Soup's Andy Fenwick puts the 2007 Yamaha R1's power to the ground at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Ah, Laguna Seca Raceway—what wonderful memories I have of that old girl.

As a racer, any time you see brake fluid on the track you know your day is about to get much, much worse. It was the mid-1990s at Laguna Seca—it'll depress me if I have to look up the actual year—and I was racing the old 883 Harley class here in the US. I can hear it now-oh, the Harley class-boy that must have been strenuous. Actually it was a lot harder than it looked and honestly it didn't look too easy if you knew where to look. 883 racing back then featured some riders who would go on to even greater success than me and my small town bike shop in Wisconsin. Those period 883 riders being a couple of boys named Bostrom (Ben, Eric) and one Aaron Yates, among many, many others, including, earlier, Mike Hale. This was not ladies ballroom dancing, to paraphrase Max Biaggi. Anyway, long story short, in the action-packed 883 race at Laguna that year, Matt Wait and Eric Bostrom collided somehow, and in the tussle the brake line from Eric's Made in Milwaukee racer was ripped off and brake fluid flowed like wine. Myself and several other hopefuls crested the top of the Corkscrew behind them but just in time to run through the oil and be tossed mercilessly to the sky/ground depending on velocity or the number of lives you had left on the cat scale. I was fortunate enough to land under part of my bike and then have said very heavy piece of American machinery pound itself in frustration on my ankle as we crossed the rumble strips. Laguna Seca has first-rate on-site medical facilities, in case you haven't heard.

Hence, I felt a bit apprehensive about returning to Laguna Seca for the 2007 Yamaha R1 press intro, but since there was a trip to somewhere warm bundled with this, I sucked it up, threw my leathers and HJC helmet in my bag and left Menasha.

And, speaking of butta, the YCC-T is just as smooth as the power curve. Twist the throttle, and you'd swear you're pushing and pulling on the sweetest cable assembly known to man.

I am well-versed in Yamaha R1-ology. Several of my friends own them and I've worked on just as many of them over the years so I know my way around it. It's a quality bike and one which you've got to start wondering at some point when are they going to screw it up? How much success can the engineers in Japan dial into this thing before they break some cardinal rule and make wonderful into debacle?

Nine years ago—1998 to be exact—Yamaha introduced the YZF-R1: an unabridged performance bike that kicked off the arms race of full-bred 1000cc Supersport machines. Immediately, the R1 became a huge seller worldwide. As time went on, Yamaha continued to refine and update their flagship machine. The problem was, the other Japanese manufacturers also jumped in on procreating the ultimate liter-class sportbike. Picking a winner between the big four in the past couple of years usually flip-flopped among the players, with Suzuki's almighty GSX-R1000 holding an advantage most often during the past few go-rounds.

For 2007, Yamaha has totally upped the ante with a completely revised chassis, along with a radical departure from their renowned five-valve head design, along with tasty features like a slipper clutch, fly-by-wire throttle control, and ultra-trick MV Agusta-like variable intake tracts. This, my friends, is the best R1 ever. Is it good enough to take over point as the liter-class honcho? My first impressions lead me to believe that 2007 is the year for open-class sportbikes. If all of the manufacturer's bikes are going to be this good, we may have finally reached Superbike heaven.

Yamaha has changed so many things on the 2007 R1 that we'd be doing a huge disservice to them if we didn't spend a fair amount of time on the technical aspects of the bike. Since I'm really nothing more than an ex-roadracer with a twelve-grades-a-blazin' education, I usually like to spend my word count describing the seat-of-the-pants aspect of any new machine. However, a motorcycle with so much new hardware and serious technological whirly-bits warrants a bit of important mechanical verbiage.

Where to start, where to start? Yamaha has been married to five-valve "Genesis" technology so long that it's almost part of the tuning fork company's DNA. Talk about "In the beginning..." Five-valve head designs have been Yamaha's trademark going all the way back to the 1985 FZ750N and, my lord, they've had a lot of success with that formula. Unfortunately, the new demands for useable horsepower and emissions-friendly engines have forced Yamaha to take one step back, but two steps forward. It may be the first time in history that dropping a valve in a motor is actually a good thing! The R1's new four-valve head not only makes more power upstairs, but it also has added power and torque throughout the power band. Previous R1s tended to be more peaky in power with quite a rush up-top. This year, Yamaha has designed the 2007 model to pull everywhere. What's the biggest benefit of the four-valve wife swap, you ask? How about allowing more compression? The '07 model now sports 12.7:1 compression up from 12.4:1 over last year's bike. The new head design offers improved combustion efficiency for more power and cleaner-burning emissions. The bottom line, though, is that more compression also means more grunt. This year's motor is an absolute beast.

With enough acronyms associated with it to make it in the US military, the '07 R1 hit Laguna ready to impress.

Along with the new head and valvetrain design, the R1 boasts new adjustable inlet tracts. For you acronym-craving types, it's called YCC-I (Yamaha Chip Controlled Intake), and it operates via electric motors to change the inlet tract lengths depending on engine RPM. Basically, at low RPMs, YCC-I lengthens the intact tract for maximum torque. Twist the throttle, and the tracts shorten to maximize high-RPM power. Yamaha has also equipped the new R1 with YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Control Throttle), the same basic system found on the 2006 R6. It's a fly-by-wire system that Yamaha claims offers more precise throttle control and engine management for seamless power delivery.

A new titanium and stainless steel exhaust system with dual catalyzers also meets more stringent '08 EPA standards while keeping the weight down. This new system still employs Yamaha's tried-and-true EXUP power valve for added low- to mid-RPM power. The new engine also employs higher-lift camshafts, a new curved radiator for more cooling efficiency, and a new fuel injection system.

Yamaha also completely revamped the chassis from tooth to toe. A completely new triple-clamp assembly with new fork offset and increased trail is designed to offer more feedback and more responsive turn-in. The forks and rear shock are completely new pieces with different internals and spring rates compared to the 2006 model. What's left? How about an all-new hybrid frame, redesigned to maximize rigidity in the cast sections but offer increased flex in the extruded sections. Chassis engineers have learned over the years that not having enough lateral flex often creates insufficient feel and grip in bike turn-in and lateral loads as in cornering.

As for the bike, even after a gazillion laps, it felt planted and composed, and what was even better, I felt relatively planted and composed myself after all those laps on the new R1. Don't get me wrong, this bike is quite a tiger, but it's just not one that's going to go Siegfried and Roy on you.

We all know that you can dress up a tart, but you can't take her to Church. So, is the new R1 just a lipstick shuffle? No dice, this bike is the real-deal.

Our test day dawned bright and clear at Laguna Seca. I was prepared to put in the laps in order to discover what this new R1 was all about. I suited up and climbed aboard. Ergonomics for me—I'm 5-9 and about twenty pounds north in Usinger's sausage from my "race weight" of 140 pounds—were nearly perfect. I can see how the peg/seat/clip-on positioning would be slightly cramped for you taller gentlemen but as for me I found it well within the definition of sport bike comfortable. I thumbed it to life, muttered something about the past being just the past, clicked it into gear and rode up the pit lane for a few observation laps.

My first few laps around Laguna Seca had me swiftly realizing that the 2007 Yamaha R1 is a brute in the horsepower department. Power is solid through the midrange and kicks in super-hard after 7500 RPM. And, even with the YCC-I doing its thing, the torque curve is smooth, with no dips or surges anywhere in the range. The electronic/mechanical intake trumpets may move up and down, but you don't feel their effects at all. In fact, all you feel is the rheostat-like power being poured on "like butta".

And, speaking of butta, the YCC-T is just as smooth as the power curve. Twist the throttle, and you'd swear you're pushing and pulling on the sweetest cable assembly known to man. And you are, only it's much further down where the throttle bodies live. Up higher, it's all servos and potentiometers telling the butterflies what to do. Beautiful system, that YCC-T. Just beautiful. I actually made it through the Corkscrew about a half-dozen times grinning madly before I realized I was supposed be scared and pissed off when I flicked it down the hill.

Altogether, the variable intake system, the fly-by-wire throttle, and the EXUP exhaust valve do a masterful job of providing tractable, real-world power in the new R1. The run up the hill to the Corkscrew proved this for me-that section is fast and not for the weak of wrist. For me the R1 was dead stable and rocketing through there, no wobbles, no pitching, no problems. The bike is probably better than 90% of the riders on the street today, but for those who know how to use it—it's nirvana. Gone are the days of peaky power curves and almost two-stroke-like top-end rushes. The rush comes from way down low and continues without a hitch throughout the rev range.

Fenwick has able to forget about his bone-bending race crash at Laguna long enough to enjoy himself on the R1. He sends his thanks to Jess at Castle for the helmet. Note the marks in the track. These originate from the glaicers that formed the area millions of years ago.

Beastly power sometimes means "holy crap" in the handling department, but this R1 is rock-solid and very, very connected. One of Yamaha's biggest goals for handling enhancements was for increased front-end feel and feedback to enhance overall confidence when riding the machine. It's there, and I felt hooked up and loved the way the bikes turns off the nose. Turn one at Laguna Seca, which is one of those pesky decreasing radius curves which make you think and work as you approach, run through and exit, was no problem for me, mid-corner changes on the R1 in T-1 were taken with no complaints by the Yamaha's chassis, and no scary moments were ever recorded.

One thing that was not talked about much in the press meeting before we rode were the swingarm changes to the '07 machine. I feel Yamaha's work in this area is key and well worth noting. This new 2007 model R1 is so planted in the rear that even when I was trying late in the day to get the rear to step out under hard load, it was still fully connected, gripping, and always moving straight. That, my friends, is a true gift and a wonderful thing to have, especially when you're looking to build a race bike that will remain rider-friendly late in a race or in a track-day sortie with worn tires. However I did notice some front-end weave under acceleration that seemed, at first, a bit unsettling. The bike comes equipped with a steering damper, and I thought for a moment that its non-adjustability might be the culprit. However, I quickly got comfortable with the handling, and I even tried getting the chassis upset on purpose just to see if it would get worse—but it never did. Then, I realized it's the same thing that the MotoGP bikes do when they're climbing out of a turn under full acceleration-they move around a little. It's actually pretty cool getting the same feeling that one Mr. Rossi gets.

Ergonomics for me—I'm 5-9 and about twenty pounds north in Usinger's sausage from my "race weight" of 140 pounds—were nearly perfect.

Overall fit and finish on the bike is classic Yamaha with great ergonomics, great braking, and excellent shifting, and you've gotta love that slipper clutch. Slipper clutches are sort of like power windows in your car. Once you've got them, you can't go back. I've ridden a great number of bikes now with slipper clutches-the Kawasaki ZX10 and 636, plus any number of Supermoto race bikes fitted with the grid-norm HM/STM aftermarket slipper clutch. Rating these things is sort of like being at the Playboy Mansion and being asked to rate a gaggle of 110 pound blonde starlets. 'Gee, Mr. Hefner, don't you think number three's bikini is too big?' That said, I'd say the Yamaha slipper clutch is about a seven on a scale of ten, a very good item but still a tick away from the knife-like action of the aftermarket items I have sampled.

For some reason, I just felt like riding and riding that day and I forgot all the bad memories of my old Laguna Seca crash—even the way the on-site x-ray tech sort of laughed when he looked at my radiation portrait and saw I already had most of the BUILD YOUR OWN BRACKETS USING THESE PARTS display from a hardware store in my damaged ankle from a previous altercation with the ground. I told them countless times that I'd re-broken my ankle but in the end the doc was right and my injury was only a bad sprain. As for the bike, even after a gazillion laps, it felt planted and composed, and what was even better, I felt relatively planted and composed myself after all those laps on the new R1. Don't get me wrong, this bike is quite a tiger, but it's just not one that's going to go Siegfried and Roy on you. I rode all day, probably more than anyone at the test and was looking for ibuprofen when I did finally let the techs have the bike back. Not because of the bike, really, more because I'm no longer 23 and spend my days twirling wrenches and selling cables—not lapping Laguna Seca's back section at 130 mph.

Zoom-zoom. With Yamaha back in Superbike in '07 the R1 is re-built from the ground up to be the bad motorcycle of the Superbike class. How bad? Nuns cross the street when they see it coming.

Customers have about a 50/50 chance of getting the new Pirelli Diablo Corsas with the bike. This tire is model-specific just for the R1 and, if you get the Pirellis, you will, no doubt, be impressed like I was with their performance. Late in the day, I burned lap after lap, and the Diablos worked flawlessly. I originally thought they were race DOT tires (mental note: need to pay more attention in the technical briefing meetings), and I was actually riding with a little more gusto than I normally would on street-duty tires. When I later found out they were street-issue tires, I was somewhat surprised. I did get a good look at the tires on my bike before I bid it farewell and the tire wear was incredible. Pirelli Diablos are some seriously good street tires, period.

So what did I not like? Not much. I was somewhat hoping for a little more dazzle in the styling department. The R1 does have new plastic, but a lot of the improvements are "form following function"—extracting more air from the motor for improved cooling.

Yamaha has done well with its R1 sales, and their marketing data shows that the customer base often picks the R1 over other liter bikes because of its styling. Is Yamaha playing it safe? Maybe Ducati could take note of that.

I wish I'd had an opportunity to ride a 2006 R1 back-to-back to see how much the bike has really changed. It's my opinion that it is substantial and all positive.

2007 will be Yamaha's return to the U.S. Superbike wars, and their current stable of riders: Eric Bostrom, Jason DiSalvo, and Ben Bostrom (yes, I know, Ben is a Superstock guy, but who wants to take me up on a bet that he doesn't ride Superbike for at least a couple of rounds?). They're, no doubt, as anxious as a pack of sailors at a Tijuana brothel to race the new bike. I predict good things for the new R1, and I'm also going to go out on a limb and forecast at least a few wins for the Tuning Fork boys. Any takers on my bet?