Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127718
the inside of the left fairing rather than on the left handlebar as wi th most motorcycles today. Don't try to mod ulate the choke w hen cold-firing the YZF. Crank it all the way o pen and thumb th e starter . Af te r the engin e fires and ru ns up for abo ut 30 second s you can tum the choke off, and the engine will settle into a nice idle. We appreciated the YZF600R's abili ty to negotia te traffic in a polite fashion. no d oub t due to a g rea t ab un dan ce of midrange power. Unlike other 600s th at must be screamed to keep them moving. the YZF can be plodded quietly along in th ird ge ar at around 3000-5000 rpm all d ay long and stilI remain res ponsi ve enough w hen called upon for defensive m an eu v ering . Ther e appear to be no beha vioral glitches in the powerb and - at least not in the low-to-m id dl e rpm - to suggest that the bike is a racer . The transmi ssion an d clutch w orke d smooth ly, th ough we learned that excessive slipping will cau se the clu tch to heat up and get grabby. When in do ub t, ride in a lower gear. Above 6000 rpm, thi ngs get really exciting. Ra p the tac hometer past that p oint and the YZF co mes alive with a furious mid -to-u ppe r hit that thi ns out only slightly as th e mill quickly asce nds to its 13,OOO-rp m red line. And lest you be led to believe that this bike wou ld make the ultimate commuter, the four-into-on e head er begins to ba rk audibly at around 7000, spe wing a raspy tone that is unmistakeably race bike . Perhaps eve n m ore noticeabl e is th e growl th at em an a tes fro m under the seat wher e ai r is being rapidly inhaled into the bike's fou r carbs w hen th e throttle is suddenly w ic ked open. This loud sucking noise annoyed at least one of our testers. The suspension appears capable of handling most anything thrown at it. The fork and shock remain supple enough to take the edge off of potholes and other civi lian road nasties without upsetting the ride, an d felt capable of withstanding the abuse of even the most skilled sport ri der w he n ca nyon carving. The shock balances the package fairly well, but one tester tho ught that it exhibited a tendency to pogo a lit tle d uring quick di rection cha nges over bu m ps at medium throttle settings. The harder we rode, the better it felt. Most testers liked the way the bike h andles. Yamaha's trademark sta bi lity carries over to the YZF. Thanks again to the fork, the bike displays no tendency to twitch when negotiating freeway surface irregul ari ties, and darting in and out of traffic at low speed really lets you appreciat e the light steering in pu t needed to gu ide it. Simply put, the YZF600R is very flickable. Hard cornering w hile at speed or und er accele ra tion was also ne utral and light, in st ill ing confi d ence in all testers regard less of their skill. . If there were any qu irks th at threatened the overall package - an d we felt the re we re - th ey centered arou nd th e tir es an d b rakes . Th e class-sta n da rd Bridgeston e Battlax radials felt excellent ' under mos t conditions, wet or d ry, offering excellent feedback to the ride r whether cru ising or flogging. But when parallel tracking even the tiniest joints or cracks in the road surface, the tires conspired to give the bike an unsettling wandering feel. We checked the tire pressures and fo un d them to be co rrec t. Bo th ersome, to say the least. Furthermore, the front brakes req uired a rather high degree of effort to get the bike haul ed down from speed. Modulation was poor; you were either on the brakes or off. Ther e was no in between. The rear brake felt much the same way. Too bad re all y, because o nce they d id (Left) Twin 298mm front ' discs with four-piston calipers do an adequate job of hauling the VZFdown from speed, but "feel" could be greatly' improved. Beautiful " cateye" headlights are inspired by the VZF750R. come on. the brakes felt po werful eno ugh to slow the bike quickly, bu t the result of the harsh transition mad e it more difficult for a rider to make a smooth entry or exit in tigh ter turns while at speed. The mo re miles we pu t on th e YZF, the more we enjoye d it. We were surprised to find the that the s ad d le remained ext remely comfortable on longer tri ps, and our YZF's five-gallon fuel ta nk allowed us to take them; the bike ha s a range of approxi mately 185 m iles before reserve . The only lim itin g factor in travelling long d istan ces cam e in the fo rm of vibration that crep t through th e bar s at cru isin g speed. The vi bes are so mething th a t we could do wi tho ut. Bottom line: Tou chy brakes aside, the Yama ha YZF600R well-rep resen ts the excellence tha t abounds in the merciless 600cc spo rtbike mar ket, and it does so at a suggested retail price of $6999, making the Yama ha the most eco nomical of the current crop of supersport midd leweigh ts - the Honda CBR600F3 retail s at $7299 while Kawasaki 's new ZX-6R retails for a w hop ping $78 99. We th in k th a t th e YZF600R is a worthy d efender of it s AMA 600cc Supersport crown, and we wo uld love to see Jamie James ride another V&H ve rsion of th e bike agains t th e new chall en gers fr om H ond a an d Kaw asaki . Unfortunate ly , we won' t ge t tha t chance. Yamaha has elected not to field a fact ory YZF600R in the '95 AMA 600cc Supersport Series, as James will concentr at e his effo rts on claiming his second AMA Superbike title, and new Vance & Hines teammate Tom Kipp will also ride the superbike while attem pting to defend hi s AMA 750cc Su pers port title o n a YZF 750R. If th e Yam aha YZ F600R is going to rema in nu mber one, it will have to be at the hands of a privatee r. Is the bike stro ng eno ugh a plat form to gu ide an independen t to victory ove r a rennova ted H o nd a and Kawasaki factory onslaught? That remains to be seen but is highly unlikely. One thing is for s ure, though, th e YZ F600 R is a bl ast to ri de. Wh ile we haven' t had th e chance to compar e th e YZF to eithe r the Kawasaki ZX-6R or the new Hond a CBR600F3 back-t o -hack, from w ha t we can tell, the YZF falls a little sho rt of these two ma chines, at least w h en it comes to th e cu tt h ro at world betw een the green and chec kered flags; Bu t in th e " re al" worl d, w here there aren't any co m er workers, the YZF600 is as good as any middlew eig ht spo rtbike o n the m a r ke t. Pe rhap s e v e n b etter w hen you tak e into co ns idera tio n its I~ price tag. While Cycle News believes theforegoing test reliable, it is the opinion of the reviewers only and sluJuLi not be relied uponin determining the performanee or safetyof the vdticle(s). The reader slwuld make his or herown investigation. (Abo ve right) The VZF's large windscreen offers a surprising amount of wind and weather protection. (Right) Rather than mounti ng the on/reserve switch for the VZF's elect ric fuel pump below the seat, Yamaha elected to mount it under the han dlebar on the left side fairing. Nice touch. Yamaha YZF600R Specifications ENGINE Type . ... . ....•.. ... . .Four-stroke, four-eylinder. oohc, 16-valve.liquid-eooled Borex stroke 62 x 49.6mm Displacement 599cc Compression ratio 12 .0:1 Carburetion (4) 34mm KeihinCVKD34 Ignition Digital TCI Starting system Electric Transmission speeds 6 CHASSIS Frame A1uminum Deltabox Suspension Front .. .. . . . . • .... .41 mm Kayaba. preload adj. fork Rear Monocross rising-rate wI Kayaba preload/rebound damping adj. shock Wheel travel Front 5.1 in. Rear 4.7in. RskeItraiI N/A TIres Front . . • .. . . • . . . . . .12016OZR17 Bridges10ne BatUax BT-50F Radial Rear 160160ZRI7 Bridgestone BatUax B T-50R Radial Brakes Front 298mm dual disc wI four·piston calipers Rear , 245mm disc wI two-pis1on caliper OtMENSlONSlcAPAcmES OIA Ienglh OIA width OIA height Wheelbase Groundclearance Seat height Fuel capacity Claimed dry weight IISRP 81.1 in. 28.5 in. 46.5 in. 55.7 in. 5.3 in. 31.9 in. 5.0 gal. 406100. $6999