Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

Since 1953, Yamaha Motor Company has produced innovative machines that exceed their customers expectations through their superior quality, their unmatched performances and their extraordinary value. Passed to electronic fuel injection in 2002, renewed and recognizable by its dual pot under the seat in 2004 (172 hp according to the manufacturer sheet), equipped with 4-valves, the variable admission, ride-by-wire and slipper clutch 2007, the R1 was different again from the rest of the production in 2009 by integrating the Crossplane timing of the M1. Lately, Yahama Motor has been struggling on the superbike market due to the ruthless competition of the others producers such as Honda, BMW, Kawasaki and Aprilia with more agile, more powerful and sophisticated products. The resurgence of Yamaha Motor Company begun in 2012 when Yamaha decided to create a new superbike based directly of its successful track derivative, the YZR Yamaha M1 that was able to win 6 world championship in the last 10 years. 

 

An all Yamaha Podium at the 2014 Australia GP with race winner Valentino Rossi

 

 

 

Race Winner and MotoGP World Championship Leader Valentino Rossi at the latest 2015 Argentinian GP

 Valentino Rossi, current driver for the MotoGP Yamaha Movistar Team, has helped the Japanese technicians developing the new R1 thanks to his 20 years experience on the race tracks. The new 2015 R1 in fact is designed for the racetrack and is definitely not an evolution of the old R1 line. The use of electronic control systems from the MotoGP materializes a significant advance in the Superbike machine design,  making the R1 the only Superbike market to resume prototype features its brand started in Grand Prix.

On the commercial side, the R1 flows into the competition in this month. With a long campaign that announced it's imminent arrival on  the market and by stimulating drivers all over the world curiosity with many videos that very giving small glances of the new bike, Yamaha Motor has no doubt that customers who have booked their new R1 won't be disappointed.