BOOTHY YAMAHA YZF-R1M
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN…
It’s been a pretty exciting month for the R1M and me. The annual Yamaha Racing Experience (YRE) event, exclusively for R1M owners, was held at Silverstone circuit, and as an R1M ‘owner’ (I wish), I was invited along. It’s a two-day event with day one being dedicated to learning how all the tech on the R1M works, via a series of workshops and a chance to talk to some of Yamaha’s top technical wizards, and day two a chance to put everything you have learned into practice around the iconic Silverstone Arena GP circuit – the perfect proving ground for the R1M.
Once we’d arrived at Silverstone, we were invited to unload our bikes into the ginormous ‘Wing’ pit boxes, before signing on and making our way up to a huge conference hall above the pits where we all took a seat and enjoyed complimentary refreshments. First to take the stage was Jeff Turner, of Yamaha UK, he told us why Silverstone is such an important place and why the YRE was to be held there. We had a quick briefing from a Silverstone representative who ran us through the circuit and then Paul Mills and Richard Brendish from Öhlins talked us through the EC2 electronic suspension that comes on the 2018 R1M – there is a lot to the EC2 system so it was great to have it explained in an easy to understand way, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
We had a presentation from Philipe Bigot, technical engineer at Yamaha Motor Europe, where we were taught about the Yamaha Ride Control and the data logging capabilities of the 2018 R1M and then finally a brief bit about Bridgestone tyres from Gary Hartshorne, which was really interesting. After that we were loaded into buses and taken for a lap round the circuit, before being taken to the posh hotel that Yamaha were putting us up in.
There was just enough time for a quick shower before heading down for the five course meal. There were about 20 tables, each with a Yamaha Racing Superstar, and I opted to sit on a table with BSB racer (and old mate of mine) Shaun Winfield. Other big names included Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark (Yamaha World Superbike riders), Josh Brookes and Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha BSB riders), and even Legendary TT Star John McGuinness – to name but a few. The evening host was James Hayden, who briefly chat to the pro riders on stage.
It was a fantastic evening, but what I was really looking forward to was getting out on track. The early morning rain put a bit of a dampener on the first session but it soon dried up and before long the track was bone dry. With 30 or so riders per group on a big track like Silverstone, it was as though you had the circuit to yourself. I felt every bit the MotoGP rider. I would come in, make a few adjustments on the EC2 and then go back out to see if I could feel the difference (if you’re interested, I dialled a little bit more brake support and a bit more acceleration support into the system, and I did make a noticeable difference, for the better) and when I had two official Yamaha technicians remove my wheels for me so I could have some new Bridgestone R11s fitted, I very nearly gizzed in my GP rider wannabe pants.
When you spend £20k on a bike with all the tech that the R1M comes with, you really want to make the most of it, and that is why the YRE is so great. Yamaha want you to understand all the systems on your bike so that you can get the very best out of. And if that’s not enough you get to spend a couple of days with a bunch of world class bike racers on a world class racing circuit. What an treat, thank you, Yamaha.