Yamaha XJ6 (2009-current)

I've been riding my XJ6N for 3 years and 6700 miles now so here's a long term review. Firstly, it's worth mentioning I've never had even the slightest hiccup - reliability has been top notch. Secondly, what a great handling bike, this really does handle well and inspires confidence in doing so - tiny chicken strips on my tyres! Thirdly, the engine is super smooth all the way through the revs. Power peaks above 6k rpm so you do need to use the gears for quick overtaking, as you'd expect for an 80 bhp 600cc bike. The exhaust tone is a quiet grunty one, courtesy of the unusual box silencer and side exit exhaust. Fourthly, the styling - it's a good looking, actually great looking bike, Yamaha got the styling spot on. Fuel consumption: returns between 50-60 mpg, only dropping to the lower end of that when given a good thrashing. Comfort is the only real issue I've had; long 2hr plus journeys will result in a sore arse for both rider and pillion, but nothing a gel seat won't sort out. Wind blast hasn't been too bad, never had a sore neck even after long rides. I've been thinking about upgrading recently for something with a little more power (around the 100 bhp area), but having test ridden both a Street Triple 675 and a Bandit 1250, I just can't justify forking out the extra cash; the Street Triple was fun and the extra power was just about noticeable but was more uncomfortable and quite frankly the handling wasn't as good as the XJ6's - seriously. The bandit 1250 was great, better comfort for both rider and pillion and a monster torquey engine, but worth an extra £1800 on part ex? Nah, the XJ6N lives on and it will take one hell of a bike to make me let it go

rode this bike for just over a week now my first 'bigbike'last bike was a YBR125 easy swapping over and the smile still ahsn't gone is an awesome bike on the back roads to college! RideOn!

hi people, passed my test recently and have bought an xj6n 3 weeks ago and i love it. I have one question to any xj6 owner out there. I get some kind of rattling sound from the chain or sprocket when at low revs or slowing down. Not sure if its something i should be worrying about? Checked the chain tension and all is good on that side. Any replies will be appreciated. Many thanks.

I have owned my XJ6 for 6 months and have found it to be a totally enjoyable bike. I am not someone who likes to get his knee down so perhaps this bike is limited but for putting a smile on my face when out on the B roads its great. See Yamaha are asking £5999 now! One thing I see some previous reviews talk about a strange noise from the headlight or air through the front mudguard......anyone have any ideas what this is about?

I've now had my XJ6 N for some 8 months now and bar a gear indicator and an absolutely essential centre stand, it's a near perfect bike. It'll drop to 2,000 (25mph) in top and still pull away gently without downshifting. For those who would putter along at 2,500 (30 mph) in top to secure something near 70 mpg - sort yourself out?! This is a sports bike after all and cries out to be opened up every now and again! I did get some 60 mpg when I was running it in, but have never got below 52 mpg in normal commute mode. Give her a proper thrashing (!) and she'll drop to the low 40's fuel-wise I'd imagine. Be aware that the first three 6,000 mile services will set you back around £200 each at today's rates and the full valve clearance check at 24,000 miles will set you back £500. The price you pay for Yamaha high-precision engineering! I'm going to see if they'll fit a centre stand at the first service without adding on an extra hour of labour that they've quoted me for fitting one on it's own (wish me well!). Why do you need a centre stand? Well apart from assisting in chain lubrication, you need to get the back centred to check oil and fluid levels? More importantly, it's less likely to be blown off a centre-stand by strong winds?!

This is in the budget bike sector of the market, but the look and ride is anything but. After reading numerous reviews and obviously knowing who this bike is pitched at, you know it's mostly a beginners bike. I can say with all confidence, having ridden a good few mid-sized bikes, budget and non-budget, that this is the best beginners bike I have found to date... and by a long way! What I wanted to add, having ridden 125cc through to 1800cc bikes, this bike is really good fun to ride for anyone. When you wring the neck of this bike (which being a 4 pot engine, it seems to be hungry for revs) it rewards with an even spread of torque bottom to top and a nice predictable build in power, to a screaming 4 cylinder crescendo! I think this is better than buying a sports bike, ok it's not as quick, but on the road sports bikes demand focus and constant 'risk assessment', which for some is the fun of it, for me it can sap the fun out of road riding. The XJ6N IS real world fun, you can hit the red line and enjoy the sound and feel of acceleration, without fearing you life and license (well not like a sporty number anyway), which takes away the stress of stretching your bikes legs. It can also be ridden sedately, returning ridiculously good fuel economy. It's cheap and easy to service with wear and tear items being cheap too. The styling is bang up to date, there are no bad angles to this bike, exposing it's R6 derived engine for all to admire, with a simply genius stubby side exit exhaust. Mine was yellow, and the metallic paint has a deep quality look, and was truly stunning in the sun. The brakes are strong with predictable feel and defy the 'budget' tag it's given, the clutch is light with perfect metered feel, the gears are slick, easy and accurate to use too. Ok, it's not as fast as a ZX6R, but I would choose this over a Ninja on the road, I truly would. It just does EVERYTHING so well, as opposed to doing a couple of this well and compromising on the rest. This is one of my all time favourite bikes for this reason, and I could not recommend it enough. In short - Cheap, fun, quality, stunning...

I passed my test in January and the next day traded in my YZF-R125 for an XJ6. Once I'd run the engine I found this bike to be perfect for what I need, bit of town riding, some twisty roads and some long straights and it handles them all superbly. Enough power to overtake with ease and to raise a smile. Very easy to ride and already got me through the worst weather I've ever driven a car in never mind a bike, 4.5 hours in the snow, SCARY!!! Go and buy one you won't regret it.

i did my test on a XJ6 and liked it so much i went and got one, iv riden other bikes but this seems to cover all basses fast on the moterways, good in trafick, fun at the weekend.

What a truly awesome bike. I would recomend it to anyone stepping up to this class of bike. I've had my XJ6 since late September '09 and have clocked up 2000 miles since. It's my first 'big' bike. I chose the XJ6 over the Hornet, the ER6,the Gladius and even looked at the GSR. I rode all the others and chose the XJ6. The others are good bikes too but the XJ's a great bike. Great looks, smooth and very willing engine and quality (at the price I paid) are just outstanding.It doesn't look like a cheap bike to most people. It's also just got loads of character compared to the others. There are too many great points about this bike to mention here. I'm glad it doesn't have a center stand as I don't want the extra weight.The gearbox gets better after about 1500 miles. The weird sound mentioned by another reviewer is the air traveling through the front mudguard and can easily be sorted. During the week I'm a commuter and then at the weekend it's a swift 60\70 miles through Berks, Surrey and Sussex. Loves the twisty stuff but has enough to boot along at(ahem) 70/77 on the motorways. There is a lot of choice in this sector. Buy this bike you will not be disappointed!

I've been using one as a courtesy bike whilst having work done on my other bikes (GSXR 600 and Bandit 1200). It's horrible. It's like riding a sponge cake, all wobbly and squidgy. Looks like a turnip as well. What's with the weird noise created by air flowing over the mutant headlight.