![]() As it is, the engine is still impressive and the new, smoother-action clutch and gearbox help the job along. It’s not as bad as the Yamaha FZ6’s motor and you soon get used to it, but more grunt and less revs would make the Yamaha XJ6 even better. Overall the motor is very smooth, friendly and has lots of power (77bhp) if you’re prepared to rev it enough for decent wheelies.ĭespite the fettling to make the engine gruntier, you can still feel its supersports DNA and it never really relaxes, it’s always busy, buzzing and you often find yourself searching for another gear when you’re already in sixth. At very low speeds the throttle response is snatchy when getting on and off the gas, but as speeds increase and the engine is spinning more it’s less of a problem. There’s less need to stir the six-speed gearbox to keep up with traffic than the FZ6, making town riding nice and easy. Claimed power and torque is less than the FZ6 (by 20bhp and 2ftlb), but usefully delivered much lower down the rev-range (2000rpm and 1500rpm). A new clutch and gearshift design make changing gear smoother and easier than the Yamaha FZ6.Īll this fettling is designed to make the Yamaha XJ6 flexible and friendly to ride. The motor breathes through a new fuel-injection system with smaller diameter (down 32mm from 36mm) throttle bodies and a neat underslung exhaust, featuring a three-way catalytic converter. It gets a new cylinder head, softer-performance camshafts, reshaped inlet ports, new forged pistons and a one-piece crankcase and cylinder block. This is a retuned version of the engine you’ll find in the current Yamaha FZ6, which in turn is an old-school Yamaha R6 lump. We'd suggest the Yamaha XJ6 and FZ6R Owners' Club on Facebook. Once you've read this review and our owners' reviews below it, you might want to join an XJ6 owners' group to talk to likeminded people. It came with some carbon-fibre-look parts and not a huge amount else. ![]() ![]() There was also an ABS version for an extra £300 and for new riders you could get a 33bhp restrictor kit (as per the law at the time). Pulling away was a piece of cake and you could slice through the gearbox effortlessly. The XJ6 could have done with a gear position indicator to stop this happening.Īlthough it didn’t have the oomph at low revs, the engine was impossibly smooth. You could still tell the engine was from an old R6 as it was quite ‘busy’ even at 3-4000rpm and you often found yourself looking for another gear, even when you were in top. Yamaha did a tidy job of retuning the old FZ6 motor to give the XJ6 more grunt, but you still needed to use the gearbox more than the twin-cylinder competition ( Suzuki Gladius or SV650, Ducati Monster 696, Kawasaki ER-6n) as it had less torque. I believe that an entry-level, middleweight roadster needs to have lots of torque and a flexible engine, and so needs to be a twin.įor bikes like these, you don’t want to be thrashing them up and down the gears, which is what you needed to do with the 600cc, inline four XJ6 if you wanted to get anywhere fast. It was roomy, had silky smooth controls (the clutch and gearbox have been refined over the FZ6) and because you sat far more within the bike’s body, there’s more respite from the elements too.īefore this test I thought the XJ6 would struggle in what had become a competitive category. Having ridden it in the Sydney sunshine at its launch, I can tell you that it was masses of fun when you wanted to play, but at low speeds the friendly power delivery and low seat made it a cinch to ride. While the FZ6’s styling was a bit bulky and conservative, the XJ6’s cool, urban streetfighter looks and snazzy underslung exhaust made it seem far more special than its price would suggest. To all intents and purposes the XJ6 was a cheaper, softer, less powerful version of the Yamaha FZ6 of its day, yet it somehow managed to be better in every way. On top of all the fun it could dish out, it’s also easy to get on with, comfy and well-built too. With its ‘baby Yamaha FZ-1’ looks and sit-up-and-beg riding position the XJ6 was a very cheap way to get your rocks off. Aside from the lack of fairing, it had exactly the same spec, but somehow losing the plastics transformed the Yamaha from sensible budget middleweight to exciting mini streetfighter. The Yamaha XJ6 was the naked version of the half-faired XJ6 Diversion.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |