Used: Akrapovic R1 Slip-on Carbon cans
Factory fitted bike porn from Yamaha
If you walked into a Yamaha dealer and handed over a check for £12,128 to buy a new R1 then you probably live in a 4 bed detached house somewhere in the 'burbs with a few cars out front and a loving wife inside. It’s fair to say you probably have a spare few quid, at least more than I do.
With that in mind, there’s little point in talking about my immediate reaction when I saw the £1,104 price tag on the R1 branded slip-ons. Price is relative right? I say this because there are people who will think over £1000 for some end cans is crazy money, that you can buy a set of cans made in China for £350 that will ‘do the job’ and to be truthful that was my first thought.
The fact is the Akropovic carbon end cans were manufactured in conjunction with Yamaha made specifically for the R1. They are made from laminated carbon so they weigh virtually nothing and, you won’t find a single piece of weld, lacquer or discoloured titanium anywhere. They also come with a bespoke Akropovic logo emblazoned with the R1 insignia so everyone will know you’ve got the real deal and unlike a lot of cheaper alternatives the baffles can be removed and put back in all day long.
The point is you wouldn’t upgrade your crank with a performance version that wasn’t the best, so why should exhausts be any different?
They are road legal with the baffles in, take them out and they are loud enough to wake up your next door neighbour in whatever town your town is twinned with. But you do get a power-up of 5bhp and improved torque at lower revs (see graph) They produce a deep rasp all the way through the revs with a conservative level of popping and banging on the overrun.
What do you need to know about these pipes? They are an official Yamaha upgrade, they are light, they increase power and they sound absolutely awesome…
My first bike cost less than these cans do, so you’ll need an equally awesome piggy bank to pay for them.
Checkout the Yamaha UK site here to see all the other official accessories available for the R1
