Excerpts from the article by Steve Atlas, Photos by D.M. Troutman
from May 28, 2008 Issue #21 |
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Ask anyone in the know what the best racing
in America is,and undoubtedly they will tell you 600cc
Supersport. On any given weekend, a dozen riders have
a shot at winning, and the finishes almost always go right
down to the wire. And you can usually toss the proverbial
blanket over the top five or six for the entire race.
Even at the World level, close racing is the name of the
game in Super-sport. Thus it is no surprise that our Middleweight
Shootouts are always barn-burners, and this year was no
exception.
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To get the competitive edge in Supersport
racing, one must first make a strong street platform from
which to start, as Supersport entails the least modifications
allowed in any of the current classes, both in the States
and worldwide. For this reason, the manufacturers and their
factory race teams must work hand in hand. This also means
the manufacturer must find that ever-so-important balance
of street vs. track – the perfect black-magic combination.
These are “street bikes,”after all, though winning
races is what sells them.
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Last year saw Honda hit the nail on the head,
finding the best combination of street and track with the
release of its revamped CBR600RR. But it’s a new year,
and Suzuki and Yamaha have come out swinging with updated
models. Plus, we added Triumph’s Daytona 675 back
into the mix; this is the bike that won our Middleweight
test in 2006. And don’t forget about the do-it-all
Kawasaki. Also, see our sidebar on the new Ducati 848 (which
was not allowed to be scored, but all the info is there
and you can be the judge). You want it, we got it.
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- VITAL STATISTICS
• Measured wet
weight: 412.5 lbs.
• Peak horsepower: 109.72 hp
• Peak torque: 43.18 ft.-lbs.
• Weight-to-power ratio: 3.759 lbs./hp
• Fastest Superpole lap time: 1:40.69
(Atlas), 1:41.94 (Sorensen)
• Quarter-mile: 11.115 sec. @
125.32 mph (Dare)
• Price: $9,599 |
ENGINE
KEY FEATURES
• 67mm bore x 42.5mm stroke
• Four-valve cylinder head
• YCCT fly-by-wire throttle
Since the inception of the R6 in 1999, Yamaha has been
at or near the front of the pack every year. And it
just keeps getting better. This year Yamaha set out
to make the already-great bike even greater by addressing
several issues from the previous year. One of those
issues was midrange power, which they tackled quite
easily, while continuing to add more top-end, making
in the fastest bike of the bunch.
“The Yamaha motor just plain rocks
– everything about it,” said Dare. “Having
owned the previous model, I could instantly feel the
differences. The throttle response is far better; so
is the midrange and top end. It feels like it comes
alive a lot sooner this year.”
Sorensen instantly fell in love with the R6’s
engine as well.
“It’s by far the strongest and most
versatile motor of the bunch,” he said.
“Last year’s bike lacked the low-end power
but had great top end. The new motor has it all –
pulling from eight grand and then ripping from 14,000
rpm to 17,000 rpm – wow!”
“You still have to rev it pretty good, but once
you get it spooled up, she rips,” commented Montano.
“Overall, it’s much better than last year,
especially in the midrange, and it still has tons of
top end to match.”
“It has a good gearbox as long as you are in the
right rpm range,” continued Dare. “If you
get too low, it’s kind of clunky and the slipper
engages abruptly, but otherwise shifting action was
good.”
Overall, the engine of the R6 really shined on the track,
which is one of the main reasons it
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dominated our Superpole session, but on the street it
was still a bit peaky for some of the testers. “Definitely
the best engine on the track,” said Montano,
“but on the street, while still good, it doesn’t
quite have the midrange to match the Honda.”
HANDLING/CHASSIS
KEY FEATURES
• Redesigned, ultra-agile chassis
• Three-way adjustable suspension
• Radial-mount brakes
While making the most horsepower no
doubt helped propel the Yamaha to the front of the pack,
what really gave it the edge on the technical Infineon
racetrack is its razor-sharp chassis,
which was praised
all across the board by nearly all of our testers. Not
to mention that it allowed the Yamaha to dominate our
Superpole session by a full second over the next quickest
bike.
“The fork is great – the best of the
bunch!” exclaimed Montano. “It’s
very planted, has great feedback, and the damping was
fantastic. Equally as good was the shock, giving plenty
of confidence while staying firm and composed no matter
what was thrown at it.”
“Very compliant and lots of feedback from the fork,”
added Sorensen. “Last year’s bike had a deflection
over bumps; this one does not. The shock was firm as well,
but active, it spun up a few times on slower exits, but
tracked straight and true.”
And while the suspension is firm and compliant, the chassis
and turn-in is ultra sensitive, flicking from side to
side on a whim, almost telepathically.
“Turn-in and overall chassis attitude was also the
best of the bunch,” Montano added. “It was
spot-on – easy to control, went right where you
wanted it to, with loads of feel and feedback to match.
Really the ideal chassis.”
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“If you don’t mind a chassis
that is ultra sensitive and maybe a little twitchy, this
bike works really well,” remarked Sorensen. “Just
think about turning and you are there – side-to-side
transitions are effortless. It has lots of feedback
to what is going on.”
Continuing the same theme, Dare added: “Turn-in
is so easy. It points and shoots its way through the corners
with ease, and once into the corner, it feels
like you are on rails.”
As far as braking is concerned, the Yamaha again
continued to run at the front, receiving good
marks all around, though the brakes did lack some initial
bite.
“The brakes are good and consistent,” Dare
continued. “They don’t have the best initial
bite right away, but once you put some pressure into the
lever, they get the job done.”
“The brakes had good power,” agreed Sorensen.
“I was able to trail to apex comfortably. But they
could have had more initial bite, for sure.”
The only area where the Yamaha wasn’t ranked nearly
perfect was on the street, where its razor-sharp chassis
had some of the testers feeling not totally at home.
“On the street, the suspension was just a little
too stiff,” Montano said. “It bounced off
the bumps, and both the fork and shock were too harsh
for long rides.”
This was all but forgotten when the bikes were parked
and people stopped to look, as the Yamaha is a showstopper,
receiving perfect marks in the styling department.
“The Yamaha takes the cake when it comes to looks,”
Dare summed up. “It has razor-sharp lines that are
aggressive and clean – everything from the bodywork
to the lights to the hand and foot controls look proper.”
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Here we sit again, with yet another uber-close Middleweight
Title Fight under our belts. The battle this year has made
those of the past look like kittens fighting over a ball
of string; it has been as fierce as any we have ever seen.
Close your eyes and pick any one of these masterful machines,
and we almost guarantee you will not be disappointed –
in fact, you
will love it.
It really comes down to rider preference and what you value
more – racetrack or street riding, or a combination
of both. But more and more middleweight motorcycles are
becoming all about making the base platform for Supersport
racing these
days; thus it is no surprise that the quickest bike around
the track worked its way to the front of the pack. Yes,
by virtue of Superpole lap times that were a full second
faster than those of the competition, a near-perfect subjective
track score, and the highest horsepower numbers of the group,
we give you our Middleweight Title Fight Champion:
Yamaha’s
2008
YZF-R6.
The best overall subjective street marks of the group, combined
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with the second-best lap times in Superpole, plus high marks
in the overall track categories and the second-best quarter-mile
time of the bunch (one of only two in the 10-second range)
allowed Suzuki’s new GSX-R600 to edge its way into
the second position, which was universally agreed upon as
the biggest surprise of the test.
Last year saw Honda rule the roost with its new-for-2007
CBR600RR, leaving the competition in its proverbial dust.
But another year has come, and with it came a pair of awesome
Japanese motorcycles that were able to relegate the still
very capable CBR to the third position. Not to put it down,
as it is still at the top of the charts for the street portion
of our shootout, as well as clocking the fastest quarter-mile
times of the group, consistently, but the lack of a slipper
clutch and thus its inability to use its short first gear
at the track cost the Honda valuable points.
The fourth position sees yet another proven winner and past
champion, Triumph’s Daytona 675. It was all-new for
2006, in which it took top honors in our shootout, with
its inline triple engine shining to the front. And while
the torquey triple still gets
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the job done, it’s just not quite as razor-sharp
on the track as the Yamaha, or as compliant on the
street as the Suzuki or the Honda.
Finally, we have the Kawasaki. But don’t let its
position on this list fool you. By no means would anyone
hop on this bike and
think of it as a last-place bike. It’s easy to ride,
has linear power delivery, and once set up, the suspension
was compliant and gave loads of feel and feedback. Honestly,
it does everything quite good. The only problem is that,
in a group this tightly knit, “good” just
doesn’t cut it anymore. To
win, one must have achieved greatness.
And greatness is exactly what Yamaha has done
with its YZF-R6 on the racetrack. This was a
12-round bout, with the title going right down to the
final round, but there’s no doubt about it, no two
ways around it – the R6 is one incredible motorcycle.
Thus it is not very surprising that of the three AMA Supersport
races held this season, a Yamaha R6 has finished on the
top of the podium in every one, and they don’t appear
to be going anywhere.
CN
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