Photos/ Text: (c) Aryan/ xBhp.com

It was yet another moment when I realized something. As I stood waiting at the India Gate lawns, in anticipation of the 2010 Yamaha YZF-R1 to arrive, I suddenly heard a noise coming towards me at quite a speed straight up! A melancholic, low sound that just got deeper and deeper the closer it came. The air all around me almost 'trembled'! "R1", I informed my senses, indicating to get out of the way and concentrate solely and wholly to what I was distinctly seeing, getting closer by the second. The newest Yamaha - NOTHING quite sounds like it!

Headlights full beam, front end a big, angry bug like; a poised mantis almost - ready to shoot past at the slightest hint, deep into three figures in a flash. "It's just another bike", I informed my senses with the special gift of conveying a deep level of contempt in what looks, on paper atleast to be an innocuous remark. As I took a hard, close look at the newest iteration of the Yamaha R1, it suddenly occurred to me that my deep love with motorcycles had passed a new mark. I was now able to identify a Yamaha R1 by sound alone, from a range of almost a hundred yards, which, for me was incredible!! But, then again it DOES sound rather special. The initial thing that really strikes home is it's physical size. It feels almost two times the size of the super-compact Honda Fireblade, even heavier and broader. However, sitting on it, you wonder if maybe you should have picked on someone of your own size. I do not quite know how to describe the machine - it's as if the machine is firmly in charge, rather than being vice-versa!



















The 2010 Yamaha YZF-R1 has an all new 998cc engine, developing in excess of 180 horses. However, that distinct exhaust note is the first clue that there is something "different" in this iteration of the R1. It sounds almost like a V-four engine with a deep growl. It also has, for the first time on a street-going motorcycle something known as the 'crossplane crankshaft'.

Crossplane Crankshaft, in layman's terms
A typical four-cylinder engine uses a flat-plane crankshaft, and the two outer and two inner pistons rise and fall in pairs, firing 180 degrees apart from each other. However, in the case of 'crossplane crankshaft', the pistons are arranged 90 degrees apart from each other around the crank, which eliminates the inertial torque fluctuation of a typical four-cylinder engine. For keeping the vibrations under check, a balance shaft is incorporated. This is one of primary reasons behind the different exhaust note of the 2009-10 Yamaha YZF-R1.

Also, a new suspension system was developed exclusively for this, the newest R1. The right leg of the suspension handles compression damping, while the left one controls rebound damping. The rear is a bottom-link monoshock, which also has a hydraulic preload adjuster. The brakes of the new R1 has also been improved. The discs might be 10mm smaller in diameter, measuring in at 310mm (front) but the rotor carriers are now even more strong!

















Suzuki already had introduced it with their 1300cc Hayabusa. And now YAMAHA joins in on the bandwagon, by incorporating what they call a D-mode selector that allows a choice of three engine-response maps. Where Suzuki's system directly affected the ECU settings, all the R1's D-mode system does is it alters the response from the Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle (YCC-T). The 'default' mode is the optimal one, the A-mode provides sharper responses from the throttle, whereas the B-mode is said to be 30% slower at all throttle responses.

Conclusion
It does not matter whether you believe what you have read about the machine till date. The all new Yamaha YZF-R1 provides a tremendous package that benefits new as well as seasoned Superbike riders alike. Yamaha has bought some of their MotoGP technology directly to the production bike through the amalgamation of the crossplane crankshaft and the R1. In doing this, what they have actually done is upped the competition by a notch, which means rich pickings for the bikers out there, I say! Yamaha - you have done it again!

P.S: A very special thanks to Amit and Yash, for coming so early in the morning, and for co-operating tremendously for the photo-shoot. Thanks guys for taking some time out from your busy schedule, exclusively for the photo-shoot of the 2010 Yamaha YZF-R1.






































Thanks,
-Aryan