On the left is Andrea Locatelli, age 28--zero wins in WSBK. On the right is Jon Rea, a six-time champ of the series. He is also currently win-less on the Yamaha and is 37 years old but turns 38 soon. Rea is in the final year of his contract with Yamaha.

The R1 is probably as old school Superbike as it gets in WSBK. It is without much ugly aero and looks about like one would expect a Japanese Superbike to look.

Rea's first season on the Yamaha saw him injured and scoring only one podium. The truest thing about Rea on the Yamaha is that he doesn't look comfortable and when he does find a happy place on the R1 he hits the ground. Even after a season on the bike he still does not look like it's "his" bike. He has a new crewchief in 2025 and it's hoped that now he can stay with the front group.

Yamaha still opting for chain drive on their Superbike. As it is for everyone in the championship the constant limiting factor is the Pirelli tires.

Again, very conventional at the front of the Yamaha WSBK R1: Ohlins, Brembo, and Marchesini. None of these are the problem.

Yamaha's electronics/OS has just a few buttons and levers. The OS is stoplight-level simple; titanium bolts hold everything together. Lower lever is rear brake; upper lever is (still) the clutch; the wheel is to dial in or out the front brake; the black button is a mode button when you push it, it enters rider aid commonly known as traction control (but is much more than that in 2025) then green and red buttons add or subtract from that function. The black button can also scroll through the various adjustments which are not traction related.

Again, the R1 has a very "stone axe" simple approach, aside from the carbon fiber caliper hanger. A beautiful extruded Akrapovic exhaust, carbon covers, Suter clutch and tunable swingarm pivot are the features.

From the back the R1 still looks like a conventional motorcycle in 2025. What is its strength? Reliability. Biggest problem? It's not fast enough.