AUTO WORLD BIKERS

Mostly unchanged for 2010, the new-in-’09 Yamaha R1 came into our shootout much better prepared and with a rock-solid base set-up this time around. The boys in blue found that our handling problems last year were due in part to an unusual issue within the fork. And with that remedied, the Yamaha produced a much more consistent performance, the same one we were quite fond of at the 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 First Ride in Australia last year.

Nearly all those who threw a leg over the R1 found its suspension much more compliant than the previous bike. It was balanced, composed and worked in unison throughout the stroke. However, with a fork that would dive quite quickly under braking and a rear shock that transferred a great deal of weight led to mixed feelings about the Yamaha’s suspension. I can tell you without a doubt that the suspension is virtually perfect for street riding, but as a whole the R1 is still on the soft side when subjected to pure racetrack abuse.


“Like the BMW, the Yamaha forks were pretty solid until you put that extra load on them during some of the faster laps,” explains fast club-level racer Frankie Garcia. “The front end would push ever so slightly at a fast pace. Also, when braking into a corner hard the front end would dive a lot.”

Sorensen adds: “Again the rear was set up much more balanced this year. The bike had good attitude as you set it into the corner, tracking bumps well on the gas. But I think overall, I would like a more ridged set-up front and rear to give more feedback – it just transfers a great deal of weight no matter what one does when pushing hard.


Also receiving mixed views was the crossplane crankshaft engine. The smooth power delivery allows easy, graceful drives off the corners, no matter one’s skill level. Not to mention a unique sound that nearly everyone found soothing and easy on the ears. As for the mixed side: There’s a lack of top end. Other than the KTM, the R1 falls off the most up top when it’s being pushed hard. Even so, many rated the bike as being extremely easy to ride and it was mid-pack this year in terms of outright quickest lap times, a big leap forward from last year.

“One word: La-Z-Boy,” Hensley comments “That’s how this thing feels. Like a big, comfortable La-Z-Boy. Believe it or not, that’s a compliment. This is a bike that you know you could ride the hell out of if you chose to and it’s not going to bite you in the ass…It has really friendly power and I like the sound.”

Hutch agrees with Hensley. “I get along well with the R1. It is less intimidating than the GSX-R, Ninja or the BMW and that allows you to focus on riding a bit more and not stressing out so much about getting high-sided.”

Fast-guy Earnest’s impressions somewhat reflected those of the others as well, though he noticed some added seat-of-the-pants power compared to the ’09 bike. “The engine seems faster than last year’s test bike,” he says. “It has the easiest power delivery of the bunch, feeling more like a Twin than an Inline Four. But it just seems to take too long to rev out.”

This slow-building power showed up right away when we got the R1 up on Lee’s Cycle’s dyno, the bike turning the rear wheel to the tune of 150.89 hp and 76.55 lb-ft of torque. While nothing to scoff at, in this field it’s playing at the back of the pack. The performance numbers at El Toro were matching as the R1’s 10.22 ET @ 138.4 mph in the quarter-mile was at the rear of the group.

Some of this comes down to the fact that it’s tough to get a good launch thanks to its somewhat feeble clutch. The light clutch action is nice on the street and track but when it comes to hard drag strip launches it’s very difficult to keep it behaving correctly and as a result it posted the lowest elapsed time and speed through the trap. It’s also worth noting that by the end of our performance testing the clutch cable was adjusted all the way out, a telling sign that the clutch plates were on their final leg.


However back on the track, the Yamaha transmission and clutch scored right in the middle of the pack by our test riders; it held up to the day’s abuse without issue. A couple riders noted a slightly “mushy” feeling, while most of the others were impressed with the ease of lever operation and didn’t have the slightest issue.

“The Yamaha shifts quick and smooth, though I missed a downshift on corner entry, but that could have been my fault,” says Earnest. Sorensen’s comments were along the same line, the champ saying that the “Yamaha used to have a chunkier tranny, but all that is gone. It’s smooth, short-throw shifts; I had no complaints.”

But the brakes were an area where the R1 continued to struggle. While feel and feedback were better than last year, with a less wooden feel to them, the initial bite was lackluster and they had a tendency to fade over the course of long runs. As such, most riders found them to be merely average. And in this cutthroat group, average just doesn’t make the grade. The word “soft” came up often in the rider’s opinions. And out at El Toro its 133-foot braking distance from 60 mph was at the back of this tightly-packed bunch. Though one will note that six of the eight bikes were within 10 feet of each other and it was only 15 feet from first to last.


“Not bad brakes but a bit soft in the lever,” says Neuer of the R1. Hensley’s comments were nearly the exact same thing, adding that “the brakes are soft, kind of like everything else on the Yamaha. As a whole the bike just feels very relaxed.”

A look at the data shows middle-of-the-road acceleration numbers exiting Turn 6 at 0.66g, though coming out of the final, slower corner it struggled, with a best of 0.63g, putting it third from the back. Though despite the “soft” feeling brakes, it still produced some of the best braking g-force numbers going into Turn 14 at -1.21g.

But where the Yamaha shined was its class-leading maximum grip figure in Turn 2, sticking to the pavement at the tune of 1.2g as a result of the balanced set-up and solid chassis. Though it didn’t produce the highest grip in the final set of corners, the 1.3g it was capable of in Turn 15 put it at the pointy end of the field. It may not have been the easiest to get settled into a turn, but once on its side the chassis was a thing a beauty.

“As soon as both wheels were planted it was all good,” Earnest says. “It may have backed in a bit entering the corner, but once leaned over that R1 was very planted.”

It was also respectable down the front straight, reaching a top speed of 150.7 mph, which was right on par with the Kawasaki and the Aprilia, while ahead of the KTM and the Suzuki. All told the Yamaha ticked off a 1:57.55 as a best Superpole lap, landing it just outside mid-pack, though much closer to the competition than last year.


Even after a couple years in production, it’s still impossible not to talk about the sound that the Yamaha makes. More like a V-Twin and a V-Four mix than an Inline Four, there’s no question the R1 makes music to any motorcycle junkie’s ears.

How can you not love the way the Yamaha sounds? “It’s not like anything on this planet and every time it made a pass down the front straight it gave me tingles down my spine. I like the sound when hearing it from the sidelines as well as from the saddle. It’s almost soothing, makes me feel relaxed but fast when riding.”

As a purely track-based test, the stock Yamaha cannot compete for top honors. Its lower horsepower numbers, high curb weight and soft suspension held it back from running at the front both on the racetrack and at the airstrip during performance testing. And when it comes to an overall ranking, that’s the majority of how the track test is evaluated. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something special about the Yamaha. With its iconic R1 styling and the awesome sound of that unorthodox engine, there’s no question the Tuning Fork superbike exudes character from every last turn of the crossplane crank. We’ve liked this bike immensely since first riding it more than a year ago and nothing about that has changed. It’s just that in the company of this test on the racetrack the points happen to put it at the back of the class. As for on the street, well that’s a totally different story…

The Rocker or the Rocker C is the Custom Chopper created for the person that has cast a glancing view to the custom or chopper motorcycles that have populated the scene a few years back. The problem with some of the past customs or choppers was the price and reliability. Some of the custom designed parts, chopped frames and extended forks gave the creations a terrific profile, but, often times created riding and dependability problems. This is not to say that all customs and choppers had a problem, but there were some with problems and of course resale was always a concern for these special creations.


Now Harley has a factory custom chopper that has a lot of the upgrades without the extremes often associated with some of the creations of the past. Plus, it was engineered and designed for reliability and ride ability that very few people can create without the deep pockets of someone like Harley-Davidson. Now, with the Rocker, you can have your chopper profile, dependability and service ability with a huge selection of off the shelf performance and chrome upgrades.


What makes this a Harley is the Softail frame with a rigid mounted Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection 96B twin Cam, 6 Speed power plant. And of course all of the hand controls are the same throughout the line as for brake pedals and hand controls. It has a speedometer, no tach, with the turn signal and neutral indicators in a little display on the fuel tank.


What sets this beast apart from the standard line is the extended front forks and large 240 mm rear tire. The wheelbase of this custom is only about 5 inches longer (69.2 inches) than the standard Softail. Besides the chopper profile, they enhanced the custom look with a rear fender that hugs the oversized rear tire with custom wheels by mounting it to the swing arm and finished it with a nice color keyed frame.

On the Rocker C, if you haven’t noticed, they have what appears to be a solo design. But, should you get lucky, there is a passenger seat that is conveniently hidden under the solo seat. It appears to be a little torture pad. But should you need it, it could be your friend. Just a quick note about the seat; I rode the Rocker with it hidden under the seat and with it in place. Now for vanity reasons, you would want the hard solo look for bar hopping, but should you venture out on the road, with the seat in place, it actually gives a little lower back support for more comfort.

As you can see in the picture there is a stage one upgrade. This included new exhaust pipes and dyno tuned remapping. I recommend this upgrade for all Harleys, with the exception of the V-rod, for performance reasons. Pictured are the Vance and Hines Big Radius 2 into 2 Black pipes that sell for $799.22. This is a great upgrade.


I have ridden choppers in the past and never really like the ride. It was a full time job to manage that 300 rear tire over uneven pavement and speed bumps and the turning radius was poor when you turn around or when maneuvering around in a parking lot. Climbing on the Rocker the first thing that I noticed was the nice low seat. Your feet are flat on the ground and with your legs bent, you have the feeling that you are wearing the bike rather than just sitting in it. After grabbing the slightly curved back handlebars on risers, I noticed that they had internal wiring. That gave it a very nice clean look. But not to be distracted with the great look of this new toy, I wanted to find out if this machine really rides like any of the Harley’s that I have ever been on.

Surprisingly, after getting out of the parking lot, I noticed very little difference from most of the softails that I have been on in the past. The upgraded Vance and Hines pipes sounded great and low end torque increase from the stock Softail was noticeable. The steering was light and easy. It was nothing like some of the choppers from the past.

The Twin Cam B power plant is very smooth, even with setting at idle stopped. After negotiating some nice long curves on the back roads, you notice that you lean a little more then on some of the shorter wheel base machines. Then with a slight twist of the grip, the extra low-end torque really felt good powering out of corners. This is a very easy to ride custom. Just to see if there were any problems with turning, I slowed to a crawl and made a u-turn on a two lane, it was a piece of cake.

After finding an on-ramp to the local freeway, I was able to find the throttle limit and was pleasantly surprised at the power. Straight as a rocket, you could easily find a three digit number by the time you have to merge with traffic. Then of course, you have to grab a little brake to blend into with all of the cages. On the freeway, it rides like a dream. With the sixth gear, you can idle down the road with ease and you always have plenty of power.

I rode this Rocker on curvy roads to interstate riding and, at all times, found that this little Rocker was a champ and a pleasure to ride. It is obviously not a cruiser, nor is it a Buell, but you could spend the day on the bike and feel great at days end. What really sets this ride apart is the styling. Even with the exotic styling, for a Harley, it is a very tame ride when compared to the old style hardtail choppers. It is a ride that you want to be seen on.

The radial engine is a thing of beauty and it looks like several other folks think the same thing. After I posted the radial motorcycle yesterday, I contacted Rotec Engineering, makers of these 7 cylinder radial engines, and according to them, there are at least 4 of these projects in various stages of completion at the present time. Yesterday's bike and this one as well seem to be a bit short of running. I see no provisions for exhaust yet and no front brakes. This bike has no handlebars either so we're still in the building stage. At first glance, you wonder if these guys are serious but these do seem to be real works in progress.


Additional closeup photos on yesterday's post show exhaust pipes behind the engine and at least a foot brake pedal so it may be running as is.

This longitudinal engine arrangement seems more natural for a motorcycle, better clearance for cornering, however, cooling the rear cylinders would definitely be a problem. Yesterday's transverse arrangement is great for cooling and correct for the engine's design but it presents clearance problems, not only straight up for the bottom cylinder but when leaned in either direction, as well.



 I can't believe these bikes will be much more than showpieces when done, who could actually ride them? Still, I think radial engines are among the best looking engines ever designed and these Rotecs are small enough to put in all sorts of different things, airplanes look great with a big radial out front but there are always cars, trucks, boats, you name it. But you have to give these guys credit, a radial engined motorcycle, superb!