I've been riding since I was 7 but have only been on the road for 8 years. In this time have ridden many different types of bikes ranging from crossers to big 1000's. The only one that I have not got tired of though is the R6. To start of with. These things go forever and get better. Mine currently has 28000 miles on, my friends has 40000 and they are still going strong. Service regularly and you will not have any problems. When you get it in a straight line it delivers its power a little on the aggressive side but it is easy to handle. It pulls best between 7 and 14000 just before its 14500 rpm limiter. I think it is geared that little bit more effectively compared to other 600 cc bikes. This bike comes with the same breaks as the R1 so you have no problem stopping aswell. The brakes bite and give positive feedback into every corner. Corners are no problem either. It handles very well compared to other 600cc bikes and on my first ride out I knew this as I found it just like my CBR400RR to throw into corners. It loves to corner and it was very easy to get the hang of. Due to this, knee sliders were being used within about 3 days. Completely different to the ZX6R which feels less compact and seems a little on the tall side of things. The R6 only shows its limits when it starts shaking its head on the power half way round a corner. Although this is a machine that's designed to be thrashed around a track or used as a toy at the weekends, it also comes over very practical. I am 5'11'' and don't have any problem travelling 200mile home along the motorway in good conditions. The fairing and different riding positions allow you to keep out of the wind to a certain extent which makes it stable at higher motorway speeds and when you are cruising the seat is very comfortable and the foot pegs give you plenty of room whilst still providing that sporty feel. The R6 has a couple of minor bad points although these can be rectified. The Dunlop D207, which the bike arrives with, does not do the bike justice. They do not give the confidence or feedback that you require. I personally changed mine for a set of Pirellis and that did the trick. The second bad point is the rear end number plate bracket and reflector. The number plate bracket is far too big, if you were to put an after market number plate on which is a little smaller. It just seems to be engulfed by the big plastic mudguard. Two ways to correct this, by either cutting the mud guard down to size by just tidily chopping the bottom off or buying an after market tail tidy which can be a little expensive if you can't do it yourself. The advantage of doing this is that the rear wheel has a lot more space to travel on the suspension. Even with a slim person as pillion the standard mudguard and plate holder come far too close. Overall this is an exceptional bike with performance and value for money second to none in the 600 range and a wide range of colours to suit every ones taste. Yamaha's official home page for the R6. It can be found at, http://www.yamahausa.com/mcnew/sport/r6specs.html. This tells you everything you need to know about the bike technically.
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Advantages: Its light, it goes, it stops, it looks great and it scores an A+ in all these categories!! Disadvantages: Its total race position, so if you want to do a lot of miles, you're gonna get wrist ache, and they dont like to go slow either!!
Rosbird1 22.05.2004 (22.05.2004)
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Review of Yamaha YZF-R6
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