There was a time when a motorcyclist's go-to ego booster was destroying a car in a drag race that cost 10 times the price of his/her bike.
You can head out and pick up a 2025 Yamaha R1 for a shade less than $19,000, and it'll have almost a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. It weighs around 200 kg (440) and puts out 197 hp, which means you'll hit 60 mph in three seconds flat and will be bouncing off the rev limiter at 188 mph not much later.
The recipe has remained largely unchanged since this generation of R1 launched in 2015, and it might be the last iteration we ever see.
The R1 is being discontinued in the EU, as we've seen with countless supersports and superbikes from other manufacturers. But this hurts a bit more than some of the other models we've seen laid to rest because the R1 is synonymous with superbikes. Realistically, this means we probably won't see much in terms of development going forward. So, putting up against some of the most ridiculous hypercars on the planet seems like a harsh but fair send-off.
Enter Ferrari's SF90, which sports a turbocharged hybrid powertrain that puts out 986 hp and gets to 60 mph in about 2.3 seconds. Oh, yeah, and costs just shy of $600,000. Alongside the SF90 is Porsche's Taycan Turbo GT, which can produce up to 1,019 hp and get to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds thanks to its all-electric powertrain, but this only costs $230,000 or the price of 12 R1s.
Is the era of superbikes dominating everything we're likely to see on the road dead and gone? And are there any production bikes that you think could have taken the win against the Taycan and SF90?
All I have to say is: The R1 is dead. Long live the R1.
