While Kawasaki has been making headlines with the H2 and the H2R, Yamaha has refreshed its popular YZF-R1 for 2015, and has added another model to the YZF-R lineup called the YZF-R1M, hot on the heels of its rival in the green cloak.

The R1 uses a newly designed 998cc in-line four-cylinder, four-valve liquid cooled engine with a crossplane crankshaft. The engine has been designed to be lighter and slimmer than the one on the outgoing models, and the design focuses on increased air intake volumes and reduced horsepower loss – this engine mills out a healthy 197.27bhp of power. This is an increase of approximately 17.75bhp over the outgoing model, says Yamaha. The internal mechanical parts have been made lighter to achieve this decrease in weight and loss of less horsepower.For example, the connecting rods have been lightened by making them out of titanium alloys, “which strikes a good balance between weight, strength, and processability”.

These new Yamahas come with electronics galore. Optional on the YZF-R1, and standard on the R1M is a Communication Control Unit, which is used to “heighten the rider-machine interface through simplifying the settings and checking the vehicle information”. It records all riding information while working in tandem with the onboard GPS unit, and even records information such as lap timing. Movement on the six-axis is measured by an Inertial Measurement Unit and the G-Sensor, and they feed information to the ECU, which calculates the optimum settings for the engine. This ECU is programmed with the following five types of control systems – a new TCS that also conveys bank angle information (traction control), an SCS that reflects sideways slide of the rear tire (slide control), an LIF that deters loss through wheelies (lift control), an LCS that supports the quick takeoff required in racing (launch control), and a QSS that supports fast gear shift (quick shift).