2022 Yamaha YZF-R1 World GP 60th Anniversary Preview

Yamaha first entered Grand Prix racing 60 years ago and plans to honor that achievement with a few special-edition sportbikes. The 2022 YZF-R1 superbike is among the bikes that will sport a special 60th Anniversary Yamaha Heritage White and Redline color scheme, and it will be available in dealerships starting this November at $18,099, a $500 upcharge from the MSRP of the standard R1.

Additional details include gold forks and wheels, commemorative badging, and Yamaha factory race-inspired Tuning Fork emblems. The look of the machine is based on the livery the Yamaha factory team ran during this year’s MotoGP test in Qatar.

Beyond that, the bike will remain as is for the coming year. Yamaha gave the R1 some love in an update for 2020 which included new LED headlights, improved intake and injection systems, along with revisions to the engine’s camshafts and rocker arms. It also received a revised ride-by-wire system and new Bosch cornering ABS. Suspension settings were refined as well.

During the first ride review of that same 2020 model, the R1 proved to be as lively and responsive as ever. The electronics updates didn’t severely hamper the character of the 998cc crossplane inline-four and the revised suspension package proved to be a surprisingly welcome improvement.

Despite the lack of mechanical changes, the World GP 60th Anniversary YZF-R1 is sharply dressed and a fine way to pay homage to one of the most iconic color schemes in all of motorcycling.