I agree with you on the low end.. The R1 dosen't have the low end the other bikes do, but I guess the thinking behind that is you're going to be higher up in the RPM range on the track. The power comes on very smooth on the R1 , no surprises at any RPM.
see, i find a HUUUGE flaw in the whole "...i guess at the track...". These bikes AREN'T track bikes (well they are, but usually dont get there), maybe 10% of owners of sportbikes go to the track. They need to build them for street riding and i think they do, its just some people and some manuf choose to play with the power bands differently.