Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
This is the last year of the original formula. The debut was in 1998 and they stayed pretty much the same through 2001 other than paint schemes and I think the lights/nose changed a little bit in 2000. This was a fast bike! I bought it new and put about 6K miles before buying a 2003 R1 which was fuel injected. That bike was even faster and I can't imagine how fast the current bikes are. This bike did everything right but it did headshake a bit under acceleration which made me nervous. I tried a top speed run but only got to 165 before I ran out of room... that was fast enough. I ran a best of 10:49/133 at the drags ... it would wheelie for 1/8th mile before I could plant that wheel. Fun bike!
This is the last year of the original formula. The debut was in 1998 and they stayed pretty much the same through 2001 other than paint schemes and I think the lights/nose changed a little bit in 2000. This was a fast bike! I bought it new and put about 6K miles before buying a 2003 R1 which was fuel injected. That bike was even faster and I can't imagine how fast the current bikes are. This bike did everything right but it did headshake a bit under acceleration which made me nervous. I tried a top speed run but only got to 165 before I ran out of room... that was fast enough. I ran a best of 10:49/133 at the drags ... it would wheelie for 1/8th mile before I could plant that wheel. Fun bike!
