After providing as much speculation, information and product renderings to readers as possible, we can finally spill the beans on the much anticipated R1. Yamaha has pulled out all the stops with a ground-up re-do of its iconic literbike. New bits abound, including its styling, chassis and, most intriguingly, a MotoGP-derived firing order of its innovative engine.
In the top class of roadracing, engineers have battled with harnessing the huge amounts of power and getting it to the ground efficiently. In 2004, Yamaha’s GP engineers introduced an uneven firing interval for its inline four-cylinder M1 with what’s called a cross-plane crankshaft. Instead of the two outer and two inner pistons rising and falling together, the R1’s engine has individual cylinders firing 90 degrees apart from each other. This eliminates the torque fluctuation of a typical four-cylinder mill, plus it gives the Yamamotor a very distinctive exhaust note similar to that of Valentino Rossi’s racebike.
“It gives a much more precise feeling in the throttle action,” says Yamaha’s product planner Derek Brooks. “You feel like you can sense that edge of traction.”
In the top class of roadracing, engineers have battled with harnessing the huge amounts of power and getting it to the ground efficiently. In 2004, Yamaha’s GP engineers introduced an uneven firing interval for its inline four-cylinder M1 with what’s called a cross-plane crankshaft. Instead of the two outer and two inner pistons rising and falling together, the R1’s engine has individual cylinders firing 90 degrees apart from each other. This eliminates the torque fluctuation of a typical four-cylinder mill, plus it gives the Yamamotor a very distinctive exhaust note similar to that of Valentino Rossi’s racebike.“It gives a much more precise feeling in the throttle action,” says Yamaha’s product planner Derek Brooks. “You feel like you can sense that edge of traction.”
