Yamaha has clarified how the R1 will continue in Europe after its discontinuation as a road bike.
As already stated by Yamaha Racing, the R1 will continue to be built as an exclusive track bike after its European production as a road 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+ emissions regulations, which, as YME confirmed in a statement, means that the production of the R1 as a road-legal model will continue, globally speaking, 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-focused Supersport models will be exclusively dedicated to track use from 2025.”
By making the R1 exclusive for the track, YME says there will be “more opportunities for customers to access GYTR parts that enhance performance,” which are available at Yamaha GYTR Pro Shops, 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 in a future without 1,000 cc sports 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 motorcycles and investing in higher-volume areas of the market. And although this seems like the problem is about to be solved, it will not be for long.
For existing models, the deadline for the sale of motorcycles not compliant with the Euro5+ standard will be 2025. Meanwhile, Euro6 is not expected to arrive before the end of the decade.
