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/128086
2001 Yamaha YZF-R6 you will ever meet. Nevertheless, I took full advantage of picking his brain; after all, Oliver was formally a Willow Springs lap record holder on his 250. Following a rider as talented as Oliver (even if it was only for part of a lap at a time) really helped with my line selection. I realized I was being lazy in some areas, and just not seeing the best line in others. The track is a momentum track that really favors the rider who can string turns together - two-thirds of the track's nine turns need to be linked together to have a decent lap. The R6 is the perfect bike to get around Willow Springs on. It gives the rider the ability to change line at any diameter is slightly larger than the stock tire, and makes the front end unstable if not compensated for. To optimize the geometry, I should have raised the forks in the triple clamps a little bit, but I was having too much fun riding to bother. I was dragging the foot-peg feelers in the tighter corners, and ended up adding some preload to the rear shock - which helped. The lines that I picked up from Oliver (race lines, not pick-up lines) also helped more than I expected, and solved some of the instability problems I was having with the front end. It's amazing how much a better line can help to improve the feel of the bike. point in the comer, which can be useful with the windy conditions often encountered there. It also feels as close to a 250cc GP bike as a four stroke can get - making Oliver's help all the more valuable. The bike not only has terrific turning ability, but it is very stable mid-corner, with a perfect balance between the two. It is also very stable on the brakes - especially considering its short wheelbase. The brakes have great feel and more than enough stopping power for the racetrack. One of the mistakes that I made during the day was that I didn't adjust the geometry to compensate for the different diameter Dunlop D207GP Star tire on the front. The By the end of the day, I had ridden around 200 miles, had gone through four tanks of gas and was dead tired. Willow really likes to consume fuel - at a rate that is obviously not indicative of the street. I finally pulled in when the rear tire was so torched that crashing was eminent. Every time I turned the throttle in a right-hander the tire would spin at an unnerving rate. The R6 is so responsive that it makes riding it easy - I always felt relaxed and in control, and felt that the R6 would do whatever I asked of it without hesitation. What else can you ask for on the racetrack? Oh, yeah, a good motor. The R6 has plenty of motor - it packs more punch per cubic cen- STORY By BLAKE CONNER PHOTOS By FRANK HOPPEN '1? he saying goes: If it ain't broke U don't fix it. But what if you're a motorcycle manufacturer trying to stay competitive in one of the most cutthroat segments of the market? In this case, leaving good enough alone isn't always the solution. With the 600cc sportbike market being so important to the manufacturers, constant fine-tuning of the bikes has become mandatory. Yamaha must have known that it was going to have a more difficult year in the market both the Honda and the Suzuki have been updated and Suzuki has dramatically changed its respective offering. Yamaha doesn't appear to be running scared - they just seem to have taken precautions to strengthen their defenses. The R6 is arguably the best handing sportbike ever created, so refinements to the bike were directed toward the engine, transmission, and appearance more than anything else. Yamaha managed to shave even more weight off the waif R6 - which is kind of like Kate Moss going on a 28 JANUARY 10, 2001 • III U III crash diet. In the R6's case, it should only improve performance; in Moss' it could be deadly. We were invited out to Willow Springs International Raceway in Southern California to spend a lowkey day riding the bike on the track. "The Fastest Road in the West" as Willow Springs is called - is appropriate because it seems like the throttle is always wide open. The track appears to be fairly simple, but it's the finer nuances that take forever to figure out. Which made the fact that multi-time AMA 250cc GP Champion Rich Oliver was spending the day with us all the more beneficial. Not that I don't like to hang out with Rich anyway - he is one of the nicest guys n ... _ s ....