purchasing R1

I am a new rider and own a second hand, modified 2001 yzf600R with great acceleration. I am considering the 2008 R1, love the look, but am concerned about the most recent liter bike shoot-out that put it third against Honda CBR 1000 and Suzuki (see excerpt below). Worst of all, it failed primarily because of weak acceleration (no low-end torque). Would the factory upgraded exhaust and/or high-flow air filter help with this? I realize I am too new to become brand loyal, but I have to say i love the look of the R1 (and R6) compared to any of the other sport bikes. Somebody please give me some good news.



motorcycle news -
It seems the real thorn in our collective sides was -- I cringe to say this -- the engine; at least on the street. Yes, it received some reworking and the YCC-I and YCC-T is cutting edge tech. Unfortunately, it's lacking in some good old low-tech oomph off the bottom. Was this a problem on the track? Not really because low rpm use is almost a joke on a race track. But in real world use, power straight off the bottom can make a bike livable. Alex put it best, "The problem for me comes in day-to-day street use; to me, half the point of buying a 1000 is the offer of abundant power and torque."

This deficit of usable power wasn't lost on Steve or Buzz either. "At one point I was asking myself if we accidentally got an R6," smirked Buzz. And "Speed" offered his opinion: "This bike is easy to ride fast and really did nothing wrong, but the engine was just too flat and unexciting too me." I wouldn't have gone quite so far as to say that it wasn't exciting, but I would agree whole heartedly that below roughly 5,000 rpm, the engine is just plain flaccid.


"Damn, I look good!" says the R1 to itself.


And how's this for wacky? Duke clued me into a little glitch that I had to sample to believe. Take the R1 up into second gear and whack the throttle open at precisely 5,500 rpm and you'll get... absolutely nothing. No, really! It's as if you just found yourself aboard a hydrogen-powered Radio Flyer. The tach needle advance ever so slowly The bike simply falls on its face and barely accelerates. This phenomenon is one of the craziest things I ever experienced in over 13 years of riding. Sniff, sniff. I smell another revision next year for the R1. In general use, this glitch isn`t really an issue (and it's only germain to U.S.-spec bikes), but its soft powerband from 6000-8000 revs is.