2006 Motorcycles

[Yamaman]

Whilst all these big capacity bikes make for exciting reading, I'm kind of glad Yamaha hasn't got involved in it all and have stuck to perfecting the 1 litre engine. It seems anything bigger becomes a disadvantage when it comes to handling. Ok I know some riders just can't get enough horsepower, but hell the R1 is supposed be good for around 185hp (with ram air) and only weighs in at 173kg and is capable of speeds around 300kph.

Whilst the other manufacturers are going for brute capacity, Yamaha is continually refining the R1's power/cc and handling. Virtually every review I have read about the R1 has praised it's excellent frame rigidity, precise handling, braking and weight balance.

[willi]

the white & black R1 looks cool.

[djalbin]

Tim wrote ...

Now imagine that with chrome spinners..... I'm going to have to go by there and see if I can get a pic of it.

Spinners on a R1 ? That's got to look ugly. There are not many sportbikes that can look good in black-n-white or black-n-yellow like the R1 ... but spinners?

I saw a Hayabusa with spinners in a MTV video that looked good. Hip Hop video with a custom Hayabusa setting still and they zoom in on the front wheel spinner for a second. That's about the only time I have seen spinners on a sportbike that looked half-way presentable (static display in a Hip Hop music video).

Jason,
I knew the black-n-white was not factory but it looked too good to not post it. Not many sportbikes look that good in plain black-n-white.

Don

[djalbin]

Here's a shot of the new ZXR14 Kawasaki. In this shot you could mistake it in your rear view mirror as:
1) Batman's Batcycle
2) Darth Vader's bike
3) Alien space scooter
4) ???



Don