Vo Knows

R1 Time, Baby!

I’m in the middle of packing my bags as I type this, but I had to stop and share my joy with you readers. Yep, off the Land Down Under to ride the all-new 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1. It’s hard not to be excited about it – giddy in fact. The track of choice is Eastern Creek, just outside of Sydney, Australia, and we will have an entire day flogging our own personal R1, not to mention two mechanics servicing our every request. Not to rub it in, but it really doesn’t get much better, does it? (For more info check out my First Look here)

A few weeks back at Yamaha's annual Media Day, I was talking to former AMA Superbike Champion and current Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies about the bike, which he had just tested for the first time in Portugal a few days prior. With an almost totally stock engine and some kit suspension he was within a few tenths of Troy Bayliss’ race lap record. Now that’s impressive. He couldn’t stop talking about the engine with its crossplane crank and firing order; said it’s like a V-Twin down low and an In-line Four up top. How is that even possible? Ben Bostrom was there as well, having just returned from riding it at Daytona for the tire test, and was saying the exact same thing: "It feels like my Ducati 999 Superbike down low but with a screaming top-end. And it sounds just awesome," he commented.

Needless to say, I’m like a little kid waiting to go berserk in a candy store. Except this candy store is a 15-hour flight away! But hopefully it’s well worth the wait. We will keep you updated with blogs and photos live from the event and a full report January 19th. Stay tuned, as we will see what the hype is all about in a matter days!