R6 - Yamaha's Banzai Baby

Created initially by Kawasaki with the phenomenal Ninja ZX-6R, the Supersport 600 class was once one of the mainstays of sports motorcycling with a machine from every Japanese manufacturer and, arguably, Yamaha at the banzai end of the spectrum with the no-frills and no-compromise YZF-R6.

yamaha r6 fb

Born in 1999 as a carburetor-fed baby brother to the epoch-making liter class R1, the R6 was by no means in its sibling’s shadow with a remarkable 108hp power output. Fitted initially with conventional forks and a braced rear swinging arm, the R6 was truly at home on the street or track becoming even more powerful in 2003 with the addition of fuel injection resulting in 115hp. A peak was achieved in the 2008/9 season with a mind-blowing 127.3hp available via a “ride-by-wire” throttle setup. Sure, you could bimble to the shops and back, but the R6 truly was a race track refugee.

In terms of track success, Yamaha invested heavily in racing and, for their reward, they secured the Supersport Championships in 2000, 2009, 2011, and 2013 then from 2017 in an uninterrupted run to 2022 as well as numerous regional successes and a raft of podiums in pure road racing such as the Isle of Man TT.

The 599cc water-cooled, 16-valve four thrived on revs with a giddy red line of 17,500 on the tacho in 2006 (even if the ECU curbed revs just before then). And the price to pay for all this power, all this chassis litheness and sky-high revs? Nothing! The R6 was and is a precision jewel that was as reliable as it was fun lasting until 2020 when it effectively became a race-only model in the Yamaha range thanks to stringent EU emissions laws.

If you need speed and an R6 scratch you just need to itch, log into the CMS website, and see what fast parts we have on the shelves to let this cute and classic Yamaha rev your heart!