Spent my day testing bikes for motorcycle.com again today. It's been a long day (started at 4am... just got home) and it was super hot out in the desert.
Did the track portion of a 4 bike shootout at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (street testing is Wednesday). The bikes in the shootout are : KTM RC390, Yamaha R3, Kawasaki Ninja 300 and Honda CBR300R. I'll link to the article once it's published.
But the bonus round happened when we got to rock the new Yamaha R1 around the track! Man... this bike is hella good. The electronics are excellent and the way the bike makes its power is insane. That Crossplane crank makes the bike bark like a beast under hard acceleration, too. If you're in the market for an uber fast top drawer liter bike, get your butt on one and test ride it... preferably around a track for a few hours if you can!
Dude, I LOVE what Yamaha did with the R1. I think it's an awesome bike all around. What I'm REALLY interested in reading, though, is how the KTM 390 did!
LOL.... What dream world do you live in? I don't know about the left coast, but in the Midwest, dealers won't even let you start a bike up until you sign the dotted line. :smile: Shoot, a lot of dealers would put a "Do Not Sit" sign on this bike.
I'm sure there will be a long waiting list when Yamaha Champions Riding School gets one and is available to those who ride the trackday with TrackDaz at Chuckwalla.
I'm curious how that KTM 390 did in the testing as well. Saw one at Chuckwalla last month and sounded like a beastly little bike.
Yeah... I suppose I was more loopy from lack of sleep and baking in the hot sun all day when I typed the part about a track test ride. Though I suppose borrowing someone's bike is the best way to do it if presented with the opportunity. This is actually how I've ridden the majority of the bikes I've been on.
And as for the shootout... I can't declare a winner as we are all pretty torn over TWO bikes. We still have to do the street portion as well -canyons/freeways/Starbucks/hauling goats, chickens and 4+ family members (for Thailand and Indian market reviews - ha!).
After Wednesday, we'll tally up the scorecards and pick a winner.
And of course, when I wrote (in the title) "flogging", I really meant "holding on for dear life"! Especially after riding the 300's all day, getting on the R1 took several laps to wrap your head around the immense additional power by comparison.
With that said, whipping those little 300's around and passing liter bikes (in corner entry only) was SILLY fun! Turn the throttle to the stops, lean in and smile!
The suspense is killing me. I hope one of the two bikes is the Ninja 300, but I get a feeling it will come down to the R3 vs RC390. Though I have to wonder if the R3's linkless rear suspension hurts it in comparison.
Here in the midwest we have a unique ultralight racing conundrum. CCS runs the show, but they way they group the bikes is horrible. Last year they allowed the Ninja 300 in what used to be the Ninja 250 class. But they are not allowing the RC390 or the R3 into that class, which really sucks. Could have been a 3 way manufacturer race.
Instead, CCS saw fit to group the RC and R3 into the 500SS class, which is a class based on the utterly crappy and unexciting CBR500 twin. As fat and slow as the CBR500 is, the RC and R3 will still be at a huge disadvantage.
So basically, if I want a competitive and legal ultralight race bike, it has to be a Ninja 300. If they wanted to really keep it fair, they should have grouped the 2008-12 250 Ninjas and allowed the CBR300 in that group. Or, kill off the 250's and 300 singles completely and just make it Ninja 300 vs R3 vs RC.
Anyway, just a little info about how CCS ultralight racing works. It's all we have in the midwest. I'm really interested in racing ultralights, but the way the class is setup really limits bike options. From what I understand WERA options are better.
So, I await this review. We haven't seen an R3 vs N300 vs RC yet.
You are a blessed man. That R1 on the track is just the BALLS! Get her out there ASAP! At CVR, it's a pretty tight track so I never left 3rd (wasn't going to be THAT GUY that crashes a Media Bike on his first track test/gig - which apparently EVERY motojournalist has done at some point). But, I didn't need to ... triple digits with ease and I was never in the wrong gear. Even when I was. It just pulled strong and wound out so sweet. It definitely will make you work harder than the 675, though! At least in the corners, that is. All in all, the chassis felt composed with good feedback (far better than the 1199 to me) and though I'm usually not a fan of I4's, this Crossplane thing is sweet.
This bike just joined the top of the list as my next bike. Congrats on such a fine machine!
I can't tell you who the two bikes at the top of the heap are, but I can tell you the CBR isn't one of them! But you knew that already, right?! I can also tell you that though we are all a bit surprised at the top two, they are neck and neck with no clear winner. Something tells me it'll come down to the street portion and even then, I'm not sure a clear winner will emerge.
This all means good things to anyone looking for a smaller displacement bike. There are great options available and anyone looking to rail one of these through a canyon or around a track will have nothing but smiles on their faces the entire time (except for when those straightaways unfold)!
Funny how polarizing the looks of the R1 are. I think it's the best looking liter bike to come out in almost 2 decades.
As for riding at a track pay attention to dealer track days. I hear the R1 will be out for test rides here on the west coast. In fact a day I have signed up for might have it there to ride. Not telling when that is. Wouldn't do any good if you knew since it sold out 4 months ago.
The RC390 and the new Triumphs should be available at the Triumph track days up here in Washington.
I like the tank and rear, don't like the side panels and headlights. I always thought the KTM RC8 was the best looking bike, yet another polarizing design. But every time I see one I think it looks like the Lamborghini of motorcycles.
Ya, dealer sponsored track days are the way to get in a serious test ride. I've been able to ride the EBR1190RX and Kawi ZX10R at my local track.
Looking forward to attending an event with the new R1.
I think the headlight or near lack of obvious lights is the best part. The RC8 is a good looking bike too but it's too rough and unfinished looking in person.
Just returned from rolling around the canyons on the little 300's. Man... these things are stupid fun! They flick about with such ease and the power is always manageable. Gotta tally up the scorecards and write down my notes for the article. I must say, this is one of the hardest comparos I've done... there's no clear cut winner in my estimation. I know the scoring is gonna be close and I'm itching to find out who came out on top!
As for the beast, I never thought the new R1 looked good in print... that is until I saw it in person. Now I really dig it. Great lines, me thinks. I felt the same way about the new gen STR... now I LOVE it (specifically, the lights).
But the real deal sealer is when you ride this thing. It really goes like stink and the way it makes its power is soooo addicting! Lap after lap after lap... as I was gaining confidence with every corner I found myself just going APESHIT around that track. If someone with my limited skill set can enjoy hauling nuts like that, I can't imagine that bike in the hands of a truly gifted rider. Well played, Yamaha... well played...
Well, as of 7pm last night I have a 300 ninja in my garage.
So you know who I'm rooting for to win this comparison, hahah.
I bought it to convert into a CCS Ultralight Thunderbike, but what surprised me is that I love riding it on the road. The position is halfway between supersport and upright standard and it's just about perfect to spend a lot of time riding. Much more so than the other recent 8 bikes I've owned.
It will still be a race bike, but now I'm really considering doing some work to make it a quick change into a street bike. Some sort of quick disconnect rear plate / tail light / turn signals assembly, and a bolt on projector headlight up front somewhere.
^ I love that Ninja 300, to me it totally embodies the "It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow" mentality. The seating position is surprisingly comfortable and you can still lay on the tank and look like you might be doing some proper GP technique. With a nice pipe (is that the TBR black you have on it?) its got a lovely little growl when you wringing the hell out of it.
RC390, be still my beating heart.
There is a girl in my riding group that just took delivery of her R3. I'll let you imagine how much attention shes getting right now.
Some companies have tried marketing their small displacement and single cyl bikes in the states before to little success, im really glad its working out this time, the new field of small - mid size bikes are really really exciting.
Lol, that image made me snort my mountain dew. Yeah, that's a TBR can on there. Not a full system though. Not the biggest fan of Two Bros, but it's light, it sounds good and it's black. I might see if I can get the headers to go with it.
sub'd for the link to the 3 hundo shoot out.
I (wife's bike) also have a ninja 300. She barely rides it and I commute on it since it is more comfy than the tona for the just over 100 round trip with a lot of traffic.
I cannot imagine getting on the R1 after the 300s, I always feel like I have to hold on getting onto the daytona afterwords. You are one lucky man.
Now we gotta see what the other MOron reviewers (MO = Motorcycle Online) think. I'm as curious as you guys as to who's gonna come out on top.
BTW - on the "Objective Scoring" side of things, there's a pretty clear cut winner. This category of scoring takes into account things like PRICE, WEIGHT, POWER, TORQUE, etc.... All the stuff you can't argue.
I guess the big question is... which bike would you rather have? Let's hear your votes...
Now we gotta see what the other MOron reviewers (MO = Motorcycle Online) think. I'm as curious as you guys as to who's gonna come out on top.
BTW - on the "Objective Scoring" side of things, there's a pretty clear cut winner. This category of scoring takes into account things like PRICE, WEIGHT, POWER, TORQUE, etc.... All the stuff you can't argue.
I guess the big question is... which bike would you rather have? Let's hear your votes...
The performance part of me lusts for the r1. But reality is I'll never be at that level where any liter bike will have an advantage over another for me. Rsv4 will be realistically my liter choice, best sounding bike ever, wish v4s were more popular for production.
I'm just lusting over the electronics, which I'll never be able to take advantage of either but I still want it. lol If they put all that into a R6, I might seriously consider.
I think that's the whole point, though. That we ALL can take advantage of these electronics. It takes zero skill to make poor decisions and I demonstrated that by grabbing far too much throttle upon cresting a blind, off-camber downhill chicane that would've highsided me to the moon if not for the wizardry in the R1's brain.
My back end broke free and drifted down the fall line for what felt like 2' before the rear neatly tucked itself back in - all before I could even react. As soon as I realized what had happened I found myself thundering down the back straight full bore as if I MEANT to do that. Mind blown.
Of course, I proceeded to do exactly the same thing the very next lap! It truly made me faster and less wrecky. And less wrecky is good. :thumbsup:
Oh... and great suggestion on making this a poll. How does one go about converting this post to a poll? I looked but didn't see any options.
I've played with the new S1000r and RR, the electronics are killer, thank god I learned how to ride on a shitty 90's carb sportbike I would be a spoiled squid if I had this when I was learning basics. Really interested to see how the r1 package compares
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