Yamaha might be the only company that seems to be interested in keeping the supersport 600 class alive but the new R6 carries a higher price than expected.
In terms of appearance the new bike leaves the rest of the supersport class looking like they’re a decade old. And most of them are. Honda has already killed the CBR600RR in European markets. Rivals from Suzuki and Kawasaki are clinging on thanks to end-of-series derogation rules that allow them to remain on sale despite failing to meet the latest European type approval regulations.
As such, the R6 is the only four-cylinder, 600cc supersports machine that carries Euro4 emissions certification.
Under the skin it remains largely similar to last year’s bike and it’s still easy to see the heritage back to the 2006 model. So while the styling is new, much of the bike isn’t. Click here to read all about it.
You might have thought that savings in R&D costs would lead to lower showroom prices, but that’s not the case. Yamaha’s newly announced price for the 2017 R6 is a whopping £10,999 in the UK. In Germany, it will set you back €13,995. American prices look slightly more palatable at $12,199, but that’s still enough for a very lightly used 1000cc superbike.
Despite weight-saving measures including an aluminium tank, the bike is fractionally heavier than the old model thanks to the addition of ABS.
Crucially, power figures haven’t been announced yet. It’s important because many manufacturers have baulked at the cost of making their 600s meet Euro4 without losing performance. Yamaha hasn’t changed the engine specifications significantly between 2016 and 2017 models. As such, there’s a chance that the retuning to meet Euro4 will make it less powerful than the previous version.
If that’s the case, then the high price will be even harder to swallow. Given Yamaha’s recent record of launching new models with extremely attractive price tags the high cost of the R6 comes as a surprise. Hopes that the bike might rekindle interest in the 600cc class will certainly take a knock.
