|
Monday, 19 September 2005 |
|
Page 1 of 4
|
Sky Bar Fly - Mike Emery ~ Images by Yamaha
|
After spending what seemed like a whole year scaring myself silly on open class bikes it looks as though the 2005 season is going to be spent on 600's. Kawasaki has revamped the ZX6R's for 05' and both Honda and Yamaha have chosen to refresh their Supersport class bikes too. Yamaha are first to the proverbial plate, so round one was spent conquering the highways and byways of central California offering you the first taste of street life aboard the R6. Normally a street ride on sporting tackle like this would chap my royal British arse - but our proposed meeting place was none other than Hollywood's renowned totty capital, the Sky Bar. The venue was so good I just had to go back later and until the wee hours of the morn' to further enjoy the top quality totty, but I digress… |
|
|
Before letting us loose on the bikes we were offered a few telling figures on the state of the Supersport class in the US. Basically Yamaha sells every one of the R range (both one and six) which is a great indication of both the breed and of the market. Yamaha have seen fit to revamp the R6 twice since its 1999 introduction. The first warm-over in 2001 saw some bold new graphics in the shape of the Champions Limited Edition paint jobbies, then an all new version for 2003 and finally this "heavily revised" (their words, not mine) model for 2005. The R series has seen a 40% increase in sales through those model years with the R6 responsible for the majority. |
| Looking for a well priced leftover 04'? Don't be - Just like last year, they're sold out again, that's great news for you and me because it has forced Yamaha into pushing the 2005 shipments forward. You'll be seeing the new R6 in your dealers as soon as next month. Just like opening your Christmas presents early on Xmas Eve, you'll be riding next year's bikes, this year. Success breeds success and I know Yamaha are attributing the adage of win on Sunday sell on Monday especially with Hacker nabbing the Supersport class win in 03' and Jason D' winning at Daytona this year. One more R6 factoid; How about 51% of all race entries in AMA Supersport are riding the R6. All this adds up to one relevant point - This is an important class to the Yamaha factory. |
|
|
|
OK, so the present bike's quite handy, how do you go about making it better? Well despite the tech's wanting to down a few Red Bull and Vodka's and reship last years bike with some BNG's (Bold New Graphics), they decided on a simple plan, a plan that soon got complicated the further into the changes that were made. Adding this meant changing that, changing that meant beefing up something else. Soon this minor revamp became a rather large project. Just like those project leaders did, I'll start at the front and work my way back. |
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 Next > End >>
|
