Yamaha clarified how the R1 will continue in Europe after its discontinuation as a road bike.
As previously stated by Yamaha Racing, the R1 will continue to be built as an exclusive track bike after its European production as a street bike has been discontinued, which will happen next year.
At the time of the initial announcement of the discontinuation of the R1 as a road bike, Yamaha made a specific mention of the upcoming Euro5+ emission regulations, which, as YME confirmed in a statement, means that the production of the R1 as a street-legal model will continue globally, for markets outside of Europe. The continuation of global production also means the continuation of the R1 development program.
In its statement, Yamaha Motor Europe also admits the additional reason for the continuation of the R1 as a legal model in Europe, which is customer demand. “In line with the change in customer demand and needs,” says YME, “Yamaha Motor Europe has decided that the future of its track-oriented Supersport models will be dedicated exclusively to circuit use from 2025.”
By making the R1 exclusive for the circuit, YME says there will be “more opportunities for customers to access GYTR performance-enhancing parts,” which are available at Yamaha GYTR Pro Shops, several of which are located throughout Europe, all managed by the same people who manage Yamaha’s official bikes in WorldSBK.
The change means that Yamaha will follow Suzuki into a future without 1,000 cc sport bikes, as Suzuki discontinued the GSX-R1000R at the end of 2022.
As surprising as the news may be, it was not a big surprise to hear it, and what we may be seeing is manufacturers moving away from premium, high-value but low-volume bikes and investing in higher volume areas of the market. And although this seems like the issue is about to be resolved, it won’t be for long.
For existing models, the deadline for selling non-compliant Euro5+ bikes will be 2025. In the meantime, Euro6 is not expected to arrive before the end of the decade.
