The Final Yamaha R1 Launched: The Legend Sunsets In The Land Of The Rising Sun

Quick Highlights:

• 2025 YZF-R1 and R1M launched in Japan

• Minor design update along with the addition of winglets 

• Could be the last R1 in the lineup 

Once an absolute force to be reckoned with, the iconic Yamaha R1 now seems to be slowly walking into the setting sun. Ironically, this is happening in the land of the rising sun (AKA Japan) with the launch of the updated 2025 YZF-R1M and R1 in the country. The 2025 iteration of the litre-class supersports was globally unveiled in September 2024. It received minor design updates along with hardware changes which would lead to better performance overall. In Japan the 2025 R1 and R1M are priced at 2,300,000 Yen and 2,990,000 Yen (Rs 13.20 lakh and Rs 17.15 lakh) respectively.

The Yamaha R1 has been a product of the brand’s achievements in motorsports, particularly MotoGP. Remember the days when Valentino Rossi absolutely dominated season after season with his invincibleM1? Well now, the times, they are a changin’ as all the brands moved to more potent V4 engines with only Yamaha being left out from the pack with an inline-four. 

The consequence of this started making its way into Yamaha’s road bike too, as it was getting more difficult (read more expensive) for the engine to adhere to stringent emission norms. This coupled with the general shift towards smaller 600cc and 900cc supersports has resulted with the brand taking the harsh decision of not updating the bike anymore. This will be the last generation of the R1 and it’s a bit poetic that it has landed in Japan, the little island where the legend of the R1 was born. 

Things aren’t all that bleak as Yamaha will continue selling the R1 for some time as a track-only model in select developed markets. Moreover, the Japanese brand isn’t going down that easily in MotoGP either, as it has been testing a V4 engine-equipped bike for quite a while now. Expect Yamaha to debut the V4 engine in 2026 season, and perhaps a year or two down the line, we may be able to see at least a track-only version. We can only hope!