fastest motorcycles in the world
Yamaha YZF-R1M
Like Honda, Yamaha has an up-market version of their top sportbike, the YZF-R1, which most riders just call “the R1.” But add the “M” and, no, Yamaha didn’t ship the bike off to BMW, but the effect is essentially the same. Prepare to part with the better part of $22,000, or about $5,000 more than the proletariat R1, which, like the base CBR, is still capable of brain-melting performance.
The R1M upgrade list includes the de-facto Ohlins suspension upgrade, but in this case all the adjustability can be done using the fancy LCD screen and some buttons. Leave the wrenches at home. Other upgrades include a very shiny hand-polished aluminum gas tank, polished swingarm, numerous carbon fiber bits to offset the added weight of the uber-Ohlins setup, different tires and a connectivity package for fine-tuning the bike for your many track day outings. You were going to take it to the track, right? Every weekend? Thought so.
Speed and performance is comparable to the top-spec Honda (and Kawasaki and Suzuki and…), the gist here being that these bikes have kind of reached a sort of velocity nirvana of 0-60 in about 2.3 seconds and a top speed firmware governed to 186mph. What’s left is making these insanely powerful machines handle better, stop better, and think better. And we must say that in this case, the Yamaha R1M is a winner in the Looks Better category as well. It’s hand polished, for gawd sake.