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Oops, I bought an R1

3K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  ROBBO 
#1 ·
I "accidentally" acquired myself a 2004 R1 this weekend. It belonged to a friend of mine, he bought it new and it has been his baby since then. However, the bike got stolen a few weeks back, and recovered (fuck thieves). Damage to the bike was pretty minimal, but insurance decided to total it. My friend asked me if I wanted the bike for the buyback cost from insurance and it was too cheap to pass up. Luckily I have a very understanding wife who wasn't too upset that there are now 4 motorcycles at our house...

Damage to the bike isn't too bad, and it's all cosmetic. They broke the ignition (of course), stole the exhaust, put a bunch of scratches in the plastics, and covered the bike in dorky stickers.

I totally lucked out in the exhaust department. Someone gave me some OEM R1 mufflers a few years back that have just been sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I was about to recycle them any day now because I've had them up on Craigslist recently for free and no one wanted them. Good thing I kept them!

First order of business was putting the mufflers on the bike so I could get it home. Then I pulled all the stupid stickers off.

Here is my fresh canvas:



Initial plans are to get it back into shape and fix all the little things so I can ride it for the rest of the season. Last night I ordered a new tail light, ignition, LED blinkers for the front, bar end mirrors, tail tidy, brake/clutch levers, and a seat cowl.

This coming weekend I'm going to strip the bike down to change all the fluids and see just how much damage the plastics received and fix whatever needs fixing.

Once winter rolls around, I'm going to strip the bike back down and give it a proper makeover. I'm really digging the new MT09, so I will probably be doing something along these lines with this bike:



This is my first truly "modern" bike, and my first liter bike, so this project will probably be a lot different than my other bikes I've built. It should be pretty fun though.
 
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#2 ·
I spent some time on one of those, rather refined for such an animal of a bike. Always wanted a liter bike of any make from that generation due to the simple fact that a set of dirtbike bars on it would transform it into the ultimate hooligan machine. :D

Awesome score on getting it for cheap, despite the circumstances. Haven't seen alot of them around in the past few years and even fewer sans plastic.
 
#5 ·
I spent some time on one of those, rather refined for such an animal of a bike.
That was my exact first impression as well. I've only gotten to ride it for about 15 minutes so far, but I was really surprised by how smooth and refined it felt, it was very confidence inspiring. I can see why it's so easy to get into trouble on one of these.
 
#10 ·
This weekend! My wife works all three days, and I'm staying home and playing with my toys. :party-smiley:



The Bandit snapped a throttle cable over a month ago (I got it home by turning the idle up to 3000rpm and riding home in the bicycle lanes) and I haven't had time to fix it, I lowsided the Harley about three weeks ago and need to fix the damage from that (fuck Harley brakes), and the R1 just needs some maintenance and a good going-over to get it back on the road.
 
#11 ·
Got to tear into the R1 this weekend and spend some quality time with it and start cleaning things up.

First things first: stip 'er down.



Once she was torn down I changed the oil and filter, and started removing things that we wouldn't be needing any more.

This stuff won't be going back on:



I also rerouted the wiring harness on each side of the bike to hide it, since I plan on removing the fairings. Normally, these harnesses are hidden under the plastic, but that won't be the case if the fairings come off.



(I forgot to take 'after' pics, so just imagine you can't see those wires anymore)

While I had the exhaust off, I gutted the catalytic converter and decided to clean up the stock mufflers a bit and remove the brackets that hold the little trim pieces:



I don't know what the hell these mufflers are made out of, but my cut-off wheel and sanding disks had a hell of a time with it. The finished product turned out okay, but far from perfect. It looks good from a few feet away though. I also painted the cans satin black. They'll work until I get something cooler.

Here's how she sits now.



I'm still waiting for the new ignition switch to show up. Once that gets here and I install it, I can put the bike the rest of the way back together. At the moment, I may put the fairings back on so I can ride and enjoy the bike for a few weeks before the crappy weather hits. Then this winter I'll do something with the fairings.
 
#12 ·
Those mufflers are titanium? and they are HARD

I was trying to cut a set a set down for a shorty and damn!!!

Had to use a carbide drill bit to get through it


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#13 ·
I had a set of them off my buddies '06 when he had first bought the thing and swapped to a Micron system. Between trying to find something to use them on, and then trying to shorten one of them up, I gave up after a bit and around late '08 I tossed 'em in the scrap bin and never looked back. Cool looking mufflers, but holy shit they made them outta the tough stuff.
 
#15 ·
Forgot to take any pictures because I was too busy having fun... but the R1 is back on the road again. Holy shitballs this thing is an animal. Mind you, this is my first liter bike, so this is all new and exciting for me. I can't believe how fast this thing is, the acceleration is mindblowing.

I'll take some pics later today. :)
 
#16 ·
Take it from me, I've ridden ALOT of liter bikes from over the decades from the Thunderace to the modern era GSXR1000 and I can say with certainty that the generation R1 you have is as untamed and brutal as I've seen right next to "map A" on a slipon shod '07 GSXR1000. Painting lines out of apexes isn't difficult at all on that Yamaha of yours, it almost begs you to feed it enough to leave a faint trail of rubber behind every time you find any lean angle. Every experience with a big bike after that thing is going to be a comparison rather than an experience in and of itself. Welcome to "the hand of god pushing you forward" on two wheels. :D




(Edit)

I STILL feel the way I always did about liter bikes, just lost the desire to fight about it. :fu:
 
#18 ·
wanna sell tha tailamp ?
The factory one? I mean, if you really want it I guess I could send it to ya. It's a tail light only, no blinker, and the plastic is all yellowed and grimy looking from the heat of the exhaust over the years.
 
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