RllllnBt~
2003 Yamaha YZF600R
Elll~
Now taking a backseat to the
R6; the \IZF600R finds its
niche as a comfortable; yet
sporty; everyday workhorse
By KIT PALMER
y business card says I'm the OffRoad Editor at this publication,
but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy
riding street bikes. In fact, I log more
hours in a year on the street than I do
on the dirt, but that's because I use
street bikes as my main mode of
transportation. Hardly a day goes by
that I don't throw a leg over a street
bike, and when I do, the bike almost
always comes home with over 100
more miles showing on the odo, and
it's for these reasons that I am a
stickler about comfort and rideability.
Sure, I like cutting-edge sport-performance as much as the next guy, but I
like being comfortable, too. I just
The combination of comfort and sporty perfornumce make. the \'ZFlSOOR a tun
commuter a. well . . . very competent canron-runner.
can't seem to appreciate 1DO-plus
horsepower and lightning-quick handling when my back, knees and/or
wrists are aching. So, for me, it's
always been a balancing act finding
that perfect combination of high-end
sporty performance and maintaining
a degree of civility, and the YZF600R
comes pretty darn close to fulfilling
both of those needs.
As you probably already know, the
YZF600R was at one time Yamaha's
number-one starter in the 600cc Supersport rotation but has since been
demoted by the full-race R6, an awesome top-of-the-!ine street-legal "race"
bike designed for the hard-core sport
bike rider. But as much as I enjoy riding
the higher-priced and more technologi-
Specifications
~@@~ W&J[JfJD&JW&J W{P@@@!XJ
ENGINE TYPE:
599cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, DOHC in-line four-cylinder
62x49.6mm
BORE x STROKE:
12: 1
COMPRESSION RATIO:
CARB
