Yamaha R6, VMAX: Axed

[Exage03040]

Credit: yamahamotorsports.com

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/yamaha-yzf-r6-will-be-discontinued-after-2020/

“With deep consideration of evolving global market trends and regulations that limit production volumes on certain models, the following Yamaha models will be discontinued after model year 2020: YZF-R6, VMAX, WR250R and SMAX.

“Yamaha understands the iconic history of these models. Regarding the future, Yamaha is continuously looking at new ideas and concepts to support and expand the market, as well as enhance our customers’ experiences.”

The continuation of the 600cc Race Replica purge...

[TheJWT]

It's really a shame seeing 600 supersports die out... They're really all the bike that most people who want a sportbike need

[flatisflat]

@exage03040 While the writing's been a bit on the wall, it is sad to see the confirmations of it going away.
But the WR250R also?!?! Ggrrr

[Exage03040]

@thejwt

It's kind of strange because I find that people really like the used 600's but few seem to be buying them new now?

I know Euro 5 has been sort of a boon, because they don't want to develop compliance for a dying segment.

I'm wondering if it's going to be a trend. Like Yamaha is just going to hop up the MT-07 engine and make something slightly more upright like that new Aprilia 660 RS so it's better for the street. Provide higher rear-sets and lower clip-ons as upgrades for the track rats?

[TheJWT]

@exage03040 It's probably a tough sell when there are so many used ones which offer pretty much the same performance for like 1/4 the cost. Hell, my FZR is close to 30 years old and it's not far off the current R6. My $3000 SRAD would eat it for lunch.

It seems like larger displacement, lower compression engines are gonna be the new standard for middleweight bikes. I get why, and curbing emissions is important and it needs to be done, but I'm just not happy about the current state of sportbikes. The R6 and CBR600RR are some of the only current bikes for sale I'd think about buying and I can't imagine the CBR will last much longer after this year's refresh

[krustywantout]

Not surprising since everything is now adventure, cafe, scrambler, and commuting. All the 600 sport bikes you see listed for sale have under 10k miles or have that ridiculous drag swing arm. I'm guessing they will come back eventually but understandable from a business decision.

[AestheticsInMotion]

Wow. Shame about the VMAX and 600. Absolutely shocking with the Wr250. Guess I may have to find a different entry-level dirt bike in a few years

[nermal]

@exage03040 From my understanding this is due to Euro5 emissions standards. Not sure why that's such a big deal, as every other manufacturer just puts a big-ass muffler on and neuters the bike at high rpms thru the ECU. Then the end user pays for a pipe & a tune soon after getting the bike and goes on their merry way.

I'm curious to see how this effects their racing efforts. The R6 makes up at least 80% of the bikes on the grid in the 600 class at the club level from my observations. Obviously the people that already have them will be fine for a while. Not sure how this will effect MotoAmerica and the international series though. At the last round the R6 made up for 17 out of 30 bikes in the 600 class. Others have reported that there will be a track-only model available, but that won't work for homologation requirements.

Plus, there is the branded YCRS school that uses a fleet of R6s. Not sure what will come of that.

[Exage03040]

@aestheticsinmotion

I've never looked at the sales figures but around here I've seen nothing but Honda CRF250L for newer Dual Sport.

[pickup_man]

Sad about the V-Max although honestly if I hadn't seen one in the show room last summer I thought they killed that one long ago. Still though, that's a bucket list bike I'll have to keep an eye out for.

Also surprising about the WR250R, though they still have the WR250F and 450F available I guess.

[pickup_man]

@aestheticsinmotion WR250F is still available by the looks of it, just the WR-R is being killed. WR-F is the dirt bike for the street, the WR-R was the street bike for the dirt.

[Exage03040]

@nermal

Yes,

So far there has been the confirmation that '21 R6 will live on as a track only bike for Europe. ROW isn't confirmed yet but I'd like to think there's a good chance?

It's definitely a shake up for series homologation with no road model though. Not to mention anyone who simply does track days on one.

I'm wondering how this is all going to play out. The Yamaha turbocharging rumours popped up again in June.

[100percentjake]

Sad about the VMAX for sure, one of my dream bikes. Perfect ergos and riding style for me.

[nermal]

@exage03040 There are certainly people that buy new sportbikes with intentions to only use them on the track, but they are surely in the minority. Most people doing track days are starting out on whatever sport-ish bike they ride on the street, then moving to getting a dedicated track bike after getting addicted. Very few true adult novices start with racing, most do track days first then move to racing after a while. Kids are the exception, the fast ones start when they are 5 or 6, but they won't be on 600s for a while.

For racing, it depends how fast you are. If you can consistently podium in the expert class, you're maybe buying a new bike every other year as contingency only pays current + previous model years. Everybody else, it kinda depends. The R1 is the same for 2015+, the R6 basically the same from 2008+. If you don't have a shot at winning and getting paid your $500 for it, there shouldn't be any speed difference between model years. Might not even matter for the cost difference anyways.

That may all end up being irrelevant. People will still be able to race a 2020 & get paid on it next year, and maybe they are just skipping a year and working on a new 2022? A turbo doesn't make any sense, the power delivery when it spools up could be a disaster in a corner.