YAMAHA YZF-R1M
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Getting dirty.”
Istill absolutely love the R1M. In fact I always will; it will always have a special place in my heart. And I know I banged on last month about how I’m not going to stop riding just because Jack Frost may or may not rear his ugly head, what the past month has taught me is that frostbitten fingers, umpteen layers of sodden riding gear and 70mph aquaplaning doesn’t put me off riding the R1M during the winter months. What does put me off though is covering the apple of my eye, the love of my life and the best thing that’s ever happened to me since accidentally discovering masturbation, in thick layers of mud, slime and road salt. It breaks my heart to see such a beautiful machine utterly mired after one blast, even on a dry day. I can’t do it anymore. The bike has been far too good to me in the eight months that I have been in charge of it to treat it like that. I just can’t.
To say I have enjoyed my time with the R1M would be quite the understatement. I’ve used it for commuting to work, trackdays, I’ve done a ton of laps round the Isle of Man TT course on it and I’ve even used it to get to a Tinder date (a reasonably successful Tinder date too, in case you were interested, although I’m not showing you a picture of her… I think it was female, anyway), and throughout, the ‘Rimmer’ has been the perfect companion. Not once has the big Yam failed to start (except for that time, or two, when I ran out of fuel), not once has anything tried to rattle loose, not once has anything snapped or broken – I know I’m only eight months and 3,925 miles into R1M ‘ownership’ but I’m sure we all have mates who have suffered multiple break-downs in such a period. No such trouble with the Yam.
As far as hang-ups go with the Yamaha, my only real one, even after all this time riding it, would be the brakes. Not so much the brakes themselves, more the ABS. I am sorry to bang on about them but it really does let the package down. Fear not though, there is a way to disable the system – a wheelie long enough to stop the front wheel will normally confuse the electronics enough to turn the ABS off. Or you could just yank the ABS fuse out, but where is the fun in that?
There are so many great things about the R1 that I have really enjoyed showing off to all my mates (and dates), like the YRC (Yamaha Ride Control) Setting App which allow you to adjust the engine and suspension settings wirelessly on your iPad (other tablets are available, probably), the GPS data logging system and the carbon fibre bodywork. My favourite thing about the R1M, though, has been the motor. It’s incredible. The thing pulls like a train on Nos being driven by a pre-accident Michael Schumacher (because that would make all the difference), every twist of the wrist has filled me with joy aboard the Rimmer and I have never ever ridden a bike that has encouraged (and facilitated) me to pull such a quantity of quality wheelies.
But like all good things my time with the R1 has had to come to an end. I’ve grown rather attached to it and I’ll be very sad to see it go, but I’m sure that whoever gets their hands on it next will love it just as much as I have, do and always will.