This just in from Motorcycle Daily:

"R6s have already begun arriving in dealers, and a few early buyers have had a chance to take them to the dyno. Anyone who has dyno'd a bike knows that the dyno can take its own RPM readout by means of a sensor clipped to one of the bike's spark plug wires. It seems that 'unbelievable' might have been a better term to describe the 17,500 RPM limit - the tach may say 17,500, but the dyno's RPM plot tells the real truth, and that is that the R6 is revving to somewhere around 16,200 RPM before hitting the programmed-in rev limiter.

"To confirm the truth of these claims, we turned to Yamaha Media Relations Manager Brad Banister. In a phone call yesterday afternoon, Banister confirmed that the 2006 R6 is definitely not revving anywhere close to the claimed redline - admitting that the tachometer is 'over 1,000 RPM off'."

Oy. This was the centerpiece of Yamaha's marketing campaign. Can you say 'public relations disaster'?

Wow.

Seriously. This is a bad thing.

UPDATE 2-14-2006: Still don't think this situation is a serious deal for Yamaha? When was the last time you heard of a manufacturer offering a complete buy-back?



LEAVE A COMMENT