the new gen cbr is great. i rode an 09 r1 a few days later and was dissapointed. iam a yama guy. at the moment i sport an 05 r6 with mid level modifications. i also have a ducati d16 rr wich is 990 cc. the honda felt much smaller than the r1 . iam 6'2 or so and i still felt comfortable on the honda. much more so than the r6 . and the r6 is closer in size than the r1. the brakes felt equal on both but i admit i did not do any track style riding .so i could not attest to any brkae fade issues. just some hard street riding. the dash of the r1 i did feel was technology wise better and felt more up to date but the honda has everything you need so i feel the r1 just tries to impress with some bells and whistles. those would be the power modes and the throttle indicators. i for one dont mess with power modes for i drive one bike that has 200 hp . it has one mode and that is scrotum tearing . and i feel honda thinks it shoulod be the same. power was more biased up top for the honda and midrange for the r1. i never got near top speed so cant give a real top end comparison. but i liked the honda alot and felt it suited me better . i felt the yama harder to turn into corners and keep on its line . could have been suspension settings but who knows.... both were good bikes . but the honda is what iam going to buy .