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View Full Version : 2003 Yamaha R6, tested at Brands in May


troutslayer
20-08-2003, 05:08 PM
So i arrived at brands, bit earlier than planned but hey ho. 11am i walked into the pit area and there was a nice new R6 for me to play with. Standard road bike, but with no number plate.

What did i think of it?? To b honest, i dont like 'user firendly' bikes. I like a bike that wont forgive you if u use the throttle wrong. The F.I model is just too damned easy to ride! Coming out of the hairpin, i could not get the rear to spin up, instead, it just slowly accelerated to about 8k rpm, by which time it was time to turn into graham hill... again, crank it on to try and spin but nope. gentle acceleration to around 8k then started picking up well. U want this bike to go fast?? keep it above 10k rpm! Cornering - at first it all felt a bit weird, arse end much higher than the 02 model which at first felt unstable, but after a few laps started to inspire confidence. Once comfortable with the positioning, the bike was nicely flickable and held a good sharp line into the bends. Braking - Excellent! Overall impression - looks nice, only downside is th lack of low end torque, possibly done by yamaha to broaden the sales audience, as its too easy to ride. Lacks exitement. Actually thats a bit harsh... it is still an exiting bike to ride, but lacks the 'crack the throttle open, spin it up' feeling that the carb model had. 7/10 yamaha!

Dan
20-08-2003, 05:17 PM
Was this bike on hire or owned by someone you know?

troutslayer
20-08-2003, 05:22 PM
was a fresh one from the factory, belonged to the yamaha race school. I had a freebie with them. :wink:

the year before, i got a 2002 r6 to play with at cadwell.

Dan
20-08-2003, 05:26 PM
Nice. Ive never done a track day yet - dont want to rinse my VFR too much, as its been kept mint throughout its life so far...

A couple of us on here were talking about organising a track day soon and hiring a couple of bikes... to be honest, the cost of hiring one for the day would probably equate to the wear you'd do on your bike anyway... tires, plugs etc.

I was watching a track day down brands about a month ago, after doing a rally course at their training school - so many offs! you see peoples pride and joy go sliding down the track :cry: :cry: