Yamaha YZF-R1 5PW

This month I want to state the ‘Coming Classic’ case for one of the best-looking bikes to ever come from Japan. The Yamaha YZF-R1 is now 20 years old and was built to best the Honda CBR900RR Fireblade. That it did in 1998’s 4XV guise, giving way to an updated (150 changes) 5JJ model in 2000, but this was the big change and it’s now sweet 16. The 5PW used a new frame (Deltabox III) featured an updated 998cc motor and new chassis parts. At the heart of the bike was the engine. For years the R1 was one of the sweetest carb’d bikes around. Yamaha had mastered the art by the late 1990s, but carburettors were suddenly old hat. For 2002, the new R1 featured a high-tech suction-piston type fuel injection system – a first for a production bike at the time. This was mated to a lightweight ECU system and Yamaha’s well-proven EXUP four-stroke powervalve system to ensure spot-on throttle response and optimum power across the whole rev-range, up to a 11,500rpm redline – which came in with a flicker from the new ‘blue’ shift light… Chassis-wise the Yamaha now had a stiffer frame and swingarm, allied to improved suspension front and rear and reworked brakes (now more ‘gold-spots’ than ‘blue-spots.’) This wholesale upgrade of the basic R1 package was well needed, as – in 2001 – the R1’s thunder had been stolen by Suzuki’s GSX-R1000 K1 and the ‘new’ CBR954RR Fireblade was about to make its appearance in 2002, the same year the new 5PW made its debut. If the power (152bhp claimed) and wheelbase (1395mm same as the old R1) didn’t seem to show any advancement on the previous version (these stats were identical to the outgoing model’s) the looks surely did… The 5PW looked like nothing else from Japan. The machine still looked like an R1, with that lupine lilt to the headlights and chassis-hugging swoopy bodywork, but the bike had – perhaps – moved towards a more beguiling feminine look, rather than the previously butch one. They even gave it saucy single colours at launch: blue or a beguiling silver. Back in 2002 when it came to the winners of the group tests it was confusing: many still rated the GSX-R K1 as the ultimate litre-class sportsbike, while others claimed the sweetly-harmonised power and handling of the 954cc Fireblade gave this bike the edge while others plumped for the Yam. Today that heady blend can be yours – but at a price. With the first model R1s now peaking at around £5k or more, the 5PW starts at around £2500 for a rough one and around £4k for a low(ish) mileage one.