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Finished fixing up my mate's R1 that he highsided outside our house a couple of weekends ago and took it out for a test ride today. I don't really get on with focussed sportsbikes, I find them too uncomfortable, and this was no exception. Cramped knees, bent double back ache, low narrow bars, bleagh! But, at least I could get both my feet down while sat on it, that doesn't happen for me on a lot of bikes, and the seat is quite comfy.

Don't like the ergonomics really then. How about the new engine? The cross-plane crank motor is a force to be reckoned with. It really does pull like a twin at low revs, first gear is very tall, the only gear you need round town, and requires plenty of clutch and rear brake action to keep it smooth when in traffic and negotiating mini roundabouts. The throttle action isn't very nice at all down here actually, town work and village limits on part throttle make the bike hunt and buck and lurch quite alarmingly if you're a bit ham-fisted with the throttle, made all the worse if the road's a bit bumpy. I can see why my mate highsided it at 20mph.

But it's not a town bike, we know that. For smooth controllable power the revs need to be kept up. Much like the Aprilia twins there's a sweet spot at about 5000rpm where the power really starts to come in, unlike the Aprilia twins, past 9,000rpm it gets stronger and stronger and more and more manic right up to the 14,000rpm redline. My Falco has a fair amount of shove, and from about 4000 to 7000 revs they felt very similar in terms of torque, but get above 8000 rpm and the acceleration on the R1 had my hairline receding and the skin peeling of my eyeballs.

Great on a track, but unless you're going to go flat out up a motorway, or ride around in 3rd and 4th gear the whole day (which I did try for a bit and quite enjoyed), you'll rarely see any of the real power on the road. By the time the motor has really picked it's skirts up, it's time to slow down again for a corner, or traffic, or a change of underwear. Oh, and it sounds fantastic, like a little Ferrari.

The handling is very nice, it holds a line well and the suspension did a grand job, the rear being more compliant than my Ohlins unit and the front being firmer and more controlling than my Marzocchi forks. The steering did feel a bit ponderous, but I'm used to the wider bars and lighter OZ wheels on my Falco. Brakes are awesome, best I've tried yet.

Good bike for me? Ummmmmm. Not really. Far too uncomfortable and I really didn't like the low down snatchy throttle response. Once it gets going the motor's fantastic, but I didn't really need anything above 9000rpm, there's easily power enough below this for the fast A and B road riding that I like.

If I had to have one I'd fit wider higher bars, lighter wheels, lower pegs, louder cans, get the low end fuelling sorted out with a custom map and probably never need to take it over 10000 rpm. But then my Falco does all that for me already.

Cheers Nooj.

Seems a sensible assesment! How anyone is going to get the benefit of the Xtra 30 to 40BHP over a Falco on the road baffles me.

Good low down and midrange response is for every day, nice to get a kick above 7K every now and then but a bike like the R1 is only going to start delivering where the likes of a Falco runs out. On todays roads there lies madness.......

I've seen a couple of fellas pick those things up onto the back wheel at 70 - 80 MPH and it looks impressive but I'm not sure I'd want to be doing that very often.

I've not had much experiense of the big I4's. I've had a couple of good rides on my brother's Exup powered Bimota which I loved but not because it was any better anywhere than the Falco. I should be out on a friends GSXR 1000 in a couple of weeks so maybe after that I'll be changing my tune.

There was a point where I was pulling hard in 4th from about 60 to 80 and the front wheel was starting to skip off ripples in the road I had to slow down though as there was a corner coming up.

It's the first 'proper' IL4 litre sportsbike I've ridden, I can definitely see why people buy them as track tools, but on the road 90% of the time a 600 Fazer would easily keep up and be far easier to ride.

It is an astounding motor though, from 4000 - 14000rpm is just non-stop acceleration, no dips or drop offs in power, the further up you go the harder it pulls.

Although I don't need another 40bhp it has highlighted how soon my Falco does run out of puff (about 8000rpm and the power quickly drops off) one thing I will be doing to the Falco is extending the useful rev range and giving it a bit more top end power, I already have the 54mm TB's to go on, but need funds for 54mm stacks, injector gaskets and a fuel map.

throttle bodies make a big difference

what was the engine brakeing like.

engine braking was like an IL4. One thing that really stood out, the rear brake is amazing compared to Aprilia's effort. In fact I've ridden bikes with weaker front brakes than that! And apart from the traditional Yamaha WHACK! into first, the gearbox is nice and precise, nowhere near as clunky as the Rotax box.


Hmmm, think I may have to have another go on it....