Bike
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2002 Yamaha YZF-R6
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Molly Designs laid the beautiful
paint on this R6. Molly'S the
guy who designed the paint
scheme for Yamaha back in the
'70s in the first place, so who
better to do the job.
re you one of those people
who really want to go road
racing but you keep convincing
yourself that you can't afford
't1 The fact of the matter is
that you don't need the latest greatest
motorcycle to be competitive. There are
lots of affordable ways to go racing, and if
you're not ready to commit to racing, the
same basic package would make a great
track day bike.
The concept behind this bike was to
build a very basic, very competitive race
bike and show the average street rider, or
track day rider, that lining up at the local
track doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.
A
28
(My goal was to
stay
under
$10,000.) I chose a
Yamaha R6 for a
variety of reasons,
but the primary
reason is that
more people are
The Yamaha GYT-R .,.. aluminum 011 pump
cover is a preventive .-asure that will not only
praIed the bike but also help keep the oil in the
motor and off the track in the event 01 a crash.
racing R6s than
anything else out there, so there are a lot
of aftermarket parts available. I chose a
600cc bike because I personally think that's
the best place for a novice to start. I'm
sorry, but RIs aren't the best bikes for
learning how to race.
An R6 with low miles that's in very good
FEBRUARY 9,2005 • CYCLE NEWS
The brake and clutch leven from Constrvcton
Racing Group are trick and easy to adjust.
condition can be found in the Cycle Trader
in the $5000-7000 price range, and one
can be found even cheaper if you buy a
crashed or cosmetically damaged one. I
was able to buy one of our test units from
Yamaha for a fair price, but I will admit that
the price was below what the average Joe
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could find in the c1assifieds. I started putting this bike together a while back, further
back than I care to admit. The biggest hurdle was that Icrashed the bike during practice for a race at Willow Springs
International Raceway in Rosamond,
California. The weekend was supposed to
