The 2004 Yamaha YZF-R1, Project Bike

The 2004 Yamaha YZF-R1, I bought it as crashed wrack 2 years ago, it turned into a recovery project of 2 years, and will never sell it. I'm besotted with its styling and power delivery. One day though, I'll have to face the question – what is there left to do – the Yamaha R1 is near perfect.

Before the raining season started, I made a to-do list for the Yamaha: Better brakes – bigger discs and new multipad front calipers. Bridge wires on the EXUP valve to stop the display showing an error code. Hoard more parts.

Then if I look back what I actual did on work on the Yamaha is much more then the short above list. I fitted new wheels bearings to light weight Marchesini wheels bough on Ebay, got the new bearings from a Chinatown bearing shop – much cheaper. Got the new wheels blast cleaned and repainted. Got new Pirelli Diablo Corsa III's tires – I never ride motorcycle in the rain. I fitted lightweight AP rear brake caliper. Make a rear caliper hanger for AP item. Fitted racier looking lightweight Harris clip-on bars. Fitted new Micron exhaust system, the crushed downpipes were irreparable. Sorted out new radiator bracket to ensure it clears the new exhaust.

Remember not to do wild jumps over humpback bridges in the average older moobaans. I also got new sprocket made to fit the new wheels. The sprocket that came with them is for a thinner section, lightweight racing chain. Cleaned all the crap off the inside of the swingarm while the wheel was out and measured it to see if I could find some sort of misalignment (which was basically a stupid idea).

I still need to get it re-dyno tested to check it's running okay with its new exhaust. But probably I first going to check the valve clearances. Should have this done up-coming weekend.

Additional to the outsourcing the dyno-test, I found that the nice looking wheels need some serious balancing. And of course need to find a good paint-shop who can get the original Yamaha blue color back.