YAMAHA YZF-R6 50th Anniversary (2005-2006) Specs, Performance & Photos

In 2006, The Japanese motorcycle manufacturer released the Yamaha YZF-R6 50th Anniversary, a middleweight motorcycle that celebrated its 50th anniversary in the motorsports business, loaded with Yamaha-exclusive innovations and new technologies that made it the most advanced production motorcycle ever built at the time.

The engine featured new titanium valves and a red line at 17,500 rpm and was controlled by the first fly-by-wire system on a production motorcycle, all fitted in a MotoGP-derived chassis with Formula 1-styled aerodynamics complemented by a titanium exhaust system.

For suspension, the bike packed a 41 mm adjustable inverted telescopic fork on the front and a fully adjustable shock absorber on the rear, while the braking performance was handled by two 310 mm floating discs with four-piston calipers on the front wheel and 220 mm disc with a hydraulic caliper on the rear.

As for power, the 2006 Yamaha YZF-R6 50Th Anniversary model took its muscles from a 599cc four-stroke four-cylinder liquid-cooled engine that delivered an output power of 125 hp at 14,500 rpm and 59 Nm (44 lb-ft) of torque with a peak at 11,500 rpm.

Bolted to the engine, a six-speed manual transmission with a back-torque-limiting clutch converted the power produced by the engine into speed and pushed the bike to a top speed of 255 kph (158 mph).