Yamaha (YZF) - THE NEW R1
It was a rainy night in Milan, but that in no way dampened the mood at Yamaha, which trotted out MotoGP star Valentino Rossi to ride the long-awaited 2015 YZF-R1 onto stage at the big launch party held the night before the EICMA motorcycle show opened. And what an impressive bike this new R1 appears to be, a seriously sporty new Yamaha flagship that goes on sale in February/March priced at $16,490. For that sum, you’ll be getting a potent and highly capable motorcycle that can throw down some fast laps at your local track day and then be ridden home. And it’s in that role as a street-legal race bike that the new R1 will almost certainly shine, thanks to a lightweight aluminum chassis (with a magnesium subframe) and an all-new 998cc four-cylinder engine that puts out “approximately 200 horsepower” at the crankshaft. Yamaha, of note, makes it clear that the 200 mark is reached without any ram-air effect. Also, good, linear to...