I find bikes can be easier to detail because of their big scale but also any mistakes are also magnified by the scale. So it's a double edged sword.
Interesting fact: the blue color for the YZF-R1 was so popular in Britain that there was a backorder for several months after it first came out.
Edit: I found lots of good reference pics today. Check this site out:
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcyam/r1/engine/
Has engine and chassis pics, as well as a pic of the bike without the cowl. After looking at pics of the lines, I think that I'll be keeping the Tamiya vinyl tubing, as it *is* pretty much in scale.