2025 Yamaha YZF-R1 & YZF-R1M First Look

It’s been 27 years since Yamaha rocked the motorcycling world with the introduction of the first-generation R1. It was arguably the most influential superbike since the 1985 Suzuki GSX-R750 laid the template of a four-cylinder engine in an aluminum frame. Updates for the new 2025 model show that while the global market for such machines is a shadow of its former self, Yamaha isn’t about to give up on it.

It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that the evolution of the modern superbike could be split into two halves—pre-R1 and post-R1—such is the importance of Yamaha’s mid-’90s decision to pack a liter engine into a pint-sized chassis. Aided by the innovation of a stacked transmission layout, since copied wholesale by rivals, that significantly shortened the powertrain packaging. The first-gen 1998 R1 was smaller than some 600cc sportbikes, let alone the mammoth YZF1000R Thunderace it replaced. Yes, Honda had already explored this avenue with the CBR900RR, but Yamaha took the idea to its logical conclusion, essentially forcing all its rivals to follow suit with their own liter-class superbikes. In the years that followed, MotoGP switched from 500cc two-strokes to 990cc four-strokes and WSBK adopted a 1,000cc capacity limit for Fours instead of the old 750cc displacement, and the R1 was the butterfly that flapped its wings to create those changes.

Updates initially came thick and fast, with an all-out war between the Japanese brands for superbike domination in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s leading to big model changes every couple of years, but the law of diminishing returns combined with a motorcycle market that was falling out of love with the pursuit of ever-higher performance levels means that it has now, incredibly, been a decade since the R1’s last full revamp. Sure, there were tweaks to the styling and a revised engine with finger followers in 2020 but sit a 2015 R1 next to a 2024 model and the similarities are more noticeable than the differences.

That won’t be the case when the 2025 version is added to the identification parade. The belated addition of MotoGP-influenced winglets means it’s instantly recognizable, even if the bike underneath is still largely the same as its predecessor. There’s no change to the 998cc CP4 crossplane-crank inline-four, still unique in the class for giving a V-4-style power delivery, and most of the chassis and bodywork is carried over to the 2025 model without revision.

As before, there are two versions on offer: the base YZF-R1 and the more expensive, higher-spec YZF-R1M, with carbon bodywork and higher-spec electronic suspension. Both get carbon fiber winglets for 2025, but it’s the standard model that has the greater share of updates elsewhere. These include a new, fully adjustable, 43mm KYB fork with separate adjusters on the left and right fork legs for compression and rebound. Sure, the R1M’s electronic Öhlins kit is still a step ahead, but the base version’s new fork should help narrow the gap. Additionally, the standard R1 gains Brembo Stylema radial-mount four-piston calipers for 2025, which promise to be a substantial upgrade on the previous, house-branded stoppers, and they’re operated via a matching Brembo master cylinder.

Beyond those changes, the R1’s 2025 updates are limited to a new seat cover texture that’s claimed to improve grip while still letting riders shift their weight around easily. The R1M also gets that new material and the carbon winglets, but otherwise has fewer updates than the base model—keeping the same brakes and suspension as its predecessor.

In terms of the rest of the package, both versions of the R1 are already kitted up with all the features we’ve come to expect from range-topping superbikes, including that CP4 engine with titanium rods and valves, variable-length intake and titanium exhaust silencer, plus a full electronics suite including launch control, front-end lift control, slide control and lean-sensitive traction control, and ABS. How much for all this? The standard 2025 R1 starts at an MSRP of $18,999, while the higher-spec R1M will set you back $27,699.

While the 2025 R1 and R1M mark a small but significant change to the machines in the US market, the new model year has brought a less encouraging impact in Europe where revised Euro 5+ emissions rules are coming into force. Over there, Yamaha has decided to stop offering the R1 in road-legal form rather than revising it to meet the regulation changes. European riders will still be able to buy an R1, but only for track use—either as the “R1 Race,” which is essentially the same as the standard 2025 YZF-R1, or the “R1 GYTR,” which is essentially an off-the-shelf racer, complete with a wide array of Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing add-ons and track-spec exhaust and bodywork.