CHARLIE YAMAHA YZF-R6

I signed off last month in a quandary. With almost a year of service at

Fast Bikes and a fast approaching second service at 6,000 miles the bell is tolling for the YZF-R6 – but a package arrived that was hard to ignore. B&C Express had forwarded a Full Titanium Arrow system for the Yam, and it would have been rude not to give my staffer a final boost of ponies before it heads home to Yamaha.

So to Phoenix Yamaha in Trowbridge, Wayne got onto the fitting while front of house Barry sent me WhatsApp pics of the progress. The end result is stunning; it’s a beautiful piece that’s superbly manufactured with incredible welding that almost warrants running the bike without a fairing so you can see it in its total majesty. The carbon heat shield is again something to behold and yes, I may be waxing lyrical to a point of annoyance but if you are dropping near enough £2,000 you need to know the quality of this purchase.

Annoyingly you will find cheaper options of the Arrow from foreign lands that will tempt you, but don’t be fooled as there are cases of not receiving the full package so if you are going to drop this level of investment don’t try to go cheap; B&C are your guys for this, in the end why risk it?

So it looks great and sounds amazing but without further modification the performance is questionable first off. With a full-system added without the Euro 4 Cat in place, the fuelling goes all to cock with a massive imbalance in the air/fuel mix. Enter the JHS Dyno and Will Holland’s tuning expertise, combined with a Power Commander Five from Dynojet and most problems are solved. I say most as for the ‘full–tune’ you need to get into the ECU to open up the closed loop system as without it you can only access the lower injectors, limiting what you can tune in the lower rev ranges.

All that said the tune has eradicated the hole at 7,000rpm with the pipe and map adding 11bhp throughout, a superb result and my most successful – albeit expensive – modification to date. Though not one to be taken lightly, if I am being honest to myself this is one step beyond my needs for the YZF-R6. It’s now pumping out power close to that of a BSB stocker and I am no BSB level rider. Fortunately though, I do work with riders of that capability so I am guessing the final test will be at the hands of one of those guys. I am genuinely excited to know what they think and in preparation have also fitted a set of all-out sport tyres – Metzelers K3 Racetech RRs to finish off the job – a tyre that is designed to win road races will, I am sure, give them ample opportunity to bang in some fast laps.

At the start of the R6’s Longtermer campaign I wanted to make the very most of this awesome bike and I think I am pretty much there. It’s now down to pure riding which I am guessing will take it to its second service before it is decommissioned and returned as standard to its rightful owners. A sad day that will be too, and will involve a crowbar to prize me off it from Yamaha and a lengthy sulk on my part. But it’s better to have loved and lost, right? What a load of shizzle.