Sublime bike! The only thing I would chop the old girl in for! But I'm committed for another season...
Rode one recently when I was looking to purchase an R1M and was thoroughly dissapointed. Turn in was shit, low down grunt was dissapointing, and the jurkiness of the fly by wire throttle was shocking. Unfortunately not for me. However does look good in red and white
Maybe I did get a bad one, however every reviewer has criticised the throttle response being extremely jerky......however maybe your a ridding God!! It may have been a great bike in isolation however I rode it back to back with a 2015 Aprilia RSV4 which obviously highlighted all of the R1 flaws. The RSV4 accelerates quicker, steers quicker and is such a better bike. I was so dissapointed with the R1 that I cancelled my order for an R1M. Unlike yourself I've owned various exotica in the past including Ducati 1098R and Desmosedici and have riden all of the latest offerings from Ducati, Suzuki, Yamaha, BMW along with the latest Kawasaki ZX10. As you said the "red and white R1 looks shit" and I think the blue and silver looks even worse. Sorry to dissapoint you, however if you haven't ridden a superior bike I'm sure you will love the R1.
I spoke to the owner of this one parked next to me at the local caff - no mention of jerky throttle and poor handling !
I tested one last year and the bikes sublime! Yeh if you have it in mode 1 around town it's a little snatcy, but in all fairness it wasn't designed to be ridden around urban towns! and if you spend most of your time ridding across villages or towns you really need to back it off so the throttle is a lot smother and progressive! Once your out on the open road it's simply breathtaking... And let's face it these bikes are designed to be fast aggressive and thrill you at warp speed! What I love about the R1 is the character of the engine! it's just simply a masterpiece! Put that together with a an amazing chassis brakes and electronics that would put most bikes to shame! The Aprillia is a stunning bike but in the real world I wouldn't want the drama of it going wrong or dealers issues and also I don't think the build quality is anywhere near as good as the R1...
