Unique Sounds of the New Yamaha R1
by Kevin Duke
January 7th, 2009 3:47 PM
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An exhaust note like no other streetbike
When Yamaha announced its new R1 literbike last fall, company reps told us about the tractability assets of its new, MotoGP-derived crossplane crankshaft for the four-cylinder engine. It’s unique in that cylinders fire 90-degrees apart, allegedly enabling better grip during acceleration.
A byproduct of this design is an exhaust note that is distinctive in this world of cookie-cutter designs. The new R1 sounds most like a V-Four engine, although it also has sonic elements of a V-Twin and a traditional inline-Four.
We’ll be sampling it for ourselves next week, but in the meantime let me direct you to a couple of YouTube videos in which you can hear the engine now.
Here’s a European promo video that includes comments from none other than MotoGP God Valentino Rossi:
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For a better look at the bike, plus some more sounds, check out this other Yamaha-produced video:
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
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We’re getting our bags packed for a trip to sample the distinctive new R1 at Eastern Creek in Australia. We’ll have a full report for you next week, so stay tuned!
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