103 in a jiffy and post 105 the fan kicks in and throws more hot air onto your thighs just to make things worse. Club it along with an already hard clutch and it’ll make your life hell. So do not even think about taking the bike out in high traffic density areas, it’s just not worth it.
    The best solution is control this problem is to get a good radiator coolant, I planned to flush the existing coolant and change it to engine ice, which will help reduce the temperature by a few degrees.

  • Engine braking
    The engine braking on this bike is just brutal, it is way too intrusive if you are at lower speeds. It is almost like getting hit in the chest each time you let go of the throttle. This is also another well complained about by a lot of R1 owners worldwide and they seem to have fixed this with custom software flashes to the ECU. I haven’t decided what to do about this just yet.

  • Seat Height
    Well, nothing much to say about this. I just wish I could reduce it a bit without lowering the bike. Oh well, one can only wish.

I know it seems like I have put down more dislikes than likes, but trust me most of it is still resolvable and when you are riding the bike on open roads none of this actually matters and since I do not ride a bike in city anymore unless it’s an emergency this matter very little to me. Besides I have my CBR with me for the small errands stuff.

Looks

In my opinion, this is the best looking R1 front end design to ever come of the 2009-2014 production run. The 2013 model onwards had the DRL and the cut out at the end of the projector headlamps which made the bike look so much more aggressive than 2009-2012 models.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r146.jpg

Current Mods

The bike is fairly stock with just a few subtle tasteful mods that the previous owner had made.
Which includes
  • LeoVince slip-on (Not installed yet, I had collected the LV exhaust on the day of the Test Ride and bought it back to Bangalore, I wanted to ride the bike stock for some time and appreciate the stock sound and then get the LV fitted on)
  • Spiegler Brake Lines
  • CRG shorty adjustable brake and clutch levers
  • GB Racing & Woodcraft Clutch and Crank Case protectors
  • Frame Sliders
  • K&N OEM replacement air filter
  • Swingarm spools
  • GP Shifting (We need to talk more about this)
  • Lithium Ion Battery

CRG Clutch Lever
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r148.jpg

CRG Brake lever
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-r149.jpg

ODO

The bike had run exactly 20759KMS at the time of purchase. And up until today, I have put around 1000kms or so on it all of which was in the process of getting the bike transported from Trivandrum - Pattambi - Bangalore.

Cheers
Krishna
Attached Thumbnails
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Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-front_rotors_calipers.jpeg  

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-spools.jpeg  


Last edited by krishnaprasadgg : 27th January 2020 at 15:20. Reason: Inserting images
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Old 27th January 2020, 16:50   #4
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Engine

The bike comes with an Inline-4 Crossplane engine producing about 180BHP.
The Crossplane being the keyword. Unlike the traditional I4 engines the term “cross-plane” signifies a crankshaft design for where there is a 90° angle between the crank throws of the pistons. This design was used to reduce inertia torque created by the engine to a minimum or so I have read, but in layman terms, the bike has a lot more torque and power and sounds much like a V4 growl during start-up and lower RPM, the engine just growls and rumbles and the torque available down low is just crazy.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-en_route_bangalore.jpeg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-en_route_pattambi01.jpeg

Now the gearing on this motorcycle is quite tall, you can easily hit triple-digit speeds while still being in 1st gear, the most I have done myself is around 80-85 or so, never had the chance or mindset to test out the limit of it myself, maybe once I am more comfortable with the bike I would check it out.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-enroute_pattambi_02.jpeg

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-enroute_pattambi.jpeg

The bike is not a comfortable one to ride in low speeds it almost feels like it is throwing tantrums when you don’t give it more throttle, the bike feels very jerky and stressed for some reason and you feel more vibes too, the clutch lurching issue that I had mentioned above is the main issue for this, once you cross 3-4k rpm on any given gear the bike instantly feels more comfortable and relaxed to ride, the vibes or jerking completely goes away you the bike starts cooling down a bit too.
Now while we are on that topic the bike heats up super fast. If you make the mistake on staying in the lower gears and being in traffic then you are as good as sitting on top of a grill, the temperature shoots up and the fans start to do its work and by doing its work I mean it starts channeling all the hot air onto your thighs which are already grilled and tender from the heat anyways.
So if I have to rate rideability in the city I’d say it’s pretty much Nil. I’d not want to take it out into the city unless I really have to and have no other way/option left.

One of the said option
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-img_0784.jpeg

Now the Twisties and Highways it’s a totally different story. Though I have to admit, I haven’t hit many twisties with the bike, whatever cornering I have done is pretty limited to small stretch of roads so can’t comment a whole lot on it, but the bike is super planted in the corners, just point and go and the bike will do the rest, but you do feel the weight of the bike when you have to flip the bike from one direction to the other and that is not even on a proper lean position, just from a very modest leaning angle to flipping sides the weight of the bike is very apparent. But I could just feel it that the bike would be a hoot to ride in proper ghats/twisty roads, it will be a hell of a workout too, but it’ll be an enjoyable one I would say.
Now highways the bike is just a breeze to ride, you will find yourself at cruising speeds almost instantly and you can just stay put there and it’ll much miles, it does take a few seating position adjustment to find your sweet spot that allows you to ride for longer distances without breaks. Once I got a bit comfortable with the bike on the highways I did start playing with the throttle a bit and I have never enjoyed riding a bike more. The way the bike just picks up speed from any gear and the pace at which it builds speed was something that was new and scary to me, the first 1000kms of riding done on the bike has rewired my brain for good when it comes to the term acceleration. It’s tough to put it into words, but to sum it up it goes like a rocket.

So it is pretty safe to say that the bike will most probably never be used for any sort of commute or running errands, I have my CBR250 for that. The R1 will be solely for rides on the highways and twisties, where it can be enjoyed the best.

Gearbox & Gear Shifts

The bike has a very well documented quirk. It’s infamously called “clutch lurching”. I have mentioned the details of it in the “Dislike” section of the review.
But apart from that gearshifts are pretty much clean and precise, I have not had a false neutral issue to date. Although one issue I did notice is that once the bike heats up and I put the bike into neutral the console “N” light no longer goes green, has to be something with the sensor, the light goes on when the bike is under 60 degrees and in Neutral. But it has no real bearing on the shifting or anything else so I’m not so worried about it, the gear shift indicator shows a “--” indicator when in neutral which works so no issues there.

Notice the Gear indicator reading when the bike is in neutral
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-cockpit.jpeg

One thing I have to mention though is that the bike is currently on the GP shift configuration. It was used as such by the previous owner who kept all his motorcycles in a similar config and did the same with the R1. And as much as I do like to ride with the GP shift config, there have been many a time I have accidentally put the bike from 2nd to 1st gear when I intended to go to 3rd. Luckily for me, I was never hard on the throttle so nothing bad happened. I do plan to change this back to the normal shift config soon and it is a no-hassle 2 mins DIY job so it can be reversed at any time I wish to do so.

Electronics

Well, apart from a 7 level Traction Control System the bike comes with no other riding aids or electronics. I have never ridden the bike without full TCS support so I can’t say how it feels to ride with no riding aids though. We will have to wait and see for that.

Usage Pattern

I have a very strict no in-city/commute/errand riding on this bike. It is just not worth the hassle at all and I will be avoiding it for sure.
So the bike will see only highway/ghats/twisties riding only. Unfortunately, that does mean only Sunday or weekend rides, but that’s a compromise I have chosen to make so that I can get to enjoy the bike more.

Build Quality

Overall build quality is pretty high. Haven’t found any rusting or discoloration on any part of the bike other than the exhaust area(surface rust) which is pretty normal for older bikes.

Wheels & tyres

The bike is currently running on Pirelli Angel GT tyres.
Front tyre size is 120/70R17
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-front_tyre_size.jpeg

Rear tyre size is 190/55R17
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-rear_tyre_size.jpeg

Seat Comfort & Riding Position

Rider seat is pretty spacious but with limited padding, so it is ok for shorter distance but once you start putting on the miles you will feel the stiffness of the seat and it is highly advised to take a few breaks if your trip is more than a few hundred long or you have a very sore behind for sure. The pillion seat just about exists, seat area is very minimal and the fact that the exhausts sit just below the seat does not do the pillion any favors, and getting onto the pillion seat is a trek of its own but you do get the tall guy view when you are up there but it’s not going to be a comfortable one at all.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-rear_side.jpeg

I’d say if you want someone out of your life quick and for them to hate you while at it. Take them out for a ride as a pillion and be a bit throttle happy, mission accomplished. I have had my friend ride pillion with me for about 2kms or so and he had had enough and I did not even get to anywhere above 80-90 during the time. And with a small rear seat, you get little to no storage space under it too.

As you could imagine the riding position is pretty aggressive and very hard on your wrists and shoulders. But it’s not too bad once you find a good seating position which allows for a lot of stress to be taken away from your wrists, having good core strength does go a long way if you want to ride a supersport bike.

Seat height is something that needs to be mentioned. I am about 165cms tall and I find it difficult to flat foot the bike and turning the bike around while on the bike and the engine off is quite a tough task for me. It’s a bit easier with riding boots on though. And with clip-on bars angles way close to the frame making a u-turn on this for shorter riders like me is just pure hell, I have almost dropped the bike a few times too while attempting to do this. If I find myself in situations where I need to turn around the bike, if it's possible to do so I just get off the bike and turn it around. That is less nerve-racking than the circus I put out while doing it on the bike. Pretty sure it’s entertaining to watch from the 3rd party perspective regardless of which way I choose to do it.

Headlamps and Night Rides

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-img_0717.jpeg

Though the bike comes with twin projector headlamps the throw/spread on these is pretty bad. Maybe I have had a bike which had much better useful headlight which actually helped to ride at night but I found riding at dark pretty tough, while the low beam is something you can make do with the high beam is pretty pathetic and this is posted beam height adjustment. Since I have very little intention to ride at night I am not looking into finding replacements for the lighting situation.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-img_0701.jpeg




Exhaust

I personally love the cross-place signature sound of the bike very much. I have got to know that it is a very polarising opinion when it comes to cross-plane R1s people either love it or hate, much like the Ducati engine L twin-engine note.
Right now I am running on the stock exhaust, now this might be an unpopular opinion but I somehow really like the way the stock exhaust looks and it does sound pretty good when idling, it has that throaty rumble to it and blipping the throttle a bit makes the growls similar to v4 engine note. Once you get moving the stock exhaust gets pretty quiet and there is no droning when riding on the highway with it.
It does pops and cracks a bit on throttle roll off and they get louder when the exhaust is more heated up, so roll off the throttle when the engine is around 90-110degrees and the pops and cracks are pretty loud and you get a good rumble too.
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-rear_view_wide_angle.jpeg
Now I don’t get the revving the bike off the redline in neutral much like many other superbike riders, no offense but it’s just not my cup of tea, haven’t tried it and have no intention to either.
While I do have the Leo Vince slips on with me I had decided to run the bike stock for a few months and experience it as it is so that once I change to the LV I would appreciate it much more but I think I will pretty much end up swapping it out within a few weeks itself. In Fact, the next visit to my mechanics shop the LV cans are going on. I really hope it will be worth it. Oh and the LV came with the bike, the previous owner had purchased it himself but had switched to the stock cans sometime back after the modification norms were made stringent throughout the country.

FE And Tank Range

Fuel efficiency: Umm...Let's just say the bike has a drinking problem..now let’s move on.

Sigh! Ok, I haven’t tested in city FE but the general average as per owners is 7-9kmpl so I’m going with that. The highway from what I have checked I am barely hitting 12-14kmpl.

Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-first_fueling.jpeg

Now even though the fuel tank capacity is around 18-19L the bike comes with no fuel gauge and for someone with range anxiety, it is not something I enjoy.
With sedate riding and in B mode I was able to run about 260 kms with from a full tank to the fuel light coming on and the bike took about 16L of fuel to full tank after, which came to about 16.xx kmpl.
The bike runs just fine with normal petrol, never had any knocking issues as such, but I need to do a back to backtest with probably Shell Power and normal petrol and compare the difference, will do that and state the findings in future posts.

Suspension
The suspension is very much on the harder side, almost every bump on the road is very much felt on your wrists and back. From the looks of it the front and rear shocks are adjustable, but I am not sure to what level and what end. Maybe more experienced riders will be able to figure it out from the pictures.
The bike suspension has not been set to my weight, which is the right way to do it, will be getting that done soon.

Braking

The brakes on the R1 is something which will leave you wanting for more. While the brakes are decent it is nowhere close to what a bike of this power and size needs to have. Even with steel braided lines the bite is not enough and you will struggle to get the bike to a halt, this makes emergency braking pretty tough and hair raising experience. The bike is running on stock pads though.
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-front_rotors_calipers.jpeg

The next step is to get sintered EBC pads for the bike as the bike currently runs on stock pads. More expensive future plans would be to get the Brembo MC kit, but that’s a pretty huge investment and will take time.
Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)-rear_spool_crash_damage.jpeg

Crash Damage
The bike did have a very small slow speed/almost standstill slide from the previous owner. No actual components were damaged as the bike did come with crash protectors and the right side crash bobbin and the swingarm spool took all of the damage. The bike already comes with GB racing and Woodcraft engine case protectors and they are scratchless.

Service Woes

This is something that is a serious topic. Finding a good shop and trained mech for carrying out the services and works is something I need to find. While I do have a very trusty mechanic who does work on a big bike just walking distance from where I live. I am looking for alternatives, now being in Bangalore I do realize that there are plenty of shops that do work on big bikes, but I’d rather find someone who comes with a great recommendation than try out different shops and learn from hard experience. So any inputs on this is welcome.
As far as parts go, I have stocked basic parts and consumables like coolant(Engine Ice) and Oil filters with me. I am in the process of sourcing a set of brake pads and chain sprocket set.
While the coolant was purchased from Let’s Gear Up @ HSR and the Oil filters from MotoUsher.
My mechanic will be sourcing the stock Yamaha parts using his contacts. So I think I am pretty much covered when it comes to spares. Hopefully, only time will tell how it pans out.
I can’t comment on the cost of upkeep & maintenance yet as I have not had to do any service on the bike. The bike was newly serviced when I picked it up so hopefully, I am good for the next few thousand kms which gives me plenty of time to source parts before the next service.

Well, that’s about it for the review so far. I will be updating the ownership experience as and when it transpires in this thread. Hopefully, it would be of use to people who are potentially looking into getting an R1 themselves in the future

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna

Last edited by krishnaprasadgg : 27th January 2020 at 17:17.
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Old 27th January 2020, 18:02   #5
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line (The "Assembly Line" Forum section). Thanks for sharing!
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Old 27th January 2020, 22:05   #6
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Congrats on your new bike Krishna, it is a beast. Wish you many great rides on it, hope you have all your gear.
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Old 27th January 2020, 22:22   #7
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Now that's a genuine Superbike! Congrats and ride safe. I sincerely hope you do take this beast to the track and unleash it. In my humble opinion, you will not find much of a difference with Shell Power and regular fuel. Instead give it a healthy dose of 99 Octane.
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Old 27th January 2020, 22:43   #8
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Congratulations man!

At first I didnt notice your handle, but I did recognize the R1, I was just about to inquire whether it was GP's and there I spot Varun's ZMA another closer look and I see your CBR250R!

Good to see you here bro, Ride Safe as Always!
A.P.
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Old 27th January 2020, 23:23   #9
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Congratulations, Ive never been too much of an R1 guy but I do have a soft corner for the crossplane bug eyed generation of Yamaha's finest. They certainly do look a lot better than the current offerings from Yamaha.

Quote:
Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg View Post
This is something that is a serious topic. Finding a good shop and trained mech for carrying out the services and works is something I need to find. While I do have a very trusty mechanic who does work on a big bike just walking distance from where I live. I am looking for alternatives, now being in Bangalore I do realize that there are plenty of shops that do work on big bikes, but I’d rather find someone who comes with a great recommendation than try out different shops and learn from hard experience. So any inputs on this is welcome.
Look no further than Raymonds garage in Koramangala.
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Old 28th January 2020, 05:53   #10
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re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Quote:
Originally Posted by VellVector View Post
Congrats on your new bike Krishna, it is a beast. Wish you many great rides on it, hope you have all your gear.
Thanks a lot, VellVector. Yup, been AGAAT type guys since early riding days so had acquired all gears overtime. But I do need to get proper leathers and a better helmet I am on a stopgap AGV K1 as of now which will definitely not do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deepfreak15 View Post
Now that's a genuine Superbike! Congrats and ride safe. I sincerely hope you do take this beast to the track and unleash it. In my humble opinion, you will not find much of a difference with Shell Power and regular fuel. Instead give it a healthy dose of 99 Octane.
Thanks a lot.
Tracking it is part of the plan, I fully realize that I am not going to use even 50% of the potential of the bike on the highway or public roads. The intimidation factor is huge though. I need to enroll in a few track day classes with the CBR and gain some confidence and then take the R1 track riding.
Will give the 99 octane try, considering how far the pump that sells it is from my place it is going to be a rare occurrence of me getting it every time.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ashwinprakas View Post
Congratulations man!

At first I didnt notice your handle, but I did recognize the R1, I was just about to inquire whether it was GP's and there I spot Varun's ZMA another closer look and I see your CBR250R!

Good to see you here bro, Ride Safe as Always!
A.P.
Haha...You caught me man! It indeed was GP's ex-bike. He has moved on to the ZX10R. I just swooped in at the right time I guess.

Quote:
Originally Posted by neil.jericho View Post
Congratulations, Ive never been too much of an R1 guy but I do have a soft corner for the crossplane bug eyed generation of Yamaha's finest. They certainly do look a lot better than the current offerings from Yamaha.



Look no further than Raymonds garage in Koramangala.
Thanks a lot, Neil. I fully agree with you the bug-eye look does indeed look the best from the R1 lineage.

And thanks again for the suggestion of the garage. I will be paying a visit there soon.

Cheers
Krishna
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Old 28th January 2020, 07:42   #11
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Re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Here is a small sample clip of the cold start of the bike on stock exhaust.



Here's one with the sound it makes on slight blips of the throttle. I am really sorry about the orientation of the video.
I had no intention of uploading it to Youtube, had taken it to send it across to a friend initially.



Cheers
Krishna
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Old 28th January 2020, 07:55   #12
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Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Congrats Krishna on the wonderful purchase. I am sure it feels heavenly to realize one's dream. Wish you tonnes of happiness.

Quick question, is your motorbike BS3 or BS4 compliant? if it's BS3, are they (RTO) still reregistering BS3 variants in the era of BS4 vehicles?

Last edited by drive_angry : 28th January 2020 at 07:57.
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Old 28th January 2020, 09:30   #13
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Re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Quote:
Originally Posted by drive_angry View Post
Congrats Krishna on the wonderful purchase. I am sure it feels heavenly to realize one's dream. Wish you tonnes of happiness.

Quick question, is your motorbike BS3 or BS4 compliant? if it's BS3, are they (RTO) still reregistering BS3 variants in the era of BS4 vehicles?
Thanks a lot, the feeling is surreal. What can I say, even now each time I walk up to my parking space it feels like a dream that the bike actually belongs to me, it might wear off in time but I am in no hurry and I enjoy these small moments a lot.

It is a 2013 bike, so it should be BS3 compliant. I had no issues or concerns raised by the RTO while getting it transferred to my name. The vehicle has FC till 2028 so the vehicle can be sold and ownership transferred/re-registered(in case of sale out of state) up until that point, you shouldn't face any problem till then. Now in 2028 whether they will be ready to provide FC for the bike again is something I am not sure.

Cheers
Krishna
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Old 28th January 2020, 09:44   #14
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Re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Quote:
Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg View Post

Haha...You caught me man! It indeed was GP's ex-bike. He has moved on to the ZX10R. I just swooped in at the right time I guess.

Was wondering where this bike had gone when I saw pics of the zx10r. Well now I know. Yes this was an obsessively maintained bike. Congratulations!
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Old 28th January 2020, 10:03   #15
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Re: Review: My Yamaha R1 (WGP 50th Anniversary Edition)

Quote:
Originally Posted by greenhorn View Post
Was wondering where this bike had gone when I saw pics of the zx10r. Well now I know. Yes this was an obsessively maintained bike. Congratulations!
Thanks a lot.
That was the best part. I have almost little to no modification required to the bike to make it safer on the roads.
Though I am itching to put in some personal touches. All in due time.

Cheers
Krishna
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