THE RIDE VERDICT

YAMAHA HAS DONE a great job with the new R6. As well as its breathtaking looks, it delivers performance with improved safety from the new traction control and ABS, while also – amazingly - only adding around 1kg to the overall weight. There is no escaping the fact that the R6 is a road bike with a strong bias for sport or track riding, and the nature of the high-revving engine has the potential to be at odds with the tempo of most public-road situations. Yet there is a definite lust for this type of bike; Yamaha itself acknowledges the fact that a lot of customers will use the R6 as a dedicated trackday bike and in this respect, the model is very well catered for with pages and pages of official YEC racing parts.

These days, motorcycling is all about choice; you can deviate from centre and have a Bobber, a Bagger, a Café Racer, or a custom, all of which serve a niche and often place fashion over function. Thanks to Yamaha, fans of the small but perfectly formed supersport bike still have an option in 2017, and the R6 serves that purpose beautifully.

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Bought the new R6? Tell us about your experience: email ride@ride.co.uk