Photoshoot of the Week: August 26th – September 1st 2019 – Veronika & Yamaha YZF-R6

Since its debut in 1999, the R6 has been the bike of choice for serious 600 class riders and racers. The R6 features a host of great features including ABS brakes with large 320 mm front rotors, 43 mm fully adjustable inverted forks and an R1 inspired body design that is sure to turn heads. The R6 is full of innovation and technology you won’t find on the competitor’s machinery: Yamaha updated its mid-size YZF-R6 in MY2017, and it can be had without selling a kidney or your firstborn. At just over the $12K mark, the R6 claims over 120 horsepower with a host of features to help riders manage the tremendous forces this thoroughbred generates. The 600 cc-ish bracket has been getting a little stale as of late between competition from the liter category and the burgeoning interest in the 300 cc bikes, so the updated version of a proven mid-size racetrack champ is exciting news indeed.
The Tuning Fork Company tweaked its wind tunnel-tested body panels and fairings further yet for the MY17 R-series. This isn’t to suggest that it was ever anything less than a function-driven form, of course, merely that it’s even better since the update; to the tune of an 8-percent decrease in drag-induced power loss.
LED lights set into the angry-alien visage lead the way below the revamped bubble screen that further reduces helmet buffeting with a generously-sized, dead-air pocket allowing you to easily hunker down to escape the slipstream. You can pencil me in as “not a fan” of the standoff mirrors, but there is redemption to be found in the decision to incorporate the turn signals into the actual mirror housings, to be fair.
The front fender is about as minimal as it gets, and it’s further lightened by cutouts on each side that double as vents. From there, the gaping maw of the front fairing opens up to funnel air over the radiator and exhaust headers, and it, too, carries strategically-positioned vents to reincorporate the cooling air back into the slipstream while reducing the low pressure at the trailing edge of the cowl to further reduce drag. Granted, this is nothing new in the industry, but while lesser bikes might carry such details as a purely aesthetic feature; Yammy’s actually works. A few other cutouts give tantalizing glimpses of the engine while providing an escape for heat coming off the cases to prevent thermal buildup within the engine compartment.
The redesigned aluminum fuel tank that made its appearance last year rides above it all. The tank and seat design pull the rider into the bike more than the previous models, and this allows for easy tucking and a more intimate fit. Yammy ripped the hind quarters off the big-brother R1 to round out the updated style and performance of the R6. In the end, it really is a beautiful bike, made even moreso by its capabilities.
In spite of its smaller displacement and lighter weight, the R6 boasts the same front brakes as the R1. A pair radial-mount, four-pot, opposed -piston calipers bite the dual, 320 mm front discs while a lightened caliper grips a 220 mm rear disc, thus reducing unsprung weight at the rear axle and enhancing contact-patch integrity. Both ends come with a non-switchable ABS. Surprised? Me too, especially since it’s a race bike, but word on the street from riders better than myself is that it’s very unobtrusive and isn’t likely to upset anyone’s QWAN no matter how in-touch they are with their machine. 17-inch rims round out the chassis with a 120/70 up front and 180/55 to bring up the rear.
The beating heart is a transverse-mount, in-line four that comes with a host of electronic gadgetry on top of the mechanical brilliance of the thing. Massively oversquare, the 67 mm bore and 42.5 mm stroke adds up to a total of 599 cc, and contributes heavily to the astounding 14,500 rpm the thing is capable of turning. Dual overhead cams actuate the four valve heads, and the titanium poppets also contribute to the high redline due to their light weight and toughness.
Yamaha’s proprietary chip-controlled throttle and intake controls the length of the variable inlet tracts, a feature that makes for a broader powerband than one can expect from fixed-length intake manifolds, especially at the bottom end. The electronic throttle control enables the D-mode feature that can switch on the fly between three separate power-delivery profiles, and the traction control feature that comes with a six-way adjustment that can be turned off altogether.
All of this gives us a total of 122 horsepower at 14,500 rpm and 42.4 pound-feet of torque at 11,500 rpm. This power flows through the anti-hop, backtorque-limiting slipper clutch to the “stacked” transmission that minimizes its length through a triangular arrangement of the shafts with a tough chain final drive. What does this give us? Well, individual results will vary, but generally one can expect a top speed in the neighborhood of 160 mph, if one has the testicular fortitude for it.
Considering that the YZF-R6 has won more AMA middleweight races and championships than any other 600 cc sportbike, it’s no surprise that it is popular with the go-fast folks. At the end of the day, the power and control Yamaha offers is truly attractive … pretty as much as Veronika.