We don’t need to stress on the fact that how mighty and elusive the Yamaha R6 is. We might not have gotten an official taste of this legendary middleweight supersport but the legendary tales that have been told about it are still a part of motorcycling circles. The slow demise of the supersport segment is a sad thing for us motorcyclists. What made matters even worse was when Yamaha announced the discontinuation of the R6. The R6 might have been pulled out of international markets but it still lives on in our beloved neighbour country – China. Well, at least its sharp design does!
A mockery
Chinese bikemakers are notorious for ripping off the iconic designs of other manufacturers but now that Huaying has come up with a blatant ripoff of the mighty Yamaha R6, it feels like a personal blow. This latest example of a Chinese copycat is the most shameful of the bunch because it doesn’t seem inspired or derived but rather comes out as a mockery of a legendary motorcycle.
Not only do they have copied Team Blue’s recognizable design elements but Huaying has also lifted logos and fonts directly from Yamaha’s catalog. They didn’t stop the massacre as the bikemaker also included Valentino Rossi’s iconic number 46, Monster Energy branding, and inexplicably, a Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) graphic. Rather than a production motorcycle, it looks like a college project with irrelevant stickers pasted all across the bodywork to make it look sporty and cool. Needless to say, it fails miserably at that.
Not so ‘mighty’ specs
The last iteration of the Yamaha R6 was powered by a compact and lightweight 599cc DOHC liquid-cooled four-cylinder engine which produces 117bhp at 14,500rpm and weighs 190kg. But Huaying’s copycat makes do with a 500cc parallel-twin found in China’s countless budget builds. Rumoured power figures are at 38 Ps and 34 Nm of torque. All the juicy bits from the Yamaha R6 like the top-spec suspension and braking equipment have made way for affordable cycle parts. Even the Huaying R6’s spindly swingarm doesn’t stand up to the stock equipment on the track-only sportbike. Even the LCD display and tachometer look similar to the Yamaha setup.
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It is not a motorcycle but a sin and that too, when the OG motorcycle is no longer on sale. Huaying will have to answer to the God of Wheels for the abomination they have created.