I bought my 98 YZF 600R in Nov. of 98, and have never regretted it at all. The bike is just incredible. I have run over 12,000 miles on the YZF in the first year alone.The bike gets great gas mileage (Average about 52 MPG) The power in the lower end of the band is actually a little lacking, but it's something easily ignored once the bike gets over the 5,000 RPM mark. This bike will power wheelie easily.

I've done twelve hour days in the saddle, and been ready for more come morning. The bike is just that good. It's so smooth, that it's almost electric in its feel. The bikes handling at first felt a little portly, but instead it gets better with each ride. This bike will give you everything you need for a long run, and come back asking for more. There's no end to the comfort and quality of this bike.

The one complaint I have about this bike is the fairing removal required to do an oil change. It takes about twenty screws to remove one side of the fairing. It becomes an experience of over an hour to change the oil.

The bike starts immediately with the choke lever, and is ready to ride with only a minute or twos warm up time.

Just how good is this bike? Well while it never won any championships here in the States, it has in Europe. The YZF600R may be overshadowed by the R-6 now, but it's still a great bike by any standard. And , it's a head turner anyway you look at it. The bike is gorgeous, and is so much fun to ride, that you never get tired of it. It really is a sport bike for the real world, and not just the track.

6/28/01
Okay, now for an update. I now have 26,000 miles on my 98 YZF. I had one problem with it, which seems to be something some YZF600 owners have, and that's that the 2nd gear in the transmission has gone bad. This happened at 20,000 miles. I notified Yamaha, and they ended up eating the parts for the repair. Am I still happy? Yes. the bike is great. I would recommend that anyone who has this bike ad the Factory Pro "Shift-Pro" shift kit", which eases shifting between gears, and ads a more positive feel to the shifting. That's my only glitch with the bike. The rear tire needs changing every 9,000 miles, and the front every 14,000. I use Bridgestone BT-010's front and rear.Brakes last a good, long time. The rear shock is just starting to weaken at 26,000 miles, and I have a race Tech kit on order for it. Otherwise, it's been just regular, general maintenance. I couldn't be happier with a bike then I am with this one.

Other 600's may be slightly more powerful or lighter, but none can do everything this bike does. 200 mile tankfulls, all day riding comfort, razor sharp handling, and "real world" ergonomics make this bike the mainstay that it is in Yamaha's lineup. A true adult sport bike.

Updated 10-12-02 !

The YZF now has 43,000 miles on it, and continues to run like a well oiled clock. I've changed my oil change method as well. Now I remove the rear fairing screw that holds the two sections together, then I remove the two side fairing screws and pull the fairing out slightly, opening the drain bolt and removing it, peeling the fairing back and allowing the oil to drain into a pan. It saves a ton of time doing it this way. A cap wrench allows the filter to be removed from the front of the motor. No problems. I changed the rear brakes for the second time since I bought the bike, The stock factory rear pads are very soft. They wore out on me in the first 5,000 miles. The Sintered DP Pads I replaced them with lasted 37,000 miles. The fronts now have 25,000 on them and have plenty of meat left. The rear shock was Race-Teched last year when I last updated this. This is the best all arounder made!

Recommended: Yes