YAMAHA YZF-R6 HISTORY

When Yamaha introduced the YZF-R6 in 1999, it was a very big deal. Following hot on the heels of the R1 launched a year earlier, it gave the supersport class an almighty kick up the backside.

The R6 redefined the 600 class and, a year later, gave Yamaha its first World Supersport title. Showroom success followed. The bike sold by the lorry load to road riders and racers alike. For the former, that ‘must have’ appeal proved irresistible; for the latter, the expression ‘must have’ couldn’t have been more apt. At both club and national level, the bike was a revelation. Save for a few cosmetic tweaks, the R6 stayed the same up until 2003, when fuel injection replaced the carburettors, a die-cast black chassis replaced pressed aluminium, and a host of other changes made the bike a far more useful tool for the road. To many die-hard R6 fans though, the bike had become too civilised and gone the direction of Honda’s useful-butslightly-dull CBR600F, at a time when Honda was taking a bold step the other way with the super-focused CBR600RR. Yamaha’s success in Supersport racing started to fade along with sales. Then came the 2006 machine. A bike so radically different from the rest of the six-pack that looks alone made it the winner that
it so very nearly was in World Supersport racing at its first attempt last year.
Very soon I will do a comparison-review between the old and the new R6.
Dry roads, riders!
Peace!