Yamaha YZF-R6
Traction control, engine modes and quickshifter Facelift to match range-topping R1 superbike Euro 4 changes cut power
PEOPLE GENERALLY HATE change. Me? I love it. Well, good change, that is: the sort of change you usually get when a new bike comes out. The ‘more power, less weight, heated grips, and a button that’ll stop you crashing your brains out when you go a bit too quick’ kind of change.
But what kind of change do we have here in Almeria, for the launch of the 2017 Yamaha R6? On the face of it, it’s all good. We get R1-style cosmetics, a new front end with bigger 43mm forks and larger 320mm discs. And we get modern tech upgrades: traction control, ABS and a quickshifter. Dig a little deeper into the specs, though, and there’s less good news: the headline power and torque figures are down, thanks to tighter Euro 4 emissions regs, which have killed off every other 600-class sportsbike except the MV Agusta F3 675.
I’m not massively worried about the power figures while I reacquaint myself with this tricky Spanish circuit. After a few laps, though, I notice I’m having to alter my riding approach. The last few times I’ve been on track have been on broadsword 1000cc superbikes rather than a rapier 600. I recalibrate my aural tachometer for about 4000 more revs, then things move faster...
Not as much as I’d hoped, though. The engine has three modes: Standard, A and B. All make the same power, but get there with different degrees of ferocity. You need A for the track; it needs all the ferocity it can get, but the new R6 still feels decidedly flat in some sections, especially pulling up the hill on the first inclined right-hander.
On the long back straight, no matter how hard I try, I’m struggling to get up into fifth gear for any length of time before hitting the brakes. It’s not just flat-out power that’s down. The motor feels pretty breathy through the midrange, too. You adapt, of course, and I find sticking to second or third gear, while keeping the revs well over 10k for most of the lap, helps a lot.
What really helps is the rest of the bike. The chassis is designed for track use and even on stock suspension settings with road tyres it’s a proper blast. It is worth noting that for the bike’s launch Yamaha swapped the stock Bridgestone S21 sporty road rubber for R10 road-legal track tyres.
The new front brakes, with 320mm discs borrowed from the latest R1, have ample power and feel. I’m not having any problems with the Yamaha ABS set-up, either. Ideally, on such a track-focused bike, you’d have a switchable system, but you can’t turn the R6’s ABS off. Some of the racers on the launch reckoned it was getting in their way a little, but I’d say for most folk, most of the time, it’ll be an asset rather than a handicap.
The R6’s new quickshifter is also pretty good, making upshifts quicker and easier, with a pleasing race bike braap-braaaaap soundtrack. It’s a shame it doesn’t have a downshifting blipper function as standard, though (even BMW’S R1200GS has one!) and it’s not difficult to incorporate into a ride-by-wire throttle set-up. Even more perplexing is the fact that this function is available with the Yamaha race kit ECU we also tested (see below), and it’s really good.
Overall, the R6 has changed for the better in chassis and equipment terms. But those enforced emissions mods have made the engine less fun than we hoped.