has anybody seen the new test on the zx6r? It is on motorcycle usa. I may be late, but if im not....

Do you think the 600rr will beat it, or will it be lowside?

 

Go HONDA!!! :-D

All j/k aside, Kawi has really been putting a lot into development recently.

 

from what i heard over and over and over, over the years, the zx6r is actually more forgiving than the 600rr... not exactly faster in a sense but more comfortable seat, a longer spread in riding position if your taller, wider and a bit heavier but and a lot more comfortable riding 2 up... I love the 600rr but i ride everyday to work and back and if i were to pick a bike, the zx6r would be my choice

also along the bike spread, Kawais tend to have more low end power, cbr's do extremely well in mid range power, and yamaha just somehow perfect the perfect mid to high rpm power

BUT... the 600rr still holds down the fort as the lightest 600cc sport bike... weighing in at 410lbs wet (with fluids)... the average sport bike weight regardless of class is about 425 dry (no fluids)

 

Kawi is taking the middleweight class to a new level. Honda better step it up. While you might not need traction control and what not on a 600cc bike it would be nice to have.

 

I see traction control becoming an option on future motorcycles from all manufacturers... with Honda being last. Traction control is a great safety net. It rarely kicks in on Yolie. But when it does, it's because something happened that wouldn't necessarily have caused a crash. But Prolly would have caused a pit stop to change underoos.

Good example: today riding home from work. My tires were still cold from sitting all day in the work parking lot. I'm in the left lane on a street, about 4 secs behind a car. An asshat who wasn't paying attention decided to merge into the left lane... into the space I was occupying. Horn didn't work to wake him up... or he didn't care. I was running out of lane to shy away from him. And I didn't believe braking was a good option. So I gunned it, intending to move into the 4 second buffer between the lead car and swerve into the right lane. Everything worked fine up until the swerve... rear tire lost traction

So I'm basically halfway in both lanes, with a car rapidly closing on my exhaust (he still hasn't reacted to my presence nor the car that was in front of me) and my rear tire is starting to kick out cause its cold. TC kicks in, stopping the slide. I shift position, prepping to swerve hard to straighten out in the right lane. Rear slips AGAIN cause I'm demanding too much out of the ice cube. TC kicks in AGAIN and she stops sliding while I straighten out.

To an observer it Prolly looked like a kickass rider pulled off a helluva maneuver to avoid getting smushed. Only I saw the TC indicator and felt the slippage. The asshat had to jam on his brakes when he finally noticed the lead car. Without TC...I dunno. But it woulda been ugly.

If the zx6r had come out last year, I might have grabbed that instead of the s1000rr... nah. I'd still have Yolie. But might have been tempted to grab it too

 

Or you could get the 600rr and add on the bazzazz unit.

It really has been due for an update, but the head of the CBR project is pretty hard headed. I'd like to see the 600rr with that new "balance free shock" they have on the '12 cbr1000rr as well as an updated cluster. Also, it'd be nice if they offered like a tracked out version that didn't have any of the lights n' mirrors n' stuff. I like how some manufacturers are offering that option on liter bikes. TC? Meh, I could live without it.

 

honda is always slow to adapt with those kind of things. the thou doesn't even have TC yet. we'll have to wait and see. but it's time for a major overhaul. it's been practically the same bike since '03 - minimal updates (USD's, radial brakes, little bit better motor, etc.) - but i think it's time for a major update. the 1000rr got a major update in '08 from a bike that had been from '04. so, i definitely think it's the lil guy's turn.