launch.The leaked pictures suggested the biggest change from the 2007 version would be some fresh graphics but I was so wrong.  As it turned out, I was greeted in Almeria with a brand new bike, built from the tarmac up and it proved to be more than a

to wander off into four-cylinder land but found it didn't suit the firm's character or heritage. I believe it's right back on track and doing what it does best.At a glance and without graphics, the red 675 could be a Ducati 916, but get up close and it

at the NEC show, and with the R1 stealing all the media hype, I for one spent the winter assuming nothing much had changed bar some new graphics and the re-styled exhausts. But I couldn’t have been more wrong – with the exception of maybe the front mudguard

-like headlights to the tidy twin tailpipes. With more engine exposed, the 2007 model looks even better but the graphics don't quite come up to scratch both on style and quality. They look like stickers and don't give the totally superior finish we've come

with the 2007 model: the race track. When I first saw this bike I was concerned as the graphics were a bit tacky but I needn’t have worried as Yamaha’s attention hadn’t been on anything trivial like stickers, just performance on the track. And it worked. Just

combination of softer lines and flowing graphics make it instantly lovable, especially in white and metallic blue. Although the styling is very similar to the GSX-R1000's, its wee brother is much more compact with a thinner tail section, a lower seat height

protectors too.But this time big is bonnie, so long as you get at least one foot on the floor and your balance sorted. The contours, colours and graphics are all pleasing on the eye, copied as they are from the BMW Boxer Cup race bikes, and so too

-sided swingarm, which looks like it's straight from Bayliss's race bike. Next is the bodywork, and when it can look this good with no graphics and only four tiny digits just below the handlebars, then I need to say no more. Onto the trickest mirror-mounted LED

both on the road and the track. And it’s quite a weapon.Quite often second-year facelift graphics don’t look as good as the originals, but Yamaha have given the R6 an improved look for 2009 with the red version being my favourite. It’s a tiny little

with this sort of engine performance – the 675 engine is re-worked for the Street Triple, with slightly less power, but it’s still a really strong motor – and the trick Magura handlebars and ‘R’ graphics help set this very minimalist bike off nicely. The bulging