I’m not going to preach, you’e heard it before. Okay, I am going to preach, but I’m hoping to add some constructive advice in it…
Riding “slow” won’t save you from an inadvertant twist of the throttle – keeping it out of the powerband is what will protect you.
The big issues with the R6 is that the power will climb really fast past a certain rev (I think 7k is where it start to pick up steam). So keep your revs low. You’ve got 6 speeds and an engine that will let you do 90% of your driving in second gear. Use all your gearing. Short shift to keep the bike well below the 7k range. Think of 7k as your redline for the first month (or more!) move your imaginary redline to 8000 later, and slowly move it up.
Secondly, save your skin and your wallet. ATGATT. If you don’t have both pants and a jacket, get some. Leather will cost you more but you can reuse after a crash. Textile is like an airbag, use once. Also, leather protects you better in the event of a long slide. Secondly, the bit about your wallet. Put on a set of frame sliders. They don’t cost much (I know replacement sliders are like $25 a pair or something ridiculiously cheap. I don’t know how much the install kit / upfront cost is). They will save you a lot of money and heart-ache if you drop or slide the bike.
Side note about the RPM:
Ben posted an issue with his ZX-6R in that the engine needs to be run up to 10k every now and then to burn off sludge. I’m guessing your R6 will have the same issue. Once you are comfortable with freeway riding, add a stretch to your rides. Try for a mostly straight stretch that will let you run at 10k (probably in second gear). You can use this time to play with your throttle a little bit; no sense in saying you are never going to want to feel that bike’s pull – you will. When there isn’t any traffic drop down to 45 or 50mph, and smoothly roll on the throttle up to 65 or 70 (enough to feel the pull, not enough to piss off a cop or make you look like a hooligan). Do that to enjoy your bike and clear the sludge out of your engine in a safe and responsible way.
I’d like Ben’s input on that last point, since I’m not sure what really needs to be done to clean the sludge…
Don’t zip around town or back country roads at 10k, you are just asking to fertalize a farmer’s field with your new bike.
Be safe and have fun.