Hi

[paul08r1]

Hi all,

I'm probably going to be one of the older riders on here. I bought my R1 last year, primarily for the track, after riding an RC45 for the previous 13 years. I eventually got tired of getting passed on the straights, so thought I'd get something that allows me to keep up and even pass a few!

I'm a Brit living in France and I've been over in Europe since 1999. Last year I took the R1 to the circuits of Dijon Prenois, Ledenon, Le Castellet (Paul Ricard) and Hockenheim, where I had a days coaching with Simon Crafar of MotoVudu fame. Next month it'll be getting a good outing at Aragon for 4 days.

Updates so far are Akra Y pipe, Hel braided hoses, 190/55 rear tyre (Pirelli slicks), DOT 5 brake fluid and AP racing pads after the new OE ones gave up at Le Castellet, R&G crash pads and PK Racing gear indicator!

I also have a BMW K1300GT for the road and less frenetic riding and lead tours in the Swiss and French Alps.

Cheers

Paul

[Luke03R1]

Hi Paul welcome in, with age comes experience what model do you have Add some pictures we all like pictures

click the link for how to add pics viewtopic.php?f=4&t=144

[Scottmurray2890]

Pics of the RC45 ASAP

Oh and welcome

[Damo666]

Hi Paul & welcome in

[Griff]

Welcome Paul

[Chinny]

Hi Paul

[paul08r1]

My bike is an 08 and although it's a French bike and supposed to be limited to 100bhp there is a combination of button pushes which allows you to run at full power, for track days only of course!







Here in action at Dijon



Saving a front end tuck at Hockenheim which could have ended VERY badly, got the whole thing on film as I was being coached by Simon Crafar



My old RC45

















Magny Cours



Lots of RC45 pics but then again I did own it for 13 years! Great noise, great handling, amazing bike but ultimately short on speed and performance.

[09R1Weapon]

Hello and welcome... Nice pics, also great to see action shots of the RC45.. Not many of those about these days in original condition or less than 15k ..

[Donny]

Nice pics off a pair off nice bikes, welcome in mate

[Madturk999]

Nice bikes mate welcome to forum

[r1Mike]

Hi Paul and Welcome, nice pix, like the RC45 !

[r1aoc]

Excellent pics

[Luke03R1]

Nice one paul, get that vid posted up

[Bub]

HI Paul and welcome to the forum mate, i have the same R1 in those colours

[R1AL]

Welcome in mate. Those are very nice bikes but i prefer the R1

[2002r1jon]

Welcome in Paul

[PJC]

Cracking Paul, there are a few old uns on here, bikes and riders Nice looking 4c8, so how does the pushing various buttons release the BHP

As for the RC45, I'd have one, nuff said

As luke says get the video posted, please

Enjoy the site m8, get involved and have fun

[paul08r1]

In France all bikes are by law supposed to be limited to 100bhp, been that way since about 1986 I think. This creates lots of problems for the OE manufacturers because they are effectively having to create a bike that won't sell in any other market. There are many ways they can restrict power, some use a throttle restrictor plate, ie you can only turn the throttle 75% of it's full throw, others use metal restrictors on the throttle bodies, limit maximum revs, or a combination of these or other options.

Yamaha bless them, saw fit to effectively create two engine maps, which are accessed via a certain combination of pushes of the select and reset buttons, which allows you to switch between 100bhp mode and full power, guess which I'm using?

Dealers can be fined €30,000, have their premises closed, or even be sent to jail for derestricting bikes, it's a big deal over here. Needless to say there are ways round it, and a conservative estimate is that 90% of bikes over here are full power, BUT, if you have an accident and the bike is checked, and it will be, your insurance will be voided, no payouts made, and you will be in the brown stuff with the police, and be personally liable for ALL costs incurred in sorting damages. If you were in a fatal accident, then jail time and law suits will soon have you wishing you never messed with the bike, and if you're not made bankrupt by the process your enthusiasm for biking will be close to zero. many risk it, but it's a BIG risk.

I use the R1 on track because it's just too much on the road over here, and don't get me started on the ZX-10R I tried to bring into France from Germany after a spell working there!!!

[r1Mike]

Thought the 100bhp restriction was going Paul

[paul08r1]

It was supposed to be rescinded 19th Jan 2013, but no-one knew if that meant you could only buy a new full power bike, or whether it gave the green light for people to legally derestrict their older bikes. Logic said it was for new only to stimulate new bike sales, but now it doesn't matter anyway, because the stupid French bureaucrats have managed to defer their agreement to lift the restriction until 2016.

This is the country that was trying to force bikers to wear 150cm of high vis material on their clothing without any way of determining if existing clothing already has that amount sewn into the fabric, did they expect police to measure and make roadside calculations on cm2? Here we already have a legal requirement to have 4 reflective stickers on your helmet or risk 3 points and a €90 fine if they're not there, where they decide to force people to carry breath testers in their vehicles but can't enforce it because there wasn't enough production to meet demand, where lane splitting is still illegal, where having radar maps in your GPS will net you a €1500 fine, but how do they check if your GPS has them, etc etc.

The upside is that roads here have less traffic than over there, but radars are growing in volume of new installations by around 500 per year and taking so much money and cost so many people their licences, that they've had to change the law to reinstate people points more quickly! You think the UK is bad, it's not all roses over here either!

[Chinny]

Hi Paul , just a question when me & bubs travel to Spain later this year what do we require legally in terms of equipment that we must carry with us?

[paul08r1]

Most of the stuff needed is documentation,

Driving licence,
Passport
Valid insurance document/green card
V5 registration document or legally certified copy of it
High vis jacket which MUST be worn if you stop on a motorway hard shoulder. These only cost between €2-4 and are available in most garages if you don't have one
Ride with dipped headlights at all times

Note: it's illegal to ride with anything in your ears!
This law is supposed to apply to earpieces used for hands free phones, ipods, music, etc etc and although difficult to see if you're on a bike, technically speaking if you're using an earpiece to communicate bike to bike or listen to GPS instructions or hands free phone through GPS, that's deemed illegal and you could get fined. I've ridden in Spain loads of times with autocom cables connected to the bike and pillion to passenger communication without problems, guess you're lucky if you get stopped or not?

Hope that helps?

Paul

[Chinny]

That helps a lot mate, sorry should have said we riding through France to Spain

Don't get that bit about not being able to have a headset on, how u meant to hear the directions from the satnav?

[paul08r1]

I thought you'd be riding through France unless you were taking the ferry. Same things apply. For GPS, don't ask, just an odd law. Doesn't apply in France but if you have radar traps loaded into your GPS and the French police find them the fine is €1500, just to let you know!

[Chinny]

My satnav does bleep when coming up to fixed speed cameras & when u reach the speed limit of whatever road u are on. Ok sorry for sounding a little thick , I'm ok in France with headset on but not in Spain ?