1989 Yamaha OW01 FZR750R

The World Superbike Championship will always be an important series in the mind of any motorcycle enthusiast, if only because it has shaped some of recent history's most innovative production machines. For example the Yamaha FZR750R OW01 homologation special.

This motorcycle was Yamaha's first real attack on the World Superbike Championship, and was in direct response to Honda's dominant RC30 model. In 1988 , the first year of WSB, Yamaha took second place in the championship with its FZ750 and the higher-specification FZ750R took three top podium places. But for Yamaha, the FZ750 and R were never more than a temporary solution as they weresimply used to keep the factory in the racing scene while they busied themselves producing something rather more serious.

So Yamaha introduced its FZR750R OW01 to the motorcycling public in time for the 1989 season. It was built in a limited editionof 500 bikes and it arrived with a lot more than just the 'OW' factory racer designation. The OW01 was well ahead of its time when it came out in the late '80s, the frame was developed from the FZ750R but the aluminium was of much higher quality. It had a Öhlins rear shock absorbers with the remote hydraulic preload adjuster, a six-speed gearbox plus a proper race specifiation engine and it was also adorned with plenty of magnesium and titanium parts. Like the FZ750 predecessor, the OW01 had an inline-four engine with a five-valve head, but with a difference - it was built for the racetrack. The pistons only had two rings, the conrods were made of titanium,plus it had a close ratio gearbox and flat-slide carbs. This was no "road bike' engine: indeed the OW01, after Honda's RC30, was one of the first "racers' you could buy off the shelf but also use for serious fast road use.

In three years of WSB racing Yamaha won 16 races, and Terry 'Too Tall Tel' Rymer ( so named because he was around 6' tall!) became the first Brit ever to win a WSB race - and he did it on Yamaha's OW01. In 1991 Rob McElnea won the British Championship on his OW01 and Stateside, Eddie Lawson won the 1993 Daytona 200 on his.

This particular bike is a Japanese import purchased by our vendor out of a private collection. The bike has since been registered in the UK on an '89 'F' Plate. The bike is believed to be in completely original specification with the exception of an aftermarket Akrapovic exhaust.Having covered 20,651kms, it benefits from having the filters changed and new tyres fitted. As the rear seals had dried out, the vendor commissioned MCT Motorcycles of Stowmarket to replace them. The wheels also benefitted from refurbishment and have recently been refinished and powder coated.

This is a great opportunity to buy a collectable motorcycle that can also be enjoyed at the weekend.