THE latest Yamaha motorcycle has been shrouded in secrecy, but the R1 is due to finally be revealed to the public on Saturday as part of a country-wide unveiling.
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That includes at Mick Cole Motorcycles in North Bega.
Mr Cole said he hasn’t seen a hyped launch of this scale in almost 30 years.
“The secrecy behind it [the YZF-R1] is incredible,” he said this week.
“Yamaha dealers around the country have been given a ‘don’t come Monday’ directive if anyone takes a photo and shares it around before Saturday morning.”
He recalled a new model of Harley Davidson he first sold in the Bega Valley around 1986 that saw a similar launch event making the papers.
“We went to Sydney to a launch event just for dealers and when we came away from it, we just went ‘this is amazing’,” Mr Cole said.
Yamaha’s website says the new track-focused R1 features the most sophisticated electronics package ever fitted to a production motorcycle.
In fact, Mr Cole said the electronic control system on the R1 is essentially what you’d find on a MotoGP race bike, including full downloadable telemetry.
“I couldn’t go over here how much it’s got,” he said.
The lucky first owner of a YZF-R1 from Mick Cole Motorcycles – he’s had it on order for several months - will be getting a personal viewing on Friday night.
However, it’s look but don’t touch as Yamaha won’t be releasing the bikes to customers until next week.
The base model costs around $24,000 plus on-road costs, while the special edition R1M will set you back a little over $30,000.
The public unveiling of the R1 will take place at 10.30am at Mick Cole Motorcyles, in conjunction with Yamaha dealers around the country.
