The "R" denotes that this is Honda's "Race" ready machine". Goodies like gear driven (rather than chain) camshafts, complete front and rear suspender adjustments and more are included.

I will admit, I do not like the look of the 1000R as much as the 1000F. You can see pics of a 1000F I almost bought by following a link later on the page. However, I got this bike because of the incredible deal, the fact that it handles well and, as the V4 story goes, has mountains of torque no matter what RPM you decide to twist the throttle at. 

My girlfriend loves riding and she can deal with some leaning and a reasonable amount of acceleration but doesn't like me doing crazy things. When she first saw the 1000R, she immediatley told me she liked it better than the F models that I preferred. So I took her for a test ride on it and she asked me to take it easy. For the most part, I did. However, the itch to see what this fire breathing beast had to offer overwhelemed me. 

We started away from a stop sign at a slow pace and at about 10mph, I slapped her leg (which is my sign for "Hold on!").  When she wrapped her arms around me, I twisted to about 3/4 throttle. Instantly, the front wheel was airborne. Not more than four or five inches but enough that I knew it was airborne. I stayed into it and as she winded closer to 10k, the front wheel began climbing. I had a grin on my face the size of Alfred E. Newman's but decided it was time to chill since I wasn't used to the bike and she might be messing up her new pants. ;p Anyway, the deal I got was too much to pass up on so, I own it.

Click here for my story on a recent encounter with a ZX-9