|
What a beautiful looking bike JtP has bought himself.
This is the first 2004 R1 I have seen in the flesh. It looks like
Yamaha have really thought about this in a big way and have come
up with a masterpiece. Everyone would have read how good this bike
is in the press, but until you ride one properly on roads you know
yourself, then forget all that and be open minded.
John's
R1 has a high screen fitted and that is a plus straight away, but
as soon as I sat on it the bike felt narrow with a good seat, not
too hard. The reach to the bars is perfect with a nice short tank,
so you effectively look directly down the forks, making you feel
confident with the steering and with feeling that the front wheel
is very close to you. This is something I just did not get on the
Gixer 1000, which feels very long and my arms aren't exactly short!!
The clutch was nice and light, the gearbox a bit notchy and wouldn't
go from 2nd gear to 3rd gear sometimes, but it is new. The front
brake lever was set a bit high for my taste but could not be tilted
down any more due to the hose banjo pressing against the fork leg,
but by Christ are the brakes good and I soon got used to the lever
where it was.
The steering is great, the engine is a peach and I loved it. The
bike even matched my leathers nicely, which of course is all important
at Box Hill on a Sunday afternoon. Thank God I don't go there.
This is a bike that makes me seriously consider defecting from
the Honda camp, but I wouldn't buy one and this is why. All things
(not that many, mind) listed below are things that annoyed me where
my Blade doesn't.
The seat is narrow, and after a considerable amount of miles
you would (I did), keep needing to slide a little further back
on the seat to get comfortable. Numb bum synodrome.
The seat is low and so too are the foot pegs, but I felt cramped,
my knees started to ache after about 10 miles. I stand 5'11",
of average build and not exactly with long legs either. I guess
you could get used to this, but be careful tall people, this bike
perhaps is built for smaller people in mind.
I also noticed a lot of buzziness coming though the footpegs and
bars, more so than the Blade, which is renowned for buzziness
through the bars.
The mirrors worked brilliantly, but the buzziness (better add
this word to my PC's dictionary), makes them vibrate a bit, so
the rear view is somewhat distorted. The last bike I noticed this
problem on was my Y2K Blade.
The rear suspension is crap!! How could I say anything else after
experiencing my WP shock??
Now, those of you reading this and thinking I'm talking rubbish,
could be right, but I'm looking at this bike as one which I would
want to happily do a 5 day trip to the Continent on and about
1500 miles and still feel comfortable, but I just don't see it,
not for me anyway. However, on the way back, Mark had a ride on
it and he looked much more comfortable than I felt, probably because
his legs are a few inches shorter than mine. Who ever said size
doesn't matter!!

The new R1?
|