Track day and racing fans in the supersport category will be happy to hear that the Yamaha YZF-R6 will continue to be offered as a track-only model for the 2022 model year, with the tuning fork brand bring two variations to market next year.
Tomorrow, Kawasaki will debut five new motorcycle models (along with a new Jet Ski). Then next month, for the EICMA show, Kawasaki has three more motorcycle debuts on its docket.
A busy timeline for Team Green, this news makes for a double-punch of new motorcycle models from Kawasaki for the 2022 model year, but we are not complaining.
The World Supersport field is ripe for change, and that shouldn’t be new or surprising information for anyone following the space.
This is because the 600cc inline-four market has disappeared, especially in Europe, leaving the middleweight class with an uncertain future in racing.
Where there is an absence, there is a vacuum, and the space being left behind by the Japanese supersports is being filled rapidly by European twin and three-cylinder offerings.
If there is a silver lining at all to the news that the Yamaha YZF-R6 is being discontinued at the end of 2020 for the European and American markets, it is that a version of the bike will at least be offered for interested track riders.
The newly named Yamaha R6 RACE is pretty much exactly what you think it would be – a track-kitted version of the current Yamaha YZF-R6 sport bike.
The news came first from Europe, that the Japanese brand would no longer make the Yamaha YZF-R6 for the European market because of the costs associated with Euro5 homologation, and because of the dwindling number of supersport models sold in the region each year.
Then, the news came as a final thought in a much larger press release from Yamaha Motor USA. It said that 2020 would be the last model year of the Yamaha YZF-R6 in the United States.
After a bit of teasing, the new Honda CBR600RR is finally here, and with it comes a few surprises.
Because of Honda’s teasers, we already knew that this machine would be an overhaul of the current model, using the same chassis and basic engine architecture as the American-sold Honda CBR600RR.
Photos and video though confirmed that the bike would get a facelift, most notably with winglets installed to the front fairing, and that a robust electronics package would be added to the mix, to help things feel modern on this aging beast.
Also, we already knew that the late-2020 arrival would sadly not be coming to the North American or European markets, being likely a Japan-only model, though some sales in other parts of Asia could happen as well.
Now that Big Red is spilling the beans on the new Honda CBR600RR, we can see that there are a few items about this supersport that we didn’t know about.
Sad trombone. The new Honda CBR600RR that we have been so excited about is destined not to come to US soil, American Honda has told us.
As we knew already, the 2021 Honda CBR600RR would not be coming to the European continent either, making the 600cc supersport a rather odd duck in terms of where it will be for sale.
Honda has confirmed to Asphalt & Rubber that the new CBR600RR will come to the Japanese market, and perhaps some other select Asian markets, primarily for racing homologation purposes, meaning it likely will be made in a small production volume.
Honda gave us quite the surprise last week, announcing that there would be a new Honda CBR600RR sport bike for the 2021 model year.
While we are still another week away from the official debut (and thus when all the details will be revealed), we learn more about the supersport with each passing day.
Today, we get a fresh batch of photos (which we first saw on Italian website Moto.it), which give us a better glimpse of this restyled CBR600RR.
Just two weeks ago, we were rounding up the rumors on the next Honda CBR600RR, with talk that the 600cc supersport would be making an August arrival, and sadly not be an all-new machine.
Those rumors seem to be spon-on, because Big Red is now teasing the 2021 Honda CBR600RR on its Japanese website as well as YouTube. As such, we now expect to see the new Honda CBR600RR debut on August 21st.
Hello and welcome to our third installment of “This Week’s Honda CBR60RR-R Rumor” – a name that has so many R’s in its moniker that you probably missed the fact that we left a zero out. Your move, Honda.
This time around, we are calling this the “August Edition” of the Honda CBR600RR-R (count the R’s, count the 0’s) rumor, as that is precisely what the latest gossip is all about: an August reveal date.
Considering that August officially starts in five days, that makes this pretty big news indeed…if it’s true.
Another week, and another Honda CBR600RR-R rumor. Well…to be fair, this is only our second rumor concerning the Japanese supersport machine, but if things continue forward, we can expect a lot more coming from the rumor mill on this one.
This week’s edition sees us still talking Honda working on a CBR600RR-R model, and that it will be ready in time for the 2021 model year (one assumes that the coronavirus has not disrupted this timetable).
But, things have been taken one step further, with an unveiling date being discussed in the far corners of the internet. Namely, the Honda CBR600RR-R is set for an October debut.