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/128627
Hopping up t he R6 Our Yamaha 'YZI'-R8 Is all dressed up, and with a little extra go. Ya m ah a is now mak in g th a t a n opt ion . Alth ough Yamaha has always offe red an extensi ve a c c e s so ry line and ha s e vo lved t he ir p rod u c ts t o m eet the c urre nt ma rket trends, they no w ha v e a perfo rmance line of accessori es called GYT - R (Genuine Yam aha Technology - Racing). With in the Yamaha accessory catalog is e v e ry t hi n g from exhaust p ip es to lubricants to tools - a one-stop shopp ing trip for almost anything that you can think of for your ride . And tho se of yo u with a fervor for p uttin g off pa yin g for th e s t u ff can u se th e Yam aha Fa ct ory F in a nci ng Card , a rev o lving c red it account that c an be used to pu rc ha se a cc e sso ries , parts , cloth ing o r even a new o r used Ya m a ha motorcycle . With credi t ca rd in ha nd , we head ed off to Yama ha in Cyp ress , Califor - S T O RY AND P HOT OS B Y B LA K E C O N N ER o you just bought a bra nd new Yamaha R6 an d yo u th in k it's a b it gene ric. Yo ur R6 loo ks and sounds just like ev e ry other R6, and you find that a tad bo ring . You th ink it needs a bit of a makeover, some s pice, right? The problem is that there are so many c o m p a nies m aking so many afterm arket par ts , you're not q u ite s u re whe re to start looking . You ' ve flipp ed th rough the c ata logs a nd yo u' re e nticed by some o f the mor e p opu la r afte rmar ket bolt-ons - th e ex ha ust s ys te m s , th e ca rbo n -fib e r g oodie s . Yo u ' re a lso a b it s us picio us a s t o th e quali t y o f some of tho se p arts . You worry that th e fit won' t b e as good as stock , an d yo u sta rt suffer ing b uyer 's rem ors e - a nd you haven 't even m ade a purchase yet. Re la x, re la x. The answer may be a n option you may not have cons idered: bu y ing O EM parts to ho p u p tha t R6 . S (Left) The carbon-fiber f e nd e r will save a littl e weight and looks pretty trick. (Above) The only carbon-fiber p ieces you can admire while you're rid i ng are the cockpit fairing accents. 44 A UGUST 23. 2 0 0 0 ' cue I e ne VIl' s nia a nd they hook ed Cycle News up with a 20 00 YZF - R6 loa de d w it h j u st a bout eve ry c a rbon fi b e r g o o d y in t h e GYT - R c a t a lo g . Throw in the fact tha t t he bik e was fitte d with Yamah a 's o wn fu ll e xhaust system , which consists of a sta in less -stee l race hea de r and sl ip -o n a luminum c a nis te r, an d yo u cou ld see why we left Cypres s full of ourse lves. The parts themselves are trick. Th e carbon fiber is qua lity, fa r bette r than some of th e chea pe r stuff tha t litters th e market. Some of the carbo n piec es that stand out the most a re th e rear fender-e lim inator kit, the swingarm mounted re ar -fender, and the front fender. The rear-fe nde r kit cleans up the appearance of the tail section dramatically, while incorporating the stock tum signals. Other ca rbo n-fiber -item s incl ude ; he e l guards , a cha in guard , c o ol an t -re s ervo ir cover, fra me s ide covers , ex haust hanger bra cket , a nd the upper fa iring covers in the cockpit. And looks a ren't eve rything: The com bination of a ll these composite p iec es prob ably saves th re e to fou r pounds . Our R6 has around $950 worth of ca rbo n fib er , but purchase d p iece b y piec e, it isn 't reall y that pricey. Our R6 was al so fitt ed with a f1atb lac k s eat -cow l tha t serves a s a repla c ement for the passe ng er se at. Th e fit and finish is e xc e lle nt, an d th e cowl snaps on jus t like th e rea r pas senger seat so th at they can be ea sily inte rch a nged without tools . Almost all of the items mentioned above a re truly bolt-ons , except for the full exhaust system and the fender-eliminator kit, with most of the ite ms also us ing the stock mounting hardware. An o t her n ic e it e m t h a t Yamah a se nt a long is t heir rear race s ta nd . Made of a ircraft-quality alu m inum , it fea tu re s fou r large , du rable whee ls and requires that a s pool be fitted to e a c h s ide of t he sw ing a rm . T h e s wing a rm on the R6 is predrilled to ac c o m modate the s pools , thoug h th ey a re n 't included with t he stand . Those will set you ba c k a whop ping $1 7 . Th e s ta nd wo rks pe rfe ctly a nd re q uires ve ry littl e leve ra g e to rai se th e rea r, m a king it p os sib le for o ne pers on to perfo rm the ta sk alone. O ur R6 also c a me with a ha lf-ta nk bra to p rot ect th e ta nk fro m scrat ch es , bu t if you prefer to ride b raless yo u c a n ge t a tank pad for $10 less. The exhaust header is made from #3 04 sta inless stee l a nd fe ature s billet -a lum in u m flanges an d stainless p o rt rings . T h e flan g e s o n a lot of a ft erm a rk et p ipe s a re m ade from s ta m pe d p o t -m e t a l, b u t t he b illet pieces on the GYT - R header are topqu a lity and have springs to fa cilita te q uic k re m o va l - id e a l for repa iring crash damage in ra cing co nd it ions . Th e s lip-on can ist er is a va ila bl e in e ither a luminum or c a rbo n fibe r and can be used as a s lip -on or in con junction with the ra ce header to form a full system. Yamaha cla ims that the header saves two pounds over stock, with the aluminum slip -on saving five pounds; go with the carbon-fiber slip on and you save an additional pound. Of c o u r s e , th e p ip e is lab e led for closed -course c om pe tition us e o nly. So is it a wise ide a to put a full race s yste m on a pea ky 600cc s portbike? Well , it depends on wh e re a nd how yo u ride the bike . It wou ld be our rec om mendation to stick with the slip-on alone if the bike sees m ore rat ra c e than ra cetrack . Let' s be honest - most people put a p ipe on a bike pr ima rily for the sound . If it im prove s th e pe rform a nce , that's a n add ed bonus . A sli p -o n a lone te nds to produce a s ligh t inc rea s e in p ow er ac ro s s the rev range , but noth ing d ra matic. Full s ys t e m s a re de s ign ed t o in crea s e horsepower primarily in th e very top of the rev ra nge. On th e R6, th is is up aro un d 13,000 rpm to th e 15, 50 0 - (Left) The GYT • R full e xh a us t system fitted with an aluminum canister. It looks good and sounds greaL Also note the GYT • R race stan d. (Above) The two p ieces that c lean up the bikes appearance t he m o st are the carbon-fiber f e nd e r -ellm inat o r k it, and the flat-black rear-seat cowl .