Yamaha XJ6

This is a retuned version of the engine you’ll find in the current Yamaha FZ6, which in turn is an old-school Yamaha R6 lump. It gets a new cylinder head, softer-performance camshafts, reshaped inlet ports, new forged pistons and a one-piece crankcase and cylinder block. The motor breathes through a new fuel-injection system with smaller diameter (down 32mm from 36mm) throttle bodies and a neat underslung exhaust, featuring a three-way catalytic converter. A new clutch and gearshift design make changing gear smoother and easier than the Yamaha FZ6. All this fettling is designed to make the Yamaha XJ6 flexible and friendly to ride. Claimed power and torque is less than the FZ6 (by 20bhp and 2ftlb), but usefully delivered much lower down the rev-range (2000rpm and 1500rpm).
There’s less need to stir the six-speed gearbox to keep up with traffic than the FZ6, making town riding nice and easy. At very low speeds the throttle response is snatchy when getting on and off the gas, but as speeds increase and the engine is spinning more it’s less of a problem. Overall the motor is very smooth, friendly and has lots of power (77bhp) if you’re prepared to rev it; enough for decent wheelies.

Despite the fettling to make the engine gruntier, you can still feel its supersports DNA and it never really relaxes, it’s always busy, buzzing and you often find yourself searching for another gear when you’re already in sixth. It’s not as bad as the Yamaha FZ6’s motor and you soon get used to it, but more grunt and less revs would make the Yamaha XJ6 even better. As it is, the engine is still impressive and the new, smoother-action clutch and gearbox help the job along.
The Yamaha Diversion XJ6 is like the VMAX, a Ghost from the '80s brought back to life by Yamaha in 2009. After years of the FZ6 acting as Yamaha's entry level model into multi-cylinder motorcycles, the Yamaha XJ6 is back in Europe! Its aims are to be easier-to-ride-slow, less power, but with more torque in lower revs and, above all, to be even more affordable.

After Honda proved there is a market for friendly middleweights with the CBF600, Yamaha has decided to do the same in the new Yamaha XJ6 series. The concept is pretty much identical to the original Diversion of the '80s and '90s, but in all-new trim. To achieve that, it needed to be less sharp than the R6-derived FZ6. The current FZ6 sports around 100 horsepower and everything from the engine to the chassis can be traced back to the pre-2006 R6 model.

It took me about a minute to get used to the short-rider biased ergonomics and controls, and then all I had to do were to enjoy the view of the beautiful and famous Australian city and surroundings. Everything from the clutch response to the gearbox feels smooth-as-butter to use. Nothing about the Yamaha XJ6 is intimidating in the slightest sense, apart from the aggressive looking headlight. This is essential for someone just getting into bikes or for the more subtle personalities out there.

It took a while to get out of Sydney and onto some beautiful roads through the bush where we rode the Pacific Highway back towards Sydney. In the really tight stuff, the suspension and bulk of the 452-pound Yamaha XJ6 isn't ideal. It jumps a bit up and down on its budget suspension. The steel tubular frame chassis suits this bike perfectly, but is not quite as light as the aluminum box frame on the Yamaha FZ6. You lack some of the fine feedback that expert riders are looking for, but that feedback you can't really be utilized by a new rider, so why pay extra for it?
What did start bothering me after a few miles were the thinly padded seat. After far too few miles, my bottom started aching a bit. The low seat height made me feel quite big on the bike and, with footpegs touching the ground fairly early, lowering the pegs isn't an option. I found myself trying to push my bottom backwards whilst riding to find some more padding towards the pillion seat. I can see a great opportunity opening itself for aftermarket gel seat makers here.

The instruments are easy to read and identical on both Yamaha XJ6 models. It shows digital speed on the left console and there's an analogue rev counter to the right.

Yamaha has now filled a gap in its model range, and I think the Yamaha XJ6 and XJ6 Diversion are great value for money. The Diversion is back and it does complement Yamaha's increasing middleweight range just nicely.