{"id":386329,"date":"2026-04-07T12:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/386329\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T12:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T12:42:13","slug":"one-off-yamaha-r6-features-a-crossplane-crank-like-the-r1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/386329\/","title":{"rendered":"One-off Yamaha R6 features a crossplane crank like the R1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\tPrevious Slide\u25c0
\n\t\t\t\tNext Slide\u25b6\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t1 of 15\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Yamaha\u2019s R6<\/a> was withdrawn as a road-legal bike in Europe at the introduction of Euro5 emissions<\/a> in 2021 \u2013 marking an end to the brand\u2019s participation in the once-dominant 600cc four-cylinder sportsbike<\/a> category after a long decline in sales.<\/p>\n

Although no longer available as a road-going machine on our market, it remained for some time as a track only R6 Race. However attention has now shifted to the three-cylinder R9<\/a>, which has since taken over as the brand\u2019s supersport<\/a> offering.<\/p>\n

Like this story? You can get more MCN in your life by\u00a0clicking here and asking Google to make us a preferred source<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It seems nobody told tuning house Ten Kate Racing about this though \u2013 with the Dutch firm creating a unique development of the R6 featuring a completely reworked engine and a crossplane crankshaft to mimic the larger R1<\/a>, showing what might have been if customer demand for traditional 600s had remained strong.<\/p>\n

\"Crossplane<\/p>\n

Developed as a technical exercise to explore how Yamaha<\/a>\u2019s unique crossplane philosophy would apply to the smaller bike, and to strengthen the technical ties between Ten Kate and Yamaha, the one-off machine is currently being offered for sale at \u20ac49,900 plus VAT, which would work out at just over \u00a352,000 including tax in the UK.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just a case of making a new crankshaft: the whole engine needed to be redeveloped to suit the uneven firing pulses of the crossplane design.<\/p>\n

A normal inline four, with a flat-plane crankshaft, fires at intervals of 180 degrees spread evenly across the 720-degree rotation of the four-stroke cycle (two revolutions of the crankshaft).<\/p>\n

\"Crossplane<\/p>\n

It has perfect primary balance: when the middle two pistons are at the top of their travel, the outside pair are at the bottom, so the forces on the engine as they change direction cancel each other out. And while secondary balance is imperfect, it\u2019s not a significant problem on a light, small engine.<\/p>\n

A crossplane crankshaft offsets each crankpin by 90 degrees from its neighbour, which staggers the firing interval. There\u2019s a large, 270-degree gap between the first two cylinders firing, then a 180-degree pause, then a short 90-degree space, and finally another 180-degrees before the first cylinder fires again.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the same uneven rumble that you get with a 90-degree V4, which is good for traction. The big 270-degree delay gives the rear tyre a moment to regain grip before the next power pulses \u2013 but it does cause a problem for the engine\u2019s balance.<\/p>\n

\"Crossplane<\/p>\n

The crossplane-crank R1 that was first introduced in 2009<\/a> solves that problem with a balancer shaft, rotating at the same speed as the crank but with offset weights to counteract the rocking effect introduced by the crankshaft design.<\/p>\n

Ten Kate\u2019s R6, however, has no space for such a solution. Instead, the company \u2013 after computer simulations and several prototype cranks and engines \u2013 integrated tungsten weights into the crankshaft itself to counter the vibrations.<\/p>\n

New camshafts were also needed, of course, and these also play a role in balancing the engine\u2019s vibrations.<\/p>\n

\"Crossplane<\/p>\n

The result, by Ten Kate\u2019s measurements, is a peak power of 126.2bhp and a maximum torque of 47.6lb.ft on the way to a 15,800rpm redline.<\/p>\n

The numbers are slight improvements on a stock R6, but that\u2019s not the main thrust of the development which was intended to improve power delivery and rider feedback, maximising the bike\u2019s ability to get torque to the tarmac.<\/p>\n

With the introduction of the crossplane-crank R1 in 2009, it briefly seemed likely that the R6 might follow suit, but the lower appetite for 600cc supersports would likely not have supported it. Anyone interested in the one-of-a-kind R6 should visit the Ten Kate website<\/a> today.<\/p>\n

\"Crossplane<\/p>\n

Heavily reworked engine internals<\/p>\n

A new, crossplane crankshaft was developed after several prototypes and extensive CAD simulation. Tungsten counterweights are set into the crankshaft\u2019s webs to counteract vibrations, eliminating the need for a balancer shaft.<\/p>\n

On top of this, the standard, race-spec ECU was reprogrammed for the new firing intervals, with new ignition and injection maps. Vibration analysis was carried out both virtually and in the real world, measured on both the engine and the bike\u2019s chassis and compared to a standard R6 and the R1 as benchmarks.<\/p>\n

\"Crossplane<\/p>\n

The bike was then track tested at Assen to confirm the results, but Ten Kate say it will remain a unique prototype and there are no plans to make more of them.<\/p>\n

A brief history of Ten Kate<\/p>\n

Based in The Netherlands, Ten Kate have a rich history of motorcycle racing development \u2013 including 12 World Supersport titles, plus one World Superbike (WSBK) crown.<\/p>\n

The team took their first World Supersport victory in 2000 and between 2003 and 2008, they took a staggering 68% of all race victories in the class.<\/p>\n

\"Stefano<\/p>\n

The Dutch outfit have been supported by Yamaha in the WSBK paddock since 2019, with their latest racing triumph being the 2025 World Supersport title with Stefano Manzi aboard the Yamaha R9.<\/p>\n

Away from the track, Ten Kate is also a retailer of used competition motorcycles and race engines \u2013 plus parts, accessories, and more.<\/p>\n

The MCN take<\/p>\n

This a brilliant demonstration of engineering excellence and it\u2019s a great shame we\u2019ll likely never see any more of them produced. Here\u2019s hoping whoever buys it puts it to good use, rather than forming part of a static collection. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Previous Slide\u25c0 Next Slide\u25b6 1 of 15 Yamaha\u2019s R6 was withdrawn as a road-legal bike in Europe at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-386329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}