2008 YZF-R6R - My Little Review

[bigjim]

I did a little review on the bike for another forum I visit so I thought I'd share it with BCF too, if you have any questions please give me a shout and I’ll let you know what I think about it.

I’m only a newbie really and I’ve got only limited experience of other bikes so you'll have to bear with me

Previous riding experience

6 months commuting on Vespa Px
12 months commuting on YZF-600R Thundercat

Basic Info

Bought my new 2008 R6 in March and have covered 2500 miles in all weather during my short commute everyday.

The running in period of 600 miles was hard work, not being able to go above 7000 rev's meant no over taking and no power. Was able to get around 75mph. After 600 miles it went in for the first service which cost £37.

Riding position

My first impression was the bike is tall, the seat height is 850mm and even being 6' when I'm backing it out the garage over the kerb I can go for the ground and its not there. Have also been caught on tip toes on some bad cambers.

I find the riding position comfortable even after a few hundred miles although after a lot of 30mph roads the wrists can hurt a little, was going to get the double bubble but even with the bike up to 130mph (private road) it does a good job and wasn't to bad so I’m leaving it for now.

Suspension & Handling

Before the suspension tweaking I found it a bit hard going over the bumps but this I assume was down to my weight, after being tweaked I can honestly say I love the handling. Being caught out by a couple of decreasing radius corners in the Peak District I had no problems leaning over further than normal to take me round safely.

After 1500 miles I took the bike to Kais performance for a full suspension setup, he said the bike was really well setup for standard out of the factory and was impressed. He did tweak it for my 11 stone weight though and altered the yoke height slightly

Tyres and grip

After 2500 the Dunlop qualifier on the back looks a bit square and is starting to get near the limit, might get another 750 out of it now summer is here to take the edges off. Had no problems with grip in the dry or wet, only time I’ve had it spin up was when gunning it in the wet. Very confidence inspiring tyres.

Pillion seat

Pillion seat isn't much use, the other half did come out with me but was suffering for a couple of days afterwards so might look at getting a gel insert for it see if it helps, winding the preset up meant that the ride was good even with the extra weight and after a while I forgot she was there.

Finish

Although a bit early into the life of the bike I do wish Id gone with the white and red, the black looks amazing when clean but when riding in the wet It attracts muck and I feel compelled to clean it all the time. Build quality looks good though and hoping it will continue to look good, I can definitely complain about the tax disk holder they have fitted though which is rusting like anything.


Performance

It’s fast compared to my old Thundercat, I can keep up with the 1 litre bikes but this is probably because they are not pushing as hard as they can. Its really revvy even with all the extra bits on it for this year, first push of power is at 8500 revs which is a good pull and feels great but for the big hit you got to get up to 12000 to 13000 revs where it feels like its going to pull your arms off, makes me giggle every time. It’s a lot of fun.

Living with it everyday commuting

Running into Manchester city centre everyday and Bolton once a week, its not bad. As its quite light it turns quickly even at low speed, the clutch can be a touch sharp and the standard can makes enough noise to get pedestrians scatter.

My only real gripe is it gets hot !! It doesn’t take long in traffic for the temperature to hit 100 degrees when the fan comes on and drowns you in hot air, not nice in the hot weather with leathers on. I assume the location of the can doesn't help either.

Customising

First thing I did when I got it was order the tail tidy from Evotech performance, looks much better than standard but be warned it is a pain to fit and instructions were poor. I used R&G's instructions for there product which had photos on the internet. (Although I think evotech's looks better)

I want to fit the black GP style Micron Can but at £300ish its going to have to wait, would want to power command it too, see if it will bring some power lower down the rev range.

Single seat cover is on order and so was the none cut crash bobbins but I’ve been warned off them by someone who races R6's. Haven't decided weather to get the cut ones or not yet, have seen an R6 go up in flames due to the tank going along the track so its something I’m thinking about.

That’s it; I love the bike and I’m happy I made the right choice with buying it.

Jim
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'97 - Thundercat - Sold
'08 - R6 - The Pocket Rocket - Sold
'09 - Street Triple R - The Monster

[The Tot]

Got to tell you, OEM qualifiers are nowhere near as good as the retail ones, so get some of them fitted on your bike next and you'll be taking the piss with the grip!

I'm sure that there's better exhausts out there than the hydroformed micron - it looks too amorphic and wouldn't really suit the flow of the lines on the bike, but that's just my 2 cents.
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The Tot 2007 Yamaha R1 4C8 2002 Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer &
www.youtube.com/Titot182 for your bike gear reviews and pop punk covers
Earl Of Easycore Pop Punk Will Never Die!

[bigjim]

Do you know why there not as good ? I've not heard of that before. I could do with more than 3k from a rear though

Yeah not decided on tha can yet, I really wanted one in black
Will have a good look around before I spend my cash

Cheers

Jim

[Wave2k]

The hardest thing i found with 600s is trying not to rag them, because if you dont rag them they are boring, and if you do rag them you are going too quick.
Literatly go balls out or stay in bed, so i sold it and got some torque back .
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Ducati 1299 Panigale
2009 Corvette C6 z51
RS125->CBR400->RXS100->GSXR750K2->Ducati749S->CBR600RR5->TL1000R->DRz400->RSVR1000->Honda VTR SP1->CBR400->GSXR1000K6->Honda H100->CBR600RR3->Ducati1299

[The Tot]

I think OEM tyres - which are just a batch manufactured tyre sold to manufacturers are spec'd down. Notice you you also get Bridgestone BT015's - they're not sold to the retail market. You can't just go to the tyre shop and request BT015's out of the blue since i don't think they'd stock them. I'm pretty sure their compounds are a bit different withe qualifiers - noticeable difference is the tread patterns. I'm pretty sure the OEM fitment IS the OEM qualifier. I heard some guys at the ace cafe - 07/06 R6's, one was spanking new with OEM qualis, the other with the aftermarket ones and they commented about them saying that it's not as grippy in the cold as the retail ones. I've had a whole host of tyres but i'm pretty damn happy with the performance of my qualis - i got 4500 miles out of a set in mixed riding conditions.
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The Tot 2007 Yamaha R1 4C8 2002 Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer &
www.youtube.com/Titot182 for your bike gear reviews and pop punk covers
Earl Of Easycore Pop Punk Will Never Die!

[J.K.R]

Just so nobody gets the bad impression on the tax disc holder - The bikes do not come with them, Its the shop that supplied the bike that has fitted it and it will be the cheapest pooiest one you can buy to keep costs down
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www.oldskoolsuzuki.info