Four rotations around the sun is a long time in sportsbike years, but Yamaha's evergreen R6 supersport still looks great, still wins the World Supersport Championship, and still goes like a cheetah with its tail on fire.
AT A GLANCE
Engine: 599cc dohc 16-valve inline four with ride-by-wire fuel injection and variable-length inlet tracts; Power and torque outputs not disclosed.
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox with slipper clutch; chain final drive.
Frame: Alloy twin-spar with cast aluminum rear swingarm; 41mm fully-adjustable inverted front forks with 115mm of travel; fully-adjustable rear monoshock with 120mm of travel.
Price: $18,899 (as tested: $19,631)
Hot: Still the bike to beat in the Supersport class; sensitive and powerful stoppers plus front-tyre feedback will decide plenty of trackday braking duels.
Not: Race-oriented ergonomics turn riders into human origami; stiffly-sprung suspension great on track but short of compliance on bumpy roads.
It's still the bike to beat on the track as British rider, Sam Lowes, proved last year when he wrapped up the world title that is perhaps the best endorsement of 600cc sportsbike performance.
And the Yamaha still looks fresh with its edgy, compact design, including the under-slung exhaust that its larger sibling, the 1000cc R1, is crying out for.
This particular R6 looks even better than usual thanks to the factory ''tail tidy'' kit that Yamaha NZ fitted to it. The $194 kit removes the ugly piece of meccano that used to carry the rear lights and number plate in a much lower position, and the positioning of these items higher allows a much cleaner view of the rear end.
The bike then backs that sportier look up by emitting a louder, more metallic-sounding call-to-action through the fitting of a $538 muffler from Yamaha's performance arm, GYTR. The latter adds a bit more panache to the exhaust design, although I don't find the OE pipe in the least bit offensive in terms of its looks, aural appeal, and quality.
So it's best to spend the extra on the factory-approved accessory pipe solely for the effects that it has on the 599cc four-cylinder engine of the R6. The new bit of plumbing adds a bit more zing to the mid-range performance of the R6, filling in some of the dip in torque production in the middle of the rev range, and making the sportiest Yamaha 600 feel a bit more effortless to ride around town and at touring pace on the open road. No longer do you have to chop the precise-shifting gearbox down three ratios for a speedy overtake in the latter riding scenario. With the GYTR pipe on board, two downshifts are enough to provide instant access to the Yamaha's giant-killing performance.
A stock R6 will reveal its race-winning potential at the 10,000rpm mark, instantly ripping through to the 16,000rpm redline, where it'll illuminate the handy upshift-warning light on the instrument panel. This one unleashes an even more impressive top-end sprint 1000rpm earlier thanks to the freer exhaust gas flow, and there possibly isn't a better-sounding Supersport bike this side of an MV Agusta 675 F3 either. I'd say the extra spend on the exhaust is a no-brainer given the lift in design, tone, and performance that it adds to the bike. It probably saves a few grams as well, enhancing one of the lightest bikes (189kg fully-fuelled) in the Supersport arena further.
One of the reasons the Yamaha has stayed at the front of the Supersport pack over a relatively long time is that it was one of the first bikes to adopt at ride-by-wire throttle. In the R6 this electronic connection between rider's hand and air/fuel flow is used to harmonise the actions of the bike's variable-length intakes, which elongate and contract according to what works best for any given riding scenario. The result of this expensive solution to optimising throttle response is a bike engine that seems to plug itself into the rider's brain so instantaneous is that reaction.
But it's the chassis that is perhaps the reason the R6 remains the Supersport racer's best friend. Although the Yamaha's three direct Japanese-branded rivals have now adopted Showa's feedback-enhancing Big Piston forks, the R6 still keeps its rider intimately informed of the traction status of its tyres. You therefore always know how much grip is available with this bike, and most of the time it feels like there is a huge confidence-boosting surplus.
Meanwhile chassis dimensions and geometry make the R6 far closer in resemblance to the M1 MotoGP racer ridden Jorge Lorenzo and Co than the longer, heavier, less-raked R1. The balance is superb braking/on-throttle corner entry transitions, and the way the bike then carves up corner exits on the power with absolutely no hint of running wide. Unlike some newer rivals like Kawasaki's ZX-6R, there's no traction control on the Yamaha, but I never identified any need for electronic interruption of my enjoyment of R6's amazing dynamic.
Plenty of that riding joy came purely from using the brakes. It's a system that requires respect, as the radially-mounted four-piston calipers seizing each 310mm front disc have reserves of stopping power that can quickly overcome the traction of the front tyre. Maybe I've been riding too many commuters, learner-approved machines, and heavyweight cruisers/tourers lately, but it felt good to get back on a cutting-edge sports machine where a light caress of the front brake lever can have eye-widening effect. This leads to a sensitivity that allows full exploration of the ability to ‘trail-brake' the R6 deep into corners at a trackday, the forks compressed by the weight transfer to steepen the rake angle, and make the bike steer even more quickly.
Given its age when compared with its opposition, the $18,899 R6 is like one of those talented veterans of any sporting code - the Richie McCaws, the Brendon McCullums, and the Roger Federers of this world. It might not be the youngest player in the Supersport arena, nor the most-improved, but it's still the one the others must beat if they're to win the glittering prize.