It’s always interesting to get a glimpse into the lives of some of our favorite internet personalities. This is especially true in the motorcycle scene, where top-tier riders and athletes are idolized for their skills on the bike. And as it would turn out, most of the time, when they’re off their bikes, these folks are actually pretty cool dudes and dudettes.
Luckily, YouTube exists, and allows us to see a different side of their lives. In this case, it’s Aaron Colton, Red Bull athlete and all-around moto dude. From MX to road racing, supermoto to flat-track, Aaron’s done it all. But in his latest video on his YouTube channel (which he very rarely uploads videos on), he isn’t doing any of those things. Instead, he walks us through his latest project. And boy, oh boy, is this an exciting one.
You see, Aaron just got his hands on a Yamaha R1—but not just any Yamaha R1. This particular bike has pretty much been to hell and back. It used to be a bike in the MotoAmerica Paddock before going to one of Aaron’s friends and somehow finding itself in a gravel trap. Now that it’s with Aaron, well, he has some pretty big plans for it.
He teased this bike on his Instagram page a couple of months ago, and we even wrote a story about how he had plans of resurrecting this retired race bike. And now it seems that he's finally getting started in making his vision a reality.
In the video, he explains that he wants to transform it into a “multi-purpose vehicle.” I’m guessing he means a bike that can do all sorts of things, and not an MPV in automotive parlance…because that simply wouldn’t make sense.
Whatever the case may be, it’s clear he wants to do some crazy shit aboard this thing, as he said he’s going to make it into a “firebreather” and take it to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan. After that, he wants to turn it into a drift project motorcycle and make the most out of the 200 horsepower this thing’s packing.
But of course, as with any customization project, the first order of business is to make sure that everything is in sound mechanical condition. And despite looking like it’s seen better days, it’s clear that Yamaha’s reliability shines through all the janky bodywork, missing fairings, and scratched- up paint on this R1. And hey, it starts up like a dime, with the throaty CP4 tone amplified by the fact that this thing’s running open headers.
Up next, Aaron whipped out the power washer and gave the R1 a deep clean. And by deep, I mean deep—so deep that some of the paint on the crankcase and clutch cover came flying off. With the bike now spotless, it was time to rip into it and take a look at the condition of each and every component, a vital step, especially since Aaron’s planning on doing some crazy stuff with this 200-horsepower beast.
The video makes the whole dismantling process look really easy and straightforward. But given how the day quickly turns into night, it’s clear that this tear down took much longer than you’d initially believe. And after a bunch of buzzing with power tools and taking stuff apart, as well as a few Red Bull product placements here and there, the R1 was no longer an R1, but instead, a bunch of parts strewn across Aaron’s garage.
Now, the Yamaha R1 is my all-time favorite sportbike, and you couldn’t convince me otherwise even if you threw Ducati Panigale V4 and BMW M 1000 RR spec sheets on my face. Having been the proud owner of the next best thing, a Yamaha MT-10, I know for a fact that these bikes are all about smiles for miles and crazy behavior no matter where you ride. But they’re also extremely powerful, and can very easily become unhinged if you’re sloppy with your inputs.
And so I’m really excited to see what Aaron Colton has in store for us with his new R1 project. Apart from the crazy builds he has planned, I’d love to see him rip up the dunes with this thing and carve canyons sideways tires ablaze.
