This was a racer-with-lights, so ergonomics were uncompromising – barely padded seat, high footpegs and low bars made it clear that this bike was not for pootling around town. Yamaha only made 500 units of the OW01, which was just as well – the bike was very expensive, costing two million yen in 1989 in Japan (about US$17,400 at current exchange rates) and about US$25,500 elsewhere. And if that wasn’t enough, you could spend another US$5,000 on buying a racing kit from Yamaha, which would get you more fancy bits for your FZR750RR.

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Despite all of this, the OW01 wasn’t really as successful as, say, the Honda VFR750R RC30 or the Ducati 851, in World Superbike racing. And for the street, for most people, the Yamaha FZR1000 offered more usable performance at a significantly lower price. Sure, the FZR1000 never handled as well as the race-bred OW01, but on the street, where few dared to push to ten-tenths, that did not matter.