Touted as the sharpest and most track-focused supersport bikes you could get your hands on, Yamaha has updated their mad YZF-R1 and YZF-R1M superbikes with recalibrated equipment and a couple of new features keeping the competition alive and well.

Taking one step closer to the true-blue racing pedigree of the M1, the 2018 R1 series will enhance rider experience by improving suspension, shifting and fuelling to be the "most sought-after supersport motorcycles designed to deliver the pinnacle of performance on and off the track".

Most of the updates are mostly underneath the skin, which itself gets a new Team Yamaha Blue on the R1 and a Silver Blu Carbon paint job on the R1M.

The new Yamaha R1 comes bolstered with the same liquid-cooled, parallel four-cylinder engine which oozes out 197 hp and 150 lb-ft of torque. The engine is coupled to a 6-speed gearbox with slick up-shifts on tap.

For 2018, the folks at Yamaha have given the Quick Shift System (QSS) an “auto-blip” downshift technology that can now accommodate clutchless downshifts along with the up-shifts. And the best part of it all, the rider can disengage the function through the Yamaha Ride Control (YRC) settings found in the newly updated TFT instrumentation.

Another electronic gadget present to aid the rider called the Lift Control System (LIF) also gets further refinements to prevent the front end from lifting off the ground during those hard acceleration scenarios. Thanks to the new Bridgestone RS10 tires, the rider now gets a better grip and feedback to hoon the track around.

The YZF-R1M has one another trick up its sleeve with the Öhlins Electronic Racing Suspension (ERS) getting updated with the latest Smart EC 2 ERS system. It can now be fine-tuned via the YRC settings using a smartphone app connected to the motorcycle’s Communication Control Unit (CCU).

Fancy stuff these.

The YZF-R1 2018 edition will hit showroom floors in March at $16,699 while the limited-edition R1M will also come around the same time and cost you $22,999.