[skygodmatt]

I went on a ride with a buddy and his hopped up Yamaha R1. We were doing power wheelies at low speeds.
We were cruising at 115 mph and he was in third gear.
He was 4 feet from me as I watched him throttle up.
His bike did a huge power wheelie and he set it down at 140. I saw his left hand. He used no clutch. I never thought those things had enough for a clutchless wheelie at that speed.

I love to power wheelie my Speedy but hot dam those R1's have SOOO much power it's outright scary.

 

[mnhoulden]

Soooooooooo...what are you trying to sell Yami's here?! :Cigar:

 

[skygodmatt]

LOL...no....but I thought is really cool seeing a velvet wheelie at 140mph. That's something I've never done on my S3. We are known for wheelies but not really at that speed. He tells me he has 165-170 hp at the wheel. Now, how the heck can a rider manage that on the street?

 

[kmannth]

Sounds like a newer R1.

The reality is they have a ton of power. They are lighter and have a bit more power than a stock S3.

Might look into a zx14 or current busa if you want to be in the HP wars or different sprockets on your current bike.

Have Fun!

 

[skygodmatt]

Uh...ya...just a bit more power. No wonder these kids highside these all the time. One blip when you're leaned over and the back end kicks loose. I would require traction control of some sort if I owned one.
Speedy has just the right amount of power for me.

 

[kmannth]

I really think there is some thing just about right at the 100 -130 HP at the rear wheel and street motos. I am sure it is fun to ride the big hp machines but really where are we going?

I can see it if you are on the track and racing but if you want a street bike to ride everyday day I just don't see it.

 

[skygodmatt]

I really think there is some thing just about right at the 100 -130 HP at the rear wheel and street motos. I am sure it is fun to ride the big hp machines but really where are we going?

....to the hospital is where we're going.

 

[Darkhorse]

I rode with a guy on an R1 who did the same thing. It's insane.

He complained a lot about the throttle by wire though. He said at a certain rpm, he had a major power increase which made wheelies more dangerous.

Gotta love Speedy's linear power.

 

[espresso]

r1? shoot. anybody ridden one of the zx-10s? Went wot in 3rd on one of the earlier ones and i really think i peed a little.:wideeyed: My kz has more power then those do, but the weight and the 135 rear tire makes it entertaining in a slightly different way.

 

[TripleZ]

^^^^ My friends got a ZX12 (The good year). Its stupidly fast and the acceleration is unbelievable. That was the year before speed and acceleration limiters. So its technically faster than the Busa. But the longer swing arm makes it heavy in corners and difficult to power wheelie.

Power is nice, but too much makes riding corners way too much work as the bike is twitchy. Too little power, and you have to shift all the time. Speedy has just about the right match. If it had some more top end it would be perfect.

 

[Cole]

I currently own a 2007 R1, a 1998 Speedy and a SV650.

To be honest I have not ridden my Speedy yet as I am custom building it from the ground up, so I can't really give a side by side comparison.


I can tell you that the R1 is a love/hate type of thing.

180hp/380lb bike is cool......to a point.


Handling is awesome.


1st gear redlines at 105mph......not a typo.....105mph is the 1st gear red line.

0-70mph the bike is quick, but so smooth it does not "feel" all that fast.

70-105mph it will rip your arms out of the sockets.

The power is addictive, orgasmic, but horribly placed in the power band for a street riden bike. The only time you can enjoy it is a felony speeds.

You can gear it down to enjoy the power a bit lower, but riding over the cross walk stripes is enough of a bump to send the front end skyward.

It's a bit like bringing a nuclear weapon to a knife fight. A bit too much overkill to really enjoy riding it in traffic. I honestly have more fun on teh SV650 around town. I am hoping the Speedy is so much more fun to ride I can sell the R1.