Look Back - First Impressions of the Yamaha R1 - Testing at Cadwell Park

A cold, damp and windy Cadwell certainly added to the usual eyeball popping shock of getting back out on a 1000cc superbike after only riding a 140cc pit bike for 6 months.

Despite history nearly repeating itself during the first flying lap of the first session with another riders engine letting go 3 bikes in front of me, leaving fluids at the gooseneck and shutting the track for the next 40 mins, the rest of the day was thankfully uneventful (for me at least) and was spent working to find the most comfortable riding position along with working through the various maps and modes the bike has to offer, off which there are a lot! All of which make noticeable differences to the riding experience and will be something I expect to be utilising more throughout the season.

I am very pleased and excited to get to know the bike over the coming season. The 2021 R1 is very different to ride in comparison to the ZX10 and will take some time to fully understand how to get the my best from it.

The main difference is that of the amount of torque on offer altering gear options through and out of the corners.

The latest engine is definitely stronger at the the top as it was a match for the other 1000s on track. One thing to adjust to is the engine note and when to change gear without hitting the limiter. At this early stage the engine note doesn’t peak like that of an inline 4 and coupled with the engine pulling hard up to the limiter it was easy to either change to early or too late.

Although conditions didn’t allow many hard laps, at this stage of the set up I felt mid corner and corner exit was strong whilst corner entry and the quicker changes of direction such as the chicane and hall bends felt more physical than the ZX10.

Sunday was spent focussing on trying to get as many laps in as possible with the weather conditions (read “not destroying wets on a damp track/destroying the bike on cuts!”) to knock the winter rust off rather than progressing any further with the bike setup.

Overall a successful test weekend not just getting familiar with the new R1 but also to remind us of all the off stuff track prep that’s required for a smoother, less stressful race weekend….such as remembering to pack more pillows for the caravan…

Finally on a noise note, the bike registered a 102.2db with the Yamaha Akrapovic road can and Leo-Vince silenced de-cat pipe and NO baffle 💪🏼