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 ! 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
