Best Middleweight Streetbike: Yamaha YZF-R6

Remember what Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz? “My, people come and go so quickly here!” The same can be said for Best Middleweight Streetbikes. Seldom has one model reigned for more than one season before abdicating the throne. Squaring off against the best from England, Italy and Japan, the R6 won this year’s Middleweight Sportbike Shootout handily, largely by virtue of its handling, though its zingy, 15,500-rpm motor also played a role. The R6 won this title before, in 1999 and 2003, and if the past is any indication, will likely do so again—in two or three years.