Bikes

2009 Yamaha R1 Reportedly Heavier and Less Powerful than the 2007 R1

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Performance Bikes magazine is reporting that their independently conducted dyno tests show that the 2009 Yamaha R1 makes less power and torque than the 2007 R1. Furthermore, Performance Bikes also got a chance to throw the 2009 R1 onto a scale, and found that the bike weights more than the 2007 version as well. In the liter-bike class its all about stronger and lighter, crossplane crankshaft or not, so is the 2009 R1 all its cracked up to be?

PB found that the 2009 R1 made 156hp and 76 lbs•ft of torque at the rear-wheel. Using the same dyno, and just days apart from the 2009 bike run, the 2007 recorded 162hp and 78 lbs•ft at the rear-wheel. That’s a 6hp and 2 lbs•ft difference up top , and the 2009 doesn’t answer back until below 4,7000RPM’s. Furthermore, in the midrange, between 5,500 and 8,000RPM’s, the 2007 R1 makes 9hp over the 2009.

While Yamaha doesn’t quote an official dry weight for the 2009 R1, it does list the bike as being 454lbs wet. Performance Bikes emptied the fluids from both bikes, and weighed them. With, no oil, gas, or radiator fluid, the 2009 R1 weighs weighed 390lbs, while the 2007 R1 weighed 381lbs, 9 pounds less.

We’d love to see Performance Bikes weights and measures verified from another source, specifically on same-day dyno runs, but the information at hand certainly is something to chew on. Other things to consider is bike-to-bike differences, motor break-in and wear, and good old-fashioned human error. Until someone can account for all these factors, we’ll reserve our final judgment on the 2009 R1. But for true track riders, the ultimate measure is a stopwatch timing the bike around the track.

For those who will really use the R1 for what it was designed to do, could the tractability of the crossplane shaft make up for the difference in spec sheet benchmarking?

Source: PB Mag Forum via Hell for Leather

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