Any thoughts on 2009 R1?

[Dinger]

Reviews on crossplane crank look promising.
Performs like twin in corners, still has high pick up in straight.
Slight loss of overall HP and increase in weight.
More direct throttle to rear wheel response.

Curious to know if anyone has any thoughts.
Might this engine need more constant maintenance and vigilance, as if it were a race bike, or should it last?

Maybe wait a few years to work out bugs?

[beauregard]

A friend who just got back demo-ing one in Daytona says "it has taken the literbike calss to a whole new level, it has more power and finesse than he could realize in the 30 laps he had it for."

I believe him.

Yamaha does this every four or five years, comes out with a new paradigm for the liter class: 1998, 2001, 2004, and now 2009.

[seric]

I always advise to wait until the 2nd year of any model motorcycle. Even with the more reliable manufacturers, they tend to find at least some small problems to tweak in their first year. In the case of Suzuki, wait for the 4th or 5th year of any model....

[epim]

I always advise to wait until the 2nd year of any model motorcycle. Even with the more reliable manufacturers, they tend to find at least some small problems to tweak in their first year. In the case of Suzuki, wait for the 4th or 5th year of any model....

+1 I try to always wait for the second rev for anything before I dive in. that's one of the reasons I went with the '08.