90 YAMAHA R6Supersports models hadnever looked this good,revved with such excitabilityor handled so sweetlylater prove to be exaggerated). This mini R1had 16 instead of 20 valves but followed thebigger bike’s layout of stacked six-speedgearbox, plus one-piece barrels and crankcasethat added rigidity to the twin-sparaluminium frame. A ram-air system provided12 of those 120 horses.Yamaha billed the R6 as a no-compromisesportster that delivered an extremeriding experience, and twodays on road and track on thelaunch in Australia (rememberwhen Yamaha had newsportsbike models to exciteus?) confirmed the firm wasn’tjoking. The R6 was a peakylittle critter that thrived onbeing revved to its 15,500rpmredline.On the right road and,better still, on the Phillip Island track, it wasfantastic. The Yam howled out of bends atan amazing rate for a 600, its digital speedoshowing 165mph with more to come on theIsland’s main straight. Its corner speed wasmighty high, too, thanks to the rigid chassis“It wasthe firstproductionbike to claim200bhp perlitre”complete with excellent suspension plusfat sticky radial rubber. And the ferocious,R1-derived front brake made the lighter-stillR6 arguably the world’s hardest-stoppingbike.But funnily enough I don’t recall thelaunch with quite the warm glow that Imight expect of such a quick bike at such aglamorous location. Partly, that was due tothe damp and blustery weather,and to my disappointmentat flying halfway round theworld to find the Great OceanRoad busier and more heavilypoliced than the A47 to GreatYarmouth. But the R6’s supremelyfocused nature playedits part too.On track or clear road, theR6 was brilliant, its agility andsheer speed making for an exhilarating ride.Throw in some town stuff or main road traffic,though, and the Yamaha’s peakiness wasa pain. The motor pulled smoothly from lowdown but didn’t really wake up till 7,000rpm,so overtaking often required a couple ofdown-changes.What a buzzStill, such drawbacks were largely lost amidthe excitement about the bike’s performance.And fortunately for Yamaha, they’dguessed correctly that the typical middleweightsportsbike buyer wouldn’t be fussedabout its failings either. The R6 tonked allopposition in 1999’s track-based group tests,sold in big numbers, and took German hardmanJörg Teuchert to the following year’sSupersport world championship. The T-shirtis still racing in Germany and the R6 is stillthe supersport weapon of choice…The R6’s success meant that rival 600sgot racier to challenge it, before in 2006Yamaha topped the lot with the radical,third-generation R6, complete with ride-bywire,shorter-stroke motor and still higherredline (though the 17,500rpm claim wasnonsense). By then, designer Miwa-san hadcreated the exotic YZF-R7, then disappearedfrom view, possibly to the golf course. Hisoriginal YZF-R6 had set the course of middleweightsportsbike development for morethan a decade.
YART havemade atributeYamaha R6 toreplicate theoriginal 1999livery. Welove it!91