We actually spent a whole day street riding, which gave a good chance to see how the R1 shapes up in the real world. Where the bike is beyond my ability to criticize on the track, there are a few issues to talk about on the street.

Firstly, running at legal speeds on the highway, 5000 rpm in top gear, there is an annoying vibration that gets the rear end tingling. The answer to this is to drop a gear or add a little speed, because after a few minutes it gets pretty unpleasant. Gear change action, which is so slick on the track, is a tad deliberate on the street, requiring a good positive boot to change at low rpm.

On a positive note, the engine’s tall gearing makes for a stress free ride on the highway, as bumpy roads aren’t going to have you feeding in too much throttle at the wrong moment. Something I had been worried about after riding the ZX 10.

On a not so positive note, the suspension doesn’t like rough roads, giving a pretty harsh ride. I’m not sure if it was on racetrack settings or not, but I would definitely need to relax it some for regular road duties. Hitting the smooth stuff, everything was fine, as the big four swallowed up the road ahead with consummate ease.

Of course with white lines, cars and other roadside obstacles, twisting the throttle in anger was something akin to hitting the fast forward button as the oncoming scenery got sucked through the windshield at an alarming rate. For the most part, I just short-shifted using the plentiful torque and enjoyed my cruise through the Australian landscape.

Running at street legal velocities gave ample opportunity to enjoy the intoxicating intake noise as the throttle is opened, and at the end of the day we had covered around 320 kilometres.

Flying home from Australia, with time on my hands to reflect on the new Yamaha R1, I was having trouble comprehending that you can buy this motorcycle for similar money to a Hyundai. Kicking out 180 horsepower and capable of over 280kph, while being civilized enough to ride to work is mighty impressive, have bike riders ever had it so good...