YAMAHA YZF R6
YAMAHA’S NEW R6 IS HERE – BUT IS IT ANY GOOD?
If you backtrack to 2008, the 600cc supersport sector was hotter than Nigella Lawson with ice cream on top. And right at the head of that rev-hungry, sharp handling, mid-capacity performance frenzy was Yamaha with its then new to the market fourth generation R6. It was a model that took the scene to a whole new level, combining Grand Prix looks with a lithe handling frame, and an engine that mullered its rivals in a totally unforgiving way. You could say things looked pretty damn rosy for the Japanese manufacturer, but that window of glory was to be short-lived, because later that year the global crisis came along and did a right old number on the motorcycle market.
Hardest hit of all was the supersport sector and, like an overnight plague, sportsbike sales plummeted faster than a 70-year-old’s breasts set free from a bra. Just like that vision, it’s been a painful time since for the sector, afflicted further by Brussels’ relentless legislative tape that’s seen most major manufacturers throw in the 600cc towel and walk away from the challenges of meeting Euro 4 constraints.
Triumph’s gone, so has Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda too. But Yamaha’s passion for performance has meant they’ve bucked the trend and stuck two fingers up to the autocrats, releasing a fifth generation R6 to the market near enough a decade after the previous one came to light. Here’s the good news… and the bad. “We don’t expect to sell a lot of these,” weren’t the words I was expecting to hear from Yamaha’s European divisional manager at the start of the R6’s presentation in Almeria, but I respected his honesty, along with the efforts he explained had gone into making the new supersport offering a game changer. New 43mm forks, nabbed straight from the R1, had made their way onto the model, along with a six-tier traction control system, a quickshifter, a more powerful braking system and a fairing design that Yamaha claimed made the R6 8% more aerodynamic. And a whole lot sexier.
Then there were a whole load of other goodies to learn about, like the 1.2kg lighter aluminium fuel tank (it was made of steel), a sleeker magnesium rear subframe (saving another 1.2kg) and reduced sized magnets on the generator motor to help the motor spin up faster. It all sounded tickety-boo, until the presentation got to a slide where the bike’s revised output hit home.
At first I felt sure there’d been some kind of cock-up, but a disappointing 117bhp was authenticated as the Yamaha’s new potential – some five bhp down on the previous model, with an equally alarming drop in torque. Euro 4 was to blame, having necessitated a shed load of power preventing additives such as a much larger cat – of the exhaust variety – and dual O2 sensors just to guarantee the motor was starved good and proper of much needed petroleum. The other bad news was the consequent 1kg addition in overall weight, which countered all the effort gone in to making so many of the bike’s core components as lightweight as possible.
Despite the depressing news, I hadn’t entirely lost faith in the model, which looked a treat in the pitlane under uplifting Spanish sunshine. From an aesthetic point of view, Yamaha’s possibly pulled-off ‘looker of the year’ with the R6, which warmed my cockles with its aggressive and race-focused styling. The R1M’s been a massive influence in its fresh image, borrowing many of the same styling cues, such as LED lighting and that avant-garde rear seat unit that’s surely been designed with those gaping recesses to help with the transport of baguettes.
Unfortunately, the R1’s fancy TFT dash must have been a nicety too many for the R6’s design budget, but it’s new half analogue/half digital clock looked pleasant enough. Owing to the new rider aids, the face of the display features an area for the traction control selection and, likewise, a zone for the selected drive mode – of which there are three throttle maps; A(sharp), STD (if you must), B (don’t use this one). But the sexiest feature on the clocks has to be the gear selection indicator, which is a first for an R6. About bloody time!
Lean with love
Almeria’s a proper 600 circuit, being extremely flowing and heavily undulating. It’s all about corner speed, of which I quickly learned the R6 was no prude. I know the model’s heritage well, having raced a few over the years at national level, and having always loved the Yamaha’s sharp and responsive handling prowess. They’ve always felt as if you’re riding the front wheel, unlike a neutral sitting ZX-6R or GSX-R, being absolute weapons through fast transitioning chicanes and feeling absolutely planted through slow paced hairpins. But, for its virtues, the R6 has also been a skittish bike under braking, for instance, where the rear end is liable to wag like the tail of a dog that’s been popping e-numbers.
Stability is key, and to make that factor more amenable, Yamaha’s altered the weight bias slightly rearwards on the new R6 (from 53.8% front to 52.6%). It’s a subtle figure change, but it was immediately notable from the off at the end of the circuit’s kilometre long back straight, that saw a downshift from sixth to second gear. The whole bike felt a lot more planted than expected under hard braking and, the power from the new braking system didn’t disappoint either, even if the unwelcomed ABS joined the party on occasion.
Back to the handling, the best news was these weight changes hadn’t compromised the awesome front end feel from the Yamaha, which was able to tick off apexes with ease and change line rapidly and effortlessly. Some of the track’s corners are proper fast and fantastically long. The type of bends that necessitate a bit of juggling with the throttle to keep corner speed and line as bang on as can be. On all such occasions, of which there were plenty during the early part of the test, nothing seemed to unsettle the front wheel or question the great feel being transmitted through the 43mm Kayaba forks (2mm thicker than the outgoing pogoes). The more laps I put in, the more confidence I had in the bike, which also proved very stable and negated any fettling with the base suspension setup. From corner entry all the way through to corner exit, the R6 felt absolutely mint. But it was the straights that showed the bike’s Achilles heel.
Now for the bad news
I’m trying not to go all ranty, but I hope it rains incessantly on the killjoys that prompted the subsequent culling of arguably the best supersport 600 motor on the market. Yamaha’s done their best to live within the confines of European bureaucracy, but the R6’s motor is a shadow of its former self. I knew that from the first time I wound the throttle back on leaving the pitlane and had to double check on the gear indicator that I’d selected first and not fifth. The engine felt as flat as a proverbial fart, and only really showed any signs of life once the revs climbed to around 11,000rpm. While I was a huge fan of the bike’s handling, my first two sessions on track only brought disappointment as far as the motor was concerned. Sure, it wasn’t entirely useless, but there were times where I’d bust my balls round a corner and start pushing my luck with the throttle on corner exit, only to be left wanting by the asthmatic performance of the chastisseds inline-four.
Of the six levels of traction on tap, I’d elected to get to grips with the bike withww level one selected (the least intrusive). I’m not against safety, but I did question whetthert such a comprehensive package was warranted on a bike with such little poower?o After all, it’d never been a consideration on the punchier R6 incarnations that had ccomec before this one, but that was probably aalwaysa owing to a lack of tech and desirability wayww back when. Anyway, I didn’t like the ideeae of being held back even further by a motorr r that was performing like a handbrake, so I puulledu into the pitlane and disengaged the systemm m completely (the bike has to be static and
out of gearr to switch traction off). This turned outt to be a eureka moment, as the fuelling of the bike felt that little bit more unleashed from hereon in; especially on corner exitt. The long back straight’s ridden onto followwing a double apex right that I’d been tacklling in second. With traction control lonng gone, there was scope to extract moore drive and short shift to third, which madde a big difference in terminal speed comme the end of the straight – allowing aan extra 6-7mph before I had to get on the anchors. Happy days! And the best was still yet to come.
That’s more like it!
Tucked away in a garage at the far end of the pitlane were three spec’d up R6s, complete with kit ECUs, fibreglass fairings and full titanium race systems. They weighed about 12kg less than our road bikes and packed an extra 10bhp of goodness. The option was there to take one out for a session and grasp what was on offer minus Euro4. No second invite was needed.
The difference in the motor was light and day better, feeling every bit the R6 I’d been expecting to indulge in from the get-go. Revs were plentiful and the punch out of corners was making me smile like a demented Cheshire cat. On both the front and back straights, squeezed in tight against the narrower tank and 50mm taller standard screen, a gear higher was needed to quash the motor’s relentless thirst. It also took time to adapt to the slides out of corners that hadn’t been an issue previously. The same goes for the relinquished engine-braking that helped to carry more speed into corners. I was in my element and feeling somewhat relieved that the spirit of the R6 lived on. The rest of the bike, such as the braking and handling, had already proved to have bettered the previous model’s potential, but it was only now I could appreciate the brilliance of the motor, having been unlocked from its legislated prison.
I didn’t want that session to end, but it did. And it made me contradict most of the opinions I’d made earlier about the Yamaha. Okay, it’s still not ideal that you’d need to go and buy a couple of grand’s worth of bolt-ons to release the bike’s true abilities, but it proved that beneath the skin lay a weapon of a supersport machine desperate to be set free. It was nice to know, and helped charm my desire for the model that has bucked convention and shown there is an alternate to surrendering to demands. The state of the supersport market may never rebuild itself to the levels we once knew but, thanks to the R6, at least it’s not an extinct scene. And long may it continue.