Someone sent me this link, so here I am. Looks like a cool forum.
The R7 and R71 are mine
Hope I can shed a bit of light on the conversation....
500 R7's were made in 1999, and 1999 ONLY. The R7 in STOCK form made 106 hp. Reason for this was that the bike was IMPORTED with Euro power specs (same reason the dash only reads in KPH, not MPH). All 500 were made to the same spec. This low HP number was achieved by deactivating two of the four injectors. The R7 was Yamaha's FIRST fuel-injected streetbike.
Only 50 STREET versions came to the States, and not all sold immediately. According to Yamaha, they sold less than half of them in 1999, and still had several sitting in showrooms as late as 2002. That's why you'll occasionally see a R7 listed as a "2002"...was probably the year the individual purchased the bike. Yamaha lost an incredible amount of money on the R7, due to development and production costs. They cut cost on the street version by using off-the-shelf 1998 R1 wheels, calipers and rotors. The Ohlins suspension was also produced in-house by Yamaha, and NOT by the Ohlins factory. The Ohlins suspension supplied with the R7 was lower-quality Road and Track equipment, immediately removed by serious race teams and replaced with Superbike equipment.
There WERE more than 50 R7's that came to the states...in the form of actual factory-built racing machines. These were the bikes raced by the AMA Yamaha team. They were raced, then sent back to the factory to be destroyed at the end of the season. They technically never existed.
The R7 originally sold for $32,000 in 1999, and once Yamaha realized the bike wasn't moving off the floor fast enough, reduced retail to $24,000 in 2000/2001. The major problem was that the bike was NOT race ready. Aside from the WSBK-spec frame, swingarm, and titanium bits in the motor, the bike was every bit as stock as a 1998 R1. It was capable of being BUILT into a serious race bike, and that put the bike out of reach for most privateers. I have a copy of the 1999 R7 YEC parts list, and to build the R7 to near-WSBK spec, it would have cost you over $60,000. Add that to the $32,000 base price, and you can see how far out of reach a true race bike really was. The R7 YEC radiator was $6000 alone!!!
Another major problem with the R7 that ruined sales was crankshaft failures. Owners were reporting failures of the crankshaft after as little as 200 miles of use. Considering that the crankshaft cost $4500 alone, you all can now understand why so many R7's are floating around with R1 motors. More power, better reliability, and cheap replacement costs. Of course, it ruined the mystique and resale of the bike, but many were willing to live with that to avoid a $12,000 engine repair bill. Yamaha sold the R7 WITHOUT a warranty, but ended up recalling the bike to replace cranks anyway. Another red eye for Yamaha, and a huge hit to the pocketbook.
Yamaha sold two engine performance kits with the bike. The Stage 1 kit took the bike from 106 to 130 hp, and cost about $350. This kit included a wiring diagram to activate the two shunted injectors, two throttle cables that allowed the throttle to open fully, and a few other small parts. Adding an aftermarket full exhaust brought power up to 137 hp, but since so few were made, exhaust systems were VERY expensive, costing $3000 or more for a full Akrapovic system. This is where most R7 owners ended.
The Stage 2 kit included internal engine parts including cams, carbon airbox, modified/programmable ECU, four type 10 racing plugs ($243 for 4 plugs), high-capacity fuel pump. The kit bumped the bike up to nearly 160 hp. Taking into consideration that the R7 weighed just 8 POUNDS MORE than a 2008 YZF-R6 and made 50 more hp, the R7 starts to look more impressive. However...you have to pay nearly eight times the cost of that 08 R6 to get there, and the cost does not justify the benefit. And, realize that the 160hp number was attainable with BOLT-ON parts...nothing needed to be machined or milled. Most internal engine parts were made from titanium, making the bike a wolf in sheep's clothing. The engine revs insanely fast...as if the flywheel is missing.
The area the R7 excelled was HANDLING. Still to this day, even with the current crop of performance bikes on the market, the R7 was considered to be one of the sweetest handling bikes ever made. I've ridden every current literbike, short of the ZX-10, and the R7 still handles better. You can tip into a corner, put the white line out the corner of your eye, and without a steering input, she'll follow that exact line. The R7 makes it easy to go fast....and almost demands it. This bike was NEVER meant to be ridden on long, leisurely Sunday rides. It was designed to go fast on the track, and that's it.
Unfortunately, the crappy brakes, cramped riding position, ROCK HARD seat, lightswitch fuel injection and weak power ruined it for me. The R7 was my dreambike for many years, and my first ride on it this past February ruined that dream for me. After a 2 hour ride East into the San Diego hills, I never wanted off a bike more in my life. I can see how this bike would be incredible at the track with about 30 more horses, but I wasn't AT the track. Being that the bike is SOOO rare, I'd be too scared to crash it.
2008 bikes have 10 years of development on the R7. Of course time has moved on, and the bikes have kept pace. I didn't buy the R7 because I was looking for magical performance numbers. I bought it because I've always dreamed of having my own R7, and I wanted to make that dream a reality. Of course an 08 gixxer 750 would blow it away.....but it would also blow away a Vincent Black Shadow, and those are selling for well over $80,000....IF you can find one. The R7 is a piece of collectable racing history, and most R7's have been relegated to the backs of workshops, garages, museums, and private collections. Considering that many were involved in accidents in 1999 and 2000, there's even less than the original 50 that came to the US.
I've seen R7's popping on eBay about once every two months. Considering that 10 years have passed, the owners are still asking damn near what they paid for them. Breaking-even on a 10 year investment doesn't sound like a wise move to me.
Hope this helped a few of you. I'll be around....lemme know if you need any more help or information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DLIT
Sick. My buddy posted that on the Vegas forum before. Drooled for a bit.
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Linky?
