The Yamaha YZF-600R was a sports bike made by the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer from 1996 to 2007, while in the European market, the bike rolled as the Thundercat.
The model was introduced in 1996 as a replacement for the FZR-600R, and in 1997, during the European 600 SuperSport Championship season, the Thundercat was the only four-cylinder motorcycle that won against the Ducati 748.
Major mechanical components were retained from the FZR-600R, such as the engine, transmission, suspension components, and the steel Deltabox frame, and sold in the European market until 2003, while in the United States it lasted through 2008 with small aesthetic changes.
In 2007, Yamaha launched the YZF-600R, a more street-orientated bike that was almost identical to the older track-focused R6 model but differentiated by the one-piece two-up seat featured by the 600R model.
Created as a more tamed version of the R6, the YZF-600R was more suitable for daily rides and dedicated to those riders who were in search of a sporty middleweight machine that provided better comfort and enhanced useability.
In the power department, the 2007 Yamaha YZF-600R had its heartbeat set by a 599cc four-stroke four-cylinder liquid-cooled engine that delivered an output power of 100 hp with a peak at 11,500 rpm and 66 Nm (49 lb-ft) of torque at 9,500 rpm.