Josh Day was a professional American motorcycle racer who most recently rode for Yamalube/Westby Racing prior to his retirement. Day won the 2009 AMA Supersport East Champion and finished runner-up in the 2011 European Superstock 600 Championship. At the height of his US career, Day shared the grid with some of the country’s top riders, like Ben Spies, Mat Mladin, Eric Bostrom, Aaron Yates, and Rodger/Tommy Hayden.
Unfortunately, the final years of Day’s racing career were plagued by a number of intense head injuries resulting from violent high-side crashes. A trio of back-to-back-to-back concussions ultimately ended Day’s racing career, but the Orlando native’s own personal experience with head trauma have prompted him to become an outspoken advocate for race and track safety. This includes an effort to implement what’s called “rider baseline testing” (something American Flat Track started doing at the start of 2017) in order to create a concussion protocol.
Interestingly Day doesn’t own a road bike — a stipulation his parents made when he started racing at the age of 14 that seemingly stuck —though in his more-than-decade-long career, the Florida-Born rider has piloted some extremely elite production-based machines, such as this track weapon of a 2008 Yamaha YZF-R1.
This particular ex-Day example was sold off to AMA Pro Lindsey McGregor, who replaced the bodywork. The bike has traded hands at least once since then, though it appears very few changes have been made to it through its string of owners. At the heart of this 2008 YZF-R1 is an RM Racing engine that, according to the ad, has “low hours”, granted when this example came up for sale in 2015 the ad also said “RM Racing Engine/Low Hours”, and the fact this example has different tires makes me question this a bit.
Moving on to the suspension, this example sports Ohlins forks and internals up front, an adjustable Ohlins TTX monoshock in back, and a GPR steering damper. The stock exhaust had been replaced with a trick full titanium LeoVince WSBK unit paired with a YEC Race ECU. This R1 also boasts Bazazz traction control and quick-shifter, as well as a pit limiter. The clip-ons, rear-sets, and sprockets are all Vortex units, and other odds and ends include Pirelli Diablo Slicks with reportedly only a single day of use, engine covers, unspecified adjustable levers, a brand new clutch with zero miles on it, and steel braided lines fore and aft.
When this example was for sale back in 2015, (it had an asking price of $6,300) the seller was including Josh Day’s original bodywork in the sale. The current ad says the sale includes an extra set of Sharkskinz, which may or may not be Day’s. Despite the asking price having increased by roughly 17 percent, this is still a pretty sweet deal, made all the better by its history. Just the engine and suspension alone are worth well over the asking price.
You can find this Ex-Josh Day 2008 Yamaha YZF-R1 Track/Race bike (VIN: JYARN20E48A012993) for sale here on Craigslist in Santa Clara, California with a price of $7,500.