#Yzf-r1

If you’re like us, then you must be salivating over the 2015 literbike prospects. With no less than eight new bleeding-edge sportbikes on the table from both European and Japanese marques, the bar is being raised in the quest for track domination or, in the case of the Kawasaki H2 and H2R, simply having the rider experience intense acceleration like they’ve never felt before. However, there’s an interesting trend in the method in which each manufacturer is going about upping the literbike ante. More and more, a greater emphasis is placed on technology and electronics rather than hardware. Sure, hardware isn’t being ignored, but with today’s bikes making so much power, being able to harness it effectively is of utmost importance.

Rules are rules when it comes to racing, but Yamaha’s new YZF-R1 – the star of EICMA 2014 for some of us – doesn’t have to follow any of them. Things get coy when you ask how much horsepower a factory Superbike makes, and Yamaha USA doesn’t even care to divulge horsepower numbers for an off-the-shelf R1. Its European counterparts, though, make no bones about it: 200 PS, they say, which is about 197 crankshaft horsepower in a 439-pound package that looks a lot like the one Vale rides.

We knew there were a couple new R1s coming, we reported about them in our Top 10 Bikes To See At EICMA, and here they officially are: The new YZF-R1 and limited-edition YZF-R1M. Yamaha says the two R1 models will have as big an impact on sportbikes as the original R1 had nearly two decades ago. Hyperbole we’ll examine later, but there’s certainly a lot to be excited about with these new liter class weapons. Electronics is the name of the performance game nowadays and the R1 is awash in electrons. Like Ducati’s Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) reported earlier this morning, and similar in concept to the system first seen on KTM’s 1190 Adventure, Yamaha is now boasting one of its own. The six-axis IMU is responsible for banking-sensitive Traction Control, as well as Slide Control, and Anti-Wheelie Control. The 2015 R1 also boasts a quickshifter, Launch Control, ABS, and a Unified Braking System.

EICMA, the biggest motorcycle show of the year, is just around the corner. Hosted in Milan, EICMA is the international stage where the major (and some minor) manufacturers will reveal their new models. This week’s Top 10 is all about bikes we’re excited to see at the show. Truth be told, there are more than 10 bikes to choose from – Husqvarna’s three street models, and a possible KTM 1050 Adventure, are just a few which barely missed the cut. That said, the 10 we’ve gathered here have us truly excited for the year to come in motorcycling. Keep it here starting November 3, as the MO team brings you all the action from EICMA as it happens.

I’m often asked which motorcycle is my favorite, which is actually impossible to answer without a for-what-purpose addendum. But during a conversation last week, an acquaintance put a different spin on the question by asking: Which motorcycles are most memorable to you?