LIVING WITH AN ‘09 R1

WORDS: JAMES ROSSI IMAGES: CHAPPO

READER’S RIDE

MEET JAMES

James is a 42-year-old service engineer from Hull, but he knows his way around a spray gun as he used to spray prestige cars for a living. He’s been into bikes since the mid-Eighties, and since then has had all sorts of sports bikes, from the Aprilia RS125, to the R1 he has today. James ‘Rossi’ is so called due him being a very dedicated Valentino Rossi fan… his last name is actually Mcloughlin.

James ‘Rossi’ Mcloughlin says he bought his R1 from new nearly ten years ago and wouldn’t swap it for the world…

I’ve had all sorts of bikes since I started riding. My last one was a Fireblade and it was all right but just a bit bland, anyway I ended up writing that off when an old lady pulled out on me in her Nissan Micra and I smashed her back door in. I needed a new bike and it didn’t take me long to decide on an R1 – I fancied the Yam because I’m a massive Valentino Rossi fan and the 2009 R1, with its new cross-plane crank big-bang engine, was kind of sold to us as a MotoGP bike for the road. And as soon as I rode this R1 I knew it was something special. Everything was really easy on the old ‘Blade, but the R1 felt instantly more exciting to ride.

I bought it brand new in March in 2009.

It was white with the candy red frame but before I’d even had it two months I took it to bits and painted it in Fiat Yamaha MotoGP colours. As soon as I’d finished spraying it, I took it on its first trackday. And if I thought it was good on the road it was even better round Silverstone. Back then it was in totally standard trim but I just loved it.