GROUND-BREAKER

The time is right to buy Yamaha's class-defining litre bike.

- JON URRY

There is no need to introduce the 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1 4XV to  anyone who holds a motorcycle licence even less so if they are reading a magazine called Fast Bikes! This groundbreaking machine arrived 25 years ago (yes, really... 25 years ago!) and set the blueprint for the modern sportsbike.

A vertically-stacked gearbox, 17-inch wheels, inverted forks, monobloc brake calipers, long swingarm and more power than you could ever require - Yamaha got everything right when it designed the R1, and since then, all sportsbikes have copied the formula. But we are talking about a bike that is now a quarter of a century old, fed through carbs, and lacking anything in the way of electronic assists... does the R1 still feel special to ride nowadays? Special enough to pay in the £4000£6000 bracket required to get a good one? That's the thing about the R1 when you ride one, you will be amazed, because it feels, handles and performs just like a modern bike. And it looks far, far better!