To keep it in the family we sourced swingarm spools, a carbon-fiber rear hugger and a double-bubble-style windscreen from GYT-R, the official Yamaha aftermarket parts provider. Next, we raided the Graves catalog further and found bar ends, a fender-eliminator kit, frame sliders and flush-mount indicators to tighten up the R6's looks.
The final upgrades were the usuals-click-adjusting levers as well as adjustable rearsets. It's amazing what a few pieces of color-coordinated billet aluminum can do for a bike's looks, and these parts perform better than stock, too (thanks to easy adjustments to fit rider preferences).
Lastly we yanked off the passenger pegs to clean up the angular rear a bit further. If this was our own bike we'd probably have taken a spray can to the kickstand to complete the blacked-out look with the rearsets, but since we have to return it we thought the better of taking such liberties.
With our R6 now lighter, faster and sharper looking we were ready to tackle the same bits of road that we sampled with the R6 in stock trim, and the results really came as no surprise. In fact, if this were a blindfold test the rider wouldn't even recognize it as the same bike. The stronger and fuller midrange grunt, complemented by a more powerful top-end delivery, make the R6 feel much more like a 750 thanks to the front wheel's tendency to lift under acceleration. Losing the bulky weight from the stock pipe was also noticeable, particularly when maneuvering the bike at lower speeds.
The 2008 R6 is a good bike straight off the showroom floor, but these basic mods are a quick, easy and cost-effective way to make it an even better-performing and certainly better-looking sportbike.
Parts List:
Grave's Motosports: Full stainless and carbon-fiber exhaust ($1247), Power Commander III ($339), fender-eliminator kit ($59.99), flush-mount indicators ($59.99), frame sliders ($99.75), bar ends ($39.99) (WWW.GRAVESPORT.COM)
Yamaha GYT-R: Carbon-fiber rear fender ($202.50), dark windscreen ($99.85), swingarm spools ($23.95), axle adjusters ($49.95) www.yamaha-motor.com
Vortex Racing: Adjustable rearsets ($407.95), front sprocket ($30.95) www.vortexracing.com
AFAM: Rear sprocket ($68.95)
www.afam.com
Pazzo: adjustable levers ($199.98)
www.pazzoracing.com
Buyer's Box
2008 YamahaYZF-R6
MSRP: $9599 ($9799 for the special yellow/flame version)
Motor: 599cc liquid-cooled inline 4-cylinder; DOHC, 16-valve
Bore XStroke: 67.0 x 42.5mm
Compression Ratio: 13.1:1
Suspension:
Front: 41mm fully adjustable USD fork
Rear: fully adjustable shock
Dimensions:Wheelbase 54.3 In
Weight 366 LBS (DRY)
Tank Capacity 4.6 GAL
Contact: www.yamaha-motor.com