Thoughts on the new bike after the first 6 weeks:
Compared to my old 2006 R1 the riding position is very similar, as are all of the controls. I even did a straight swap from old bike to new with my Pazzo levers.
Gear change was very notchy for the first few hundred miles but has improved now. I still had to adjust the angle of the lever and rear brake lever as I did on the old bike to suit by riding position.
After liking the idea of different modes initially, I now think it’s a pain in the arse as standard mode seems to lack some ‘umph’ when I need it suddenly and it takes too long to throttle off, flick the switch to A mode then throttle on again. When you start the bike it’s always in standard mode so I can’t just leave it in A mode all the time. I realise now that it was easier to dial in the ‘umph’ with your right wrist. [*]
Low speed throttle control isn’t as smooth as before which really bugs me in London traffic, but maybe I just need to get used to it.
It wheelies nicely along Hammersmith flyover in 3rd gear, allegedly.
Turning in is much faster and stability whilst banked over is much improved over the '06 but not sure if that’s the new suspension or the tyres, which are Dunlop D210.
It has the same amount of room under the rear seat, so bugger all really.
The tools (usual useless type always supplied with bikes) are in their own plastic box under the front seat just in front of the battery. There is an allen key under the rear seat / seat cover to take the front seat off.
Getting 120-150 miles on a tank depending on what mood I’m in 
It’s got an MPG meter on the dash. How many R1 owners / riders care about fuel efficiency?
http://www.theredline.co.uk/2009r1/index.html
[*] In the summer of 2006 I was invited along to the Yamaha offices at Brooklands to meet the R1 project team who were over visiting from Japan. I sat with half a dozen other experienced R1 owners and we gave our opinions on what we liked and didn’t like in the bike at the time. some of the suggestions have been adopted for the 2009 model and I suggested switchable fuel maps. May not have been the only person to suggest it but I now wish I hadn’t.
