My first encounter with the Yamaha was back in 2001, when i took one out for a test ride from our local shop. It was V registered, red and awesomely fast. Unfortunately it was also £6000, so i was totally outpriced and went off home with my tail between my legs and a persistant niggle in the back of my brain telling me to sell those kidneys and get that bike! I bought a cheap 1984 GPz900r and ran it till it died then went on to a 1996 ZX9R. it was lovely, incredibly fast but very heavy and difficult for me to move around. The R6 never left my system and found the hankering was getting too much to bear so after re MOT-ing my zx9r having only done 250 miles on it since the previous one i decided that now was definitely the time for change. Off i went down the bike shop, and there it was. The most fantastic blue (thats the most important bit!!) W reg 2000 R6. With a full akrapovic race system, im told cost about £1100 ouch, goodrich hoses all round, hugger, undertray and double bubble screen, it looked awesome and the deal was done. A week later i took it home and have not stopped smiling since. Ive owned the bike for about 6 weeks now and every opportunity i have, i go out on it. Ive waited so many years and now i have it, im sure as hell not gonna waste it. The handling is superb, altho its very fast turning in so beware cos its likely to catch you out. Ive been on a huge learning curve since the ZX9R, the R6 is far far superior. It stops amazingly well, as i said tho i do have goodrich hoses all round which make a huge long term difference and would recommend them to anyone, but the R6 i tested in 2001 was standard all round and the brakes were pretty damn special on that too. The double screen is an absolute must, there's not a lot of protection on the R6, its not built for comfort after all, but not only does the screen look cool it does help with the wind buffeting, and with the speeds the bike is capable of, its definitely worth investing in one. The race system looks and sounds the business, but will make it very burbly at low speeds. Mine is just the system, i have no dynojet or change of filter as yet, but thats coming next ;-) and hopefully that will improve it better still. The one downfall ive found so far is that i had to wait almost a month for the bike shop to supply my new chain, apparently R6 chains can be extremely difficult to source.The tyres im running on it at the moment are Bridgestone 010's, the bike shop fitted these as part of my deal. Im very happy with them extremely sticky but im concerned about the life span im likely to get from them. I always used Dunlop 207's on my ZX9R, and thats actually what the R6 had on when i first saw it. The owners manual recommends 207's so i think i may go back to those when the 010's are knackered. Im only 5'6 and this bike feels like its been made to measure for me, the reach is right, the height is perfect and the weight is just so manageable too. There's nothing worse than being a girlie on a bike and struggling to park it. In the future when ive done more mileage on this bike i will be posting another review, this one is just an introduction really, highlighting the best points that catch your attention when you first get it. I hope this is useful to you all out there, my advice would be if you like it get it, cos you wont be happy till you do! Happy riding :-)