Cycle News

2017 YAMAHA YZF-R6 FIRST TEST P86 only Japanese four to do so currently competing in Mo- toAmerica. SCREAMING WITH A SCREAMER Riding a 600 supersport is all about that red mark in front of your face that demands you squeeze it harder, faster, harder! As the needle on the still (thank- fully) analog rev counter swings into the red zone, pulling that throttle to the stop and holding it there is one of the most intoxi- cating feelings in motorcycling. That motor. Damn. It's still awe- some, even after all this time. It still screams with the same teen- age angst that explodes every spring break south of the border. It's naughty. And. So. Bloody. Fun! The reason I love 600s is the same reason anyone who gets down with sportbike rid- ing should: you can get the most out of these motors. They don't intimidate like a modern 180-horsepower superbike. I've long thought 100-120 horsepow- er is the bang-on range for pure sportbike heaven, provided you have a light and nimble chassis to play with, and the R6 deliv- ers in spades. There's nothing happening below 7500 rpm, but once you clear the R6's head and venture north past 9000 rpm, the YCC-I funnels eventu- ally moving to their shortest setting, and the deep intake and screaming exhaust note filling your ears, the experience is almost as good as great sex. It's certainly better than mediocre sex. Throw the optional quick- shifter into the mix, and the ride gets even better. That engine and chassis combine to give such a tractable machine that after nine laps on level one traction control (low- est intervention), I forgot it was even on. I figured after riding a few considerably hard laps with MotoAmerica demi-god Josh Hayes, the system had to have worked, right? So I headed back to the pits and checked the data with Akinori Hirano—Proj- ect Leader for the R6—via the Yamaha CCU (Communication Control Unit) app on the iPad. Quite honestly, the TC didn't cut in once on its lowest set- ting. So I was either riding like a wussy or the chassis balance was so absolutely spot-on thatt the electronics were surplus to my needs. I prefer to think it was the latter. Scaling up the TC levels got the system cutting in quite quick- ly, but it proves how well Yamaha designed this chassis way back in 2006 that their TC really didn't need to be there, at least for my time in the dry at Thunderhill. For me, the engine and gearbox were known quantities. I've ridden plenty of R6s in the past so I knew what I was getting myself in to, but I was pleasantly surprised by the feel that came from the revised front-end—espe- cially after comparing the 2017 and 2016 R6s back to back (just so you know, manufacturers never let you do that at press launches, so bravo, Yamaha). (L-R) Traction control (TCS) is now on the R6, although it doesn't really need it. The fork's adjustment now happens all up top, just like the R1's. "THE BIGGEST MECHANICAL CHANGE TO THE R6 IS THE NEW FRONT-END."

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