2017 Yamaha R6 to be ‘virtually identical to R1’ looks – claim

It’s another claim by the top Japanese magazine YoungMachine and it features a serious bit of information about the next generation middleweight from Yamaha.

According to the publication, the Yamaha is going to be a virtual lookalike of its bigger capacity sibling.

The new bike’s face in the mock-up image on the cover of the magazine (above) is a near-copy of the R1’s – however, this could be a touch more radically swept back in the final version of the bike if it’s anything to do with the actual patent we’ve already uncovered around a mystery Yamaha bike filed for production in 2017.

We showed you this face of a sporty Yamaha a couple of weeks ago:

This was a patent filed around a new headlight bracket from Yamaha and after close inspection it became clear that this motorcycle in the drawings might look like an R1, but there were subtle differences that pointed towards this being a different motorcycle in reality.

Notice the lower windscreen and ever-so-slightly-tweaked bodywork, including the odd-looking bulges around the lower fairing… given what the Japanese are now saying about the next generation R6 it seems perfectly feasible that this patent drawing is now for that bike in the production schedule.

Cool.