Yamaha YZF-R6 print

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Yamaha YZF-R6 print

Greedy for revs and fascinating

Anyone can do it with more displacement. Getting a lot of power out of small engines is the real art, and in no other type of motorcycle does it reach such a high level as with the 600 super sports bikes. Extremely speed-greedy, they are not easy to drive, but fascinating.

The first traffic light already reveals it. Out of habit, I put on a commode 1000 rpm to start up and engage the clutch. Maaaooooh. Oops, quickly increase the speed, let the clutch grip again. The powerful four-cylinder of the Yamaha YZF-R6 still sounds like a depressive ghost and sinks into the next torque hole.

Yamaha YZF-R6 print

Greedy for revs and fascinating

YZF-R6 finally swinging off the line. Instead, a group of pedestrians are shaking their heads blankly. And I think I can see how the driver behind me taps his forehead at the next red light. He should. Because it is the last traffic light away from Stuttgart, he gets it served in five digits for the next green phase. At least the Yamaha and I are happy.

Below-nothing-and-above-everything characteristic

Admittedly, the Yamaha YZF-R6 could also be started at a lower speed, but that is not that easy with the energetic clutch. Anyone who has learned the necessary ruthlessness in dealing with speeds and the necessary sensitivity when adjusting the clutch on sophisticated two-stroke engines will consider the R6’s weak starting torque to be a luxury problem. But very few are. The majority of motorcyclists, younger and older, do not start much with this below-nothing-and-above-everything characteristic of the "small" high-performance engines.

For a better understanding: The 600 series have been doing for a long time what the 1000 series super sports cars have only recently achieved: liter outputs of around 200 hp. Because they need higher speeds than the 1000 series with less displacement, the torque values ​​are lower. The gas exchange of the 600 series has been optimized for the highest speeds and is therefore rather sluggish in the lower range. The Yamaha YZF-R6 tries to address this problem with variable velocity stacks – long for the bottom, short for the top. Their success consists in the fact that one would rather not know what it would be like without them. And last but not least, the performance of the 600 series suffers from the fact that it has not been further developed for years. Kawasaki is the notable exception.

Future of the 600 super sports car

Tea reason for the reluctance of the manufacturers lies in the collapse of the strongest 600 markets in Europe, Italy and Spain in the wake of the financial crisis. Young people, the largest group of potential buyers, have since suffered the most from unemployment, and as inexpensive everyday vehicles, motorcycles like the Yamaha YZF-R6 are too expensive to buy and maintain. Your favorite speeds can only rarely be achieved in public transport. The only habitat that is at least appropriate to the character of the engine is the German autobahn apart from the racetrack. As you can see, these fascinatingly pointed motorcycles are an endangered species that is under pressure from many sides. In all likelihood, the conventionally braked Yamaha YZF-R6 and Suzuki GSX-R 600 will come to an end when the ABS obligation for new motorcycles comes into force in 2017, because the incentive to equip these motorcycles with ABS is low. Honda no longer offers the CBR 600 RR, which has had ABS since 2009, in Germany. Hopefully Suzuki and Yamaha will think differently than feared, and Kawasaki will stay on the ball with the ZX-6R.

There are also good reasons for the 600s to continue. The incomparable driving experience, for example. Their chassis have the rigidity, their spring elements the responsiveness and damping reserves of real sports machines, and they are even lighter than the 1000s. And since these tire dimensions have existed, the interaction of a 120/70 front tire with a 180/55 rear, standard in the 600 class, has seemed the ideal to me. Wonderful handiness and good grip – it took a long time before the 190s and 200s with high cross-sections of 55 or 60 percent of the width came close. Which doesn’t mean they achieved it. The Yamaha YZF-R6 shows me the difference that is still there as soon as it’s on the winding road. Regardless of whether it is a country road or a race track, it pampers you with a combination of agility, precision and cornering stability that you don’t often come across. A long curve, full lean, the driver hangs inside next to the motorcycle, pulls the engine with relish and still maintains the tight line – there is hardly a machine that supports its driver better in such maneuvers. And if so, then it comes from the group of the other 600 or 675 three-cylinder.

Moto2 engines from the Honda CBR 600 RR

This is how motorcycles are designed with which, as a racing novice, you can learn precise driving and high speeds when entering bends. And as an old hand sharpened his line again. A fat torque is just in the way. It is not without reason that the standard engine of the Moto2 class in Grand Prix racing comes from the Honda CBR 600 RR. In contrast to the series engines, only the cylinder heads are machined with CNC machines and the running clearances of pistons, connecting rod and crankshaft bearings are brought to a uniform level in order to create equal opportunities for all drivers. Highly tuned engines from the Supersport World Cup are more powerful and pointed than the Moto2 engines. Eight years ago I had the opportunity to ride several motorcycles from the Supersport World Championship, including a Yamaha YZF-R6 from the Lorenzini team, with which Massimo Roccoli hunted for World Championship points. To my greatest surprise, it didn’t spin any higher than the production bike, instead it struck at the same revs with a truly explosive temperament. What an experience! However, a high price has to be paid for this in the form of increased maintenance costs. After a few hundred kilometers, at least the crankshaft and connecting rod bearings have to be replaced, along with the timing chain and tensioner, and possibly the valves. All series parts, as prescribed by the regulations. So they don’t cost the world, but working hours do. But you don’t have to exhaust the engines to this point or put them in special GP chassis to get an attractive junior class.

It hurts to think that the motorcycles with such potential could disappear. Perhaps the manufacturers should invest again, make their performance a little more suitable for everyday use and their noise development more socially acceptable. So that there will also be motorcycles in the future for those very special turning moments.

Technical data R6

Yamaha

129 hp from 599 cc. You only get that at 14,500 rpm.

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