TRACK ONLY

Yamaha’s YZF-R1 is the latest bike to fall foul of ever-tightening emissions regulations.

It’s a sad day for riders of a sporty disposition; the Japanese factory has confirmed it won’t be updating its R1 and R1M superbikes.

First launched in 1998, the R1’s had some serious success over the years – and holds a special place in the hearts and minds of riders far and wide. It’s had various changes over the years, but was last updated in 2020, when it was tweaked to become Euro 5 compliant. And yet, despite being a little long in the tooth compared to some of the competition, it’s still a winner.

And that’s probably why Yamaha’s decided the R1’s going to follow in the footsteps of the dearly departed R6 – and from 2025 will be available exclusively for use on track. No news as yet whether it’ll be the base model R1 or the fully-loaded, more expensive R1M.

There’s also been no official word about whether or not Yamaha will continue to shift its existing road-ready models. Technically they’re allowed to, under rules which allow them to register a limited number of non-conforming models.

It’ll be very interesting to see what comes out of Yamaha. While superbike sales aren’t massive, they are an important part of the market. We can’t see them not replacing the R1 in some way or other. Remember, the R6 was replaced by the R7, which was built from the bones of the MT-07. Could we see a new R9, built around the successful MT-09 format?

It’s looking increasingly likely… we’ve heard whispers for months, and there’s also been talk that an R9 prototype has been spinning laps at Misano. Will it be for the road? We don’t know. But with the R1 being slowly phased out, we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer for the lowdown.