October/November (ish)

I've written about it in the magazine already but I figured I should mention it on the website. The wife and I (and dog) have moved to the country in a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall-style cottage. This means my life has changed immeasurably and I'm back in the real world with a decent 45 mile/45 minute ride to work, instead of the 17 miles from North to South London (at an average speed of 17mph) I used to have.
With the mileage clocking up I've given it an oil and filter change. A quick flit around the web brought up moto-racing.com as stockists of most things bike related, particularly a K&N filter for £10. All bought and paid for one afternoon and here the next morning.
The filter is positioned just under the front sprocket so it's a fiddly job but to do it properly the fairing, front sprocket shroud, gear lever and selector rod all have to come off. Even then you can only just get an oil filter remover located. Still no harm done I thought and with a smear of oil on the o-ring the new filter was in place and 2,400ml of fresh oil was sloshing around inside.
I go the wrong K&N filter for a start, the website I bought it from had the wrong one listed which meant I couldn't fit the gear selector shaft properly. But all is ok now. The moral is if you're buying and fitting your own replacement filter, especially from the web, be careful it's the correct part.

Gearing
The stock chain was shagged and the sprockets were beginning to curl, plus the rear looked like it'd been left in the sea for a week, so I've replaced the chain and sprockets for a 525 Tsubaki O-ring chain and smart-looking Renthal sprockets (thanks to B&C Express). I've gone one tooth smaller at the front (15T) to boost low down drive and it's worked. The 5,000 to 8,000rpm mark, where I seem to do most of my overtaking from, feels noticeably sharper under acceleration, even in top gear. 90mph is about 200rpm higher now but the benefits far out weigh that negative. I'll let you know how I get on at the track.


Contacts
Chain and sprockets B&C Express 01522 791369 www.bandcexpress.co.uk
Graves rear sets 07713 515309 www.comptechshop.com
K&N oil filter 01629 581552 www.moto-racing.co.uk


I learnt a fair bit about the R6 on our trip to Spa recently. It's pretty bleeding obvious to say it doesn't soak up the motorway like Simon's Triumph but it's not as bad as you might think. There's more room than you think for a start and now the seat foam has given in a little bit (finally) I wasn't too badly off over all those miles.
Leaving the R6 set-up for the track, especially on a long road trip on Belgium road surfaces, is a bad idea. Christ knows why I've been riding around on it set with so little actual suspension movement. It might be fine and dandy on a lovely surface like Donington Park but ride fast on any regular B-road and the thing jumps off bumps like a bloody Kangaroo. Winding the high/low speed rear compression adjustors fully soft and knocking the rebound off helps but those Macropodine qualities are near impossible to iron out. If you own an R6 you probably know this of course.
The long and the short of it is you cannot make this bike soft and comfy on the road, only slightly better. It's the trade-off for such exceptional track skills I guess. A trade off I'm happy to accept.
One good knock-on of softening the suspension was working out getting the best from the Michelin Pilot Power 2CT tyres. I fitted them for our Novices trackday at Brands Hatch and had a torrid time trusting a real lack of side grip from the back tyre. Knocking the pressure as low as 28psi rear still didn't help. I now realize is the stiffness of the suspension was making the tyre do half the work, effectively making it work too hard.
So what did I learn from my trip to Spa? That you have to be a bit more careful how you set up the R6. Unlike a Honda CBR600RR, for instance, it needs tweaking for different tracks and for different tyres to get the best from it. Plus introducing a little more suspension movement gives the tyres and my spine an easier time.


August

It's not in the magazine until next month but I've been racing the R6 lately. A Virgin mobile R6 Cup race to be precise. I learnt a lot more about racing than anything (because I already knew the R6 was a blinding track bike) but a couple of things came out of it I thought I should share.
I should say first the Dunlop Qualifier tyres your bike probably came with as standard (if you're from the UK) aren't as good as off-the-shelf Qualifiers. The R6 Cup races on the Qualifiers as a control tyre and they have better feel and grip than the Yamaha-spec hoops which come as OE. GP weekend at Donington was blinding hot (high twenties air temperature) but the Dunlops were consistent through both ten lap races.

My biggest problem during the races (other than trying to keep up and not falling off!) was with the clutch. Basically the last gear change down into the slowest corners at Donington would always have the back-end slewing out, which made it very hard to keep a line and hit the apex. I'm blaming the clutch. It is slipping and therefore better than the old R6 but still isn't working well enough when the revs are high. I will get to the bottom of it (rumour has it certain British Super Sport racers are using a Sigma clutch to good effect) so I'll be on the phone after this weekend's BSB race at Croft to see what's what.

If you're interested we arrived at the following suspension settings from Donington. It's always a tricky one because so many of us weigh different amounts and ride at different speeds but you may want to try them and see how you get on;

Front
Preload 1st ring flush
Low speed Compression 5 clicks out
High speed compression 1 and 1/4 turn out
Rebound Maximum
Rear
Preload 1 click from minimum
Low speed Compression 5 clicks out
High speed compression 9 clicks out
Rebound 13 clicks out
Sag standard (Gnat's chuff)

These settings are based on the advice of Dave Smith, who used his considerable knowledge and various connections through the BSB paddock (including K-Tech) to decipher my mumblings each time I got off the bike. I weigh just over 12 stone and I'm six foot tall.

June
Modifications: Crash bungs, steering damper, high level screen, protective film

A wave of jubilation came over me this month. I now know what it is about this bike, I've grasped it's 'thing'. In our exhaustive (and at 70-odd laps exhausting) tyre test last month one of the slowest corners of the circuit had a monster bump just after the apex. A few metres after I started to accelerate I had to pick the bike up, knock the throttle off slightly, wait for the bump to lift the wheels off the ground and then crack the throttle open again so the bike did a wheelie-cum-slide for the rest of the corner as it landed. The level of control I had over the R6 at that point was a joy. I couldn't imagine quite the same feeling on any other production sportsbike. It feels more Wayne Rooney than Thierry Henry if you like – just as likely to put the ball in the back of the net but exciting in a whole different way. Trouble is now all I want to do with it is waz around race tracks searching for perfect moments.
Tyre tests being a question of pushing the bike and tyres hard I fitted some R & G crash bungs to limit any potential damage. The left side middle fairing panel needed roughly a ten pence piece hole cutting out but otherwise fitting was easy. £54 seems a little steep but I know there's a lot of engineering involved in making crash bungs and, like the advert, my R6 is worth it.
An adjustable steering damper (care of Sprint) seemed wise as well. I haven't really had a need for it so far but with all the test track bumps and the trackday tyres I'm planning to try over the rest of the summer I figured now was the right time. Fitting instructions were straight forward with the R6 top yoke providing the right threaded hole for a securing the damper as standard. The high level screen from Skidmarx provides better wind protection on the track and quite a big difference on the motorways too.

Protection racket
Here's an idea worth trying. Cover the vulnerable areas of your bike with a thin film to protect it from stones, the weather, scratching and what not. Apparently Red Bull racing is using this Air Stream Protection film on its F1 cars and, closer to reality, the Knotts Buildbase squad are using it in British Superstocks. It's pretty easy to apply so long as you get the body work spotless and use plenty of water to apply the film. It needs a lot of patience to squeegee the water and air out but with that done you can hardly see it's their. Airstream Protection film fits most bikes for £89.99 (or £130.00 fitted with a life time guarantee).


Airstream Protection (020 8500 4685)
R & G (0870 2206 380) www.rg-racing.com
Sprint (0870 240 2118) www.performanceparts-ltd.com

May

One of the bonuses of having a such an amazing new bike like the R6 is the amount of people making aftermarket kit for it. If I said “yes” to everyone that has emailed or called I'd have a small shop by now. So I'm being selective in trying to merge a few practical applications with a few aesthetic enhancements.
Micron exhausts were quickest off the mark. The stubby MotoGP-style end can has been in the office for a while but I had to wait until after last month's super sport shoot out to fit it. Made to the usual high quality I'd expect from Micron this road legal can just slips on (it took me 20 minutes) and costs £249.99. It does away with the exhaust valve in the stock can and has a removable insert in the end which gives it a little extra bark. Perversely it seems quieter than the standard can which must be unique for an aftermarket exhaust.
Lastly (for now) is a Skidmarx double bubble screen which has lifted my view of the cockpit and given me a place to hide my head down the straights. I'm no fan of the coloured or tinted ones, I need to see you see, so this mild tint is ideal. It's £49.95.


Alarming stuff
Practically speaking the Acumen alarm is the biggest bolt on this month. Apparently more bikes are stolen in the UK than in any other part of Europe. In the UK my home in London is a hot spot. My long term CBR600RR went walkies last year adding to the statistics so in a bid to help stop the R6 suffering the same fate I gratefully accepted the offer from Acumen for a cat21 professional alarm. Along with the standard immobiliser the cat21 upgrades the bike to a Thatcham category 1 system (which is better for insurance).
The alarm unit itself is completely waterproof with a movement sensor, nudge detector (which fits under the end of the tail unit so as to be more sensitive) and separate arming options to stop me farting about and making a racket every time I fill 'er up. It's packed with other features like a torch on the key fob, 14 different alarm tones, battery sensor to prevent supply drain during storage. Acumen won't thank me for this but I've reverted to the standard key again and started having the specially designed Acumen alarm fob on a lanyard round my neck. The plastic fob with all the buttons is all very well but better suited to the SuperBike Mercedes Sprinter van than a lithe track weapon like the R6. With the key in the ignition the Acumen fob is a black blot on the dashboard landscape. The price of £279.99 is a complete package including professional fitting anywhere in the country.


Contacts
Acumen alarm (0870 240 3257) www.acumen-electronics.co.uk
Micron Exhaust (01773 876330) www.micronexhausts.com
Skidmarx Screen (01305 780808) www.skidmarx.co.uk
Evotech number plate hanger (01507 466553) www.evotech-performance.co.uk


Termer up-date April

Put it this way would you go away on a mad biking holiday with your mates and let them ride your bike? Imagine these mates of yours were about as careful at riding bikes as lions are with baby antelope. Imagine the sight of these lions thrashing round a race track, revving the living hell out of it on mountain roads and then doing a collection of ham-fisted, worryingly unstable, wheelies on your bike. Believe me it wasn't pretty and almost certainly was a terrible ordeal for the poor R6 and one which I could only deal with by firmly detaching myself and declaring it “just another test bike like the rest.” Needs must I suppose.

Our 600cc group test went well, a corker in fact. I won't spoil the test result (you can read about that in the next issue of SB on sale April 26th) suffice to say second place is first loser for the R6. Frantic back-to-back comparisons with it's super sport rivals revealed a truth I wasn't really expecting to be honest. The long and the short of it is the bumpy roads in the mountains near Valencia where we did the test (yes, that's right, we went places and tested the bikes for days on end in all weather, on all roads and ragged them round one of the world's greatest race tracks – you listening rival magazines with your phoney “verdicts”?) proved the stiff R6 chassis was a bit too focused to be best overall bike in class. On smooth roads and the track it is a peach but even then it's harder work to keep things smooth given all the revving, which is the secret to going fast in my book.
One bonus from the test is having the engine and suspension 'properly' bedded in. The chassis stiffness has had the edges knocked off and the motor has a hell of a lot more punch, more than I expected actually with 115bhp @ 13,900rpm.

We did of course speed test the bikes so if you're interested in the R6 figures here they are.

Bike: 2006 Yamaha R6
Date: 13/03/06
Location: Brunters
Rider: JP

Top speed: 155.47mph (155.14mph in Roll-on) in 35.45 seconds and 2004.99 metres

Acceleration
Speed Time Distance
00010 0.66 1.365
00020 1.18 4.853
00030 1.73 10.953
00040 2.32 20.151
00050 2.91 32.119
00060 3.46 45.707
00070 4.12 64.823
00080 4.93 92.008
00090 5.68 120.711
00100 6.78 167.547
00110 7.91 220.828
00120 9.95 325.715
00130 12.25 455.221
00140 15.19 633.489
00150 21.30 1030.376

Quarter mile: 11.15s @ 129.95mph

Braking
70mph-0mph: 50.98 metres

Roll-on:
40-80mph: 7.75 seconds
40-120mph: 15.80 seconds

Feb 2006

No sooner had the space in the SuperBike bike park started to gather dust from my recently departed Honda CBR600RR long term test bike, than it's been scrubbed clean again by the rubberised Dunlop footprints from a new Yamaha R6.

The Lord taketh away and then the other Lord giveth back again. Yes, this could well be the first longtermer anywhere in the country and it's all mine.

The early arrival is largely down to next month's centrefold shoot (which you're getting a sneak preview of here) being scheduled and Yamaha sending us a boxfresh YZF-R6 for the model to play with and distract you from with her ill-fitting underwear. Rather than go to all the trouble of returning a bike only to have it vanned back again in a couple of weeks the very nice man at Yamaha, Mr Harley Stephens, said “It's yours!” via an email, and quicker than you can say "hooray!", I was dancing round the office shouting "hoora!"

So how is it? Fucking marvellous I tell you. It was only 21 miles old when I turned the key for the first time. Despite being on the launch last October I can't remember it feeling a) so stiff and b) so loud. The roar from the air box must have been muffled by the Qatari humidty or something but now I'm convinced Yamaha has engineered extra emotion into that rush of air to the head. The stiffness of the suspension is a bit too stiff at the moment, certainly for my commute, but I'm guessing I'd be a bit rigid if I'd spent an evening with Lucy James with her chests out...