The R1's swingarm resembles...
The R1's swingarm resembles an R7 kit arm, but is not a readily available part. Note the adjustable footpeg brackets, motocross-style chain guide and roller, and hlins shock with remote hydraulic preload adjuster. Tiny details, like the quick-change axle nut attached to the chain slider, abound.
The chassis' components are equally innovative and allow for similar adjustments. Graves' own triple clamps have eccentric inserts to change fork offset and hence trail. A variety of rear suspension links, all with carefully calculated rate properties, are available. And the ubiquitous hlins shock and 43mm inverted superbike fork, Brembo monoblock brakes and 16.5-inch magnesium wheels (in two front and three rear widths) are all used.
The scary part
Yamaha invited journalists to each take a five-lap spin on Buckmaster's bike at California Speedway. Never having been to the Fontana, California, facility, I familiarize myself with the track as best I could with a few laps aboard a stock R1 and a GYT-R-modified R1 before taking a turn on the Graves bike.
After a short briefing from Graves, I fire the bike up (the R1 has its starter and a smaller-than-stock charging system in place, thanks to the moderate minimum weight requirement of 365 pounds) and ride away with the telltale clackety-clack indicating the bike is wearing flat-slide carburetors for the day. My initial impression is that the bike steers light and quick, especially compared to the stock bikes I rode earlier, and seems to almost fall into the first few corners with little help from me. The motor is quite smooth and tractable at the low revs of my first couple of laps; the bike is not the fire-breathing monster I was half expecting.
There are few visual cues...
There are few visual cues here, but yes, it's an R1. You could build a very similar bike yourself, as many of the goodies are available from Yamaha (through its GYT-R and YEC accessories divisions) and Graves Motorsports.
About the only thing I can compare the Graves R1 to is the 750cc Yoshimura Suzuki superbike I briefly sampled earlier in the year, and whereas I was completely intimidated by the Suzuki, with butt clenched the entire time, the R1 felt much less peaky and more manageable. And that characteristic applies to each aspect of the Yamaha's handling as it does to the bike as a whole--the brakes are strong but not grabby; the 16.5-inch Dunlops are sticky but give good feedback; and the suspension is plush yet easily soaks up the transition onto Fontana's banking.
The R1 felt like a fantastic package for my five-lap stint, but--as with all these powerful bikes--riding it in anger could be an entirely different matter. And I'm certain that the engine in the bike we were riding was fairly tame compared to others in Graves' arsenal. Still, that Buckmaster used a bike you could almost build yourself (or buy one--Graves auctioned off the team's R1s at the end of the season) to finish second in the last open-displacement Formula Xtreme championship says a lot for the R1 and Graves' team. Now just imagine how much fun an R6, built to the same extent for the '04 rules, would be.
 Savvy readers will pull out...  Savvy readers will pull out an old issue and compare this picture to that of a stock R1. Doing that is the only way to fully appreciate how much work Graves puts into these bikes--and how close he is treading to the limit of the 50-percent frame rule. |  A simple cockpit features...  A simple cockpit features the stock gauge cluster (with stock shift light, tach and coolant temperature gauge) and MyChron lap timer. |  The Graves-fabricated headstock...  The Graves-fabricated headstock has removable inserts that are used to adjust rake and/or wheelbase. The clamping bolts for those and the triple-clamp inserts are visible here. |
 The front end is a wish list...  The front end is a wish list of aftermarket parts: a Marchesini forged magnesium 16.5-inch wheel shod with a Dunlop slick, and radial-mount Brembo monoblock calipers bolted to a 43mm inverted hlins superbike fork. |  This bike has a different,...  This bike has a different, and much thicker, radiator than the bike shown on the previous page. The small blue linear potentiometer parallel to the fork measures suspension travel as part of the bike's Drack data acquisition system. |  Graves is constantly experimenting...  Graves is constantly experimenting with swingarm linkages to better tailor the bike's reaction not only under power (and its squat characteristics) but also how the bike "scissors" on the brakes. |
 The main spars are pretty...  The main spars are pretty much all that's left of the stock frame, and even those are covered with additional bracing. The swingarm plates are replaced with these machined-from-billet pieces, which incorporate an adjustable swingarm pivot. The parts are sandblasted to give them a stock, cast look. You can just see the battery peeking out from behind the fairing, and also that the shift lever's stub is hinged to protect it in a crash. |  This large cutout in the radiator...  This large cutout in the radiator makes way for the Graves Motorsports airbox mouth--the stock R1 doesn't have ram-air ducts. Those are the throttle cables disappearing in there. The beautifully machined bottom triple clamp has three pinch bolts for each fork tube, and eccentric inserts to adjust offset (and trail). |  Yamaha also had on hand this...  Yamaha also had on hand this R1 modified with GYT-R (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing) accessories. The GYT-R line is expansive, covering internal engine components as well as chassis and cosmetic bits, and everything is available through dealers. More information is available at www.yamaha-motor.com. |