CHARLIE YAMAHA YZF-R6
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Giggling like an excited child!”
Ihave been aching for this arrival ever since throwing my leg over what has been agonizingly termed the ‘last of the supersport’, at last year’s Sportsbike of the Year. The R6 was Portimao playtime, putting in more laps and chewing up more Bridgestone R10 rubber than any other bike, out-scoring the rest of the tested fleet on fun factor. Though obviously lacking in most other areas against a field of full fat litre based weapons.
It may only have rated as a 6/10 against this field of thoroughbreds but I care not a jot, it was obviously under powered but interestingly not under used – this is due testament to R6 delight. It won praise for vastly improved handling via its new front end, not to mention its looks. The matt-black finish looks impressive in the stark sunlight of the Portuguese summer – providing mild men of advertising such as myself with the opportunity to scream a bike into the higher rev ranges where the R6 sparks to life. This was the final clincher for me, I was in love and my grovelling requests to Uncle Yamaha began.
It has taken time to arrive, and now that it has it turns out to be in the more traditional Yamaha blue and silver which does not tick my ‘Street Hawk’ stealth box, but at 43 it really is time I grew up. On this basis, there are those who have wondered why I would be so set on a 600, especially when an extra £3k can promote you to the supermiddleweight band. It’s a good question and one I can only really put down to personal preference – we all have them, but given that I also have open license from Yamaha to improve the package with any aftermarket parts I choose, I have the ideal platform to test new product and get to the heart of the R6 and my own abilities on it.
Re-acquainting myself with the R6 resulted in getting it to the 600 first service mileage marker pretty sharpish. Its first visit to Phoenix Yamaha in Trowbridge followed with a full service and diagnosis check. Nothing was amiss so it was off to JHS for a dyno run which resulted in the much expected 103bhp, some three less ponies than my last R6 some five years ago. Euro 4 strikes again, really quite viciously on the R6 but there are ways around this.
First things first though – time to firm up the ride. There is little point improving the performance figures this early given winter riding where a blunter delivery may actually be of benefit. However the pogo’ing nature of the rear shock does need attention. As with many OE fitments this shock needs to be good enough to cope with many riding styles, weights and uses; this does not necessarily make it a good shock. So this is my immediate starting point with a date in the diary at Nitron. More next month.