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xlr250 vs. xt600 - fuel economy xlr250 vs. xt600 - fuel economy
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #1  
Old 30 Apr 2007
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XR250 fully laden with two full panneirs, tools and spares, topbox full plus tent on back seat on the motorway (M25, M3, M4): tried and tested maintains 105km/h (60mph) and on a downhill catching a truck slipstream 115km/h. Fast enough to keep up with the trucks. Cars just drive past you. The argument that a slow vehicle is no good on a motorway is irrelevant...they have two more lanes to pass you. The problem comes on the smaller non-motorway roads when they can't pass you easily and then out of frustration they take chances on blind corners etc.

oh yes...fully laden....just over 4lt/100km. With my 22lt acerbis I consistently changed to reserve at 485km
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Old 30 Apr 2007
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Originally Posted by Bossies View Post
Fast enough to keep up with the trucks. Cars just drive past you. The argument that a slow vehicle is no good on a motorway is irrelevant...they have two more lanes to pass you. The problem comes on the smaller non-motorway roads when they can't pass you easily and then out of frustration they take chances on blind corners etc.

oh yes...fully laden....just over 4lt/100km. With my 22lt acerbis I consistently changed to reserve at 485km
This is a goodpoint.. but you will find teh french d roads so empty it does not matter, I like to do a sunday afternoon run for an hour or two, often only interacting with less than a dozen other vehicles.
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Old 1 May 2007
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Originally Posted by oldbmw View Post
This is a goodpoint.. but you will find teh french d roads so empty it does not matter, I like to do a sunday afternoon run for an hour or two, often only interacting with less than a dozen other vehicles.
Very true and in France even if someone does come up behind you they wait patiently until it's safe to pass. My generalisation was based on UK A roads where, on a slow bike, you constantly have someone hugging your back wheel and revving putting you in a postion where you rather pull over and let them pass than keep youself exposed to their arrogance/ignorance...rather unpleasant
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Old 1 May 2007
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Originally Posted by Bossies View Post
The argument that a slow vehicle is no good on a motorway is irrelevant...they have two more lanes to pass you.
Personally I find riding a slow bike on the m-way a pain in the jacksie, but that could be cos I'm just bloody impatient and can't wait to get off 'em!

Something in me HATES being overtaken by trucks too!

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!
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Old 2 May 2007
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Originally Posted by Matt Cartney View Post
Personally I find riding a slow bike on the m-way a pain in the jacksie, but that could be cos I'm just bloody impatient and can't wait to get off 'em!

Something in me HATES being overtaken by trucks too!

Matt
Can't agree more and try and stay off the main drags as much as possible but best way to cover some miles if need be. It's hard work on the motorway with the light little bike getting thrown about by turbulance etc...highly unpleasant but an occasional necessary evil.

I have had to make a serious attitude adjustment since selling my XJ900 and now only have the XR250. No more instant power on the throttle... BUT it's fantastic in London traffic
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Old 13 May 2007
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Well, I got a '84 XT600 here in the UK a little while ago, I paid £650, it's recently been rebored, serviced, painted and modernised here and there. 45,000km. It's a nice bike. It has a "chuckle" in 2nd gear.. not sure if that's worth worrying about. I'm still trying to get my licence, so I've only been down the road on the bike, but, .. wow.. this thing is quick.. more so than the honda 125 with 11 very sickly horses.. if heman had a motorbike.. and you are high up, it's wonderful.. and the suspension seems much better, the ride is soft, I remember having a sore spine(!) after a day coming down from the hills on the 125. But, it seems it's not too heavy to throw about the mud still. A good choice I think. Also I heard from someone else that these types of bike are cheaper on the continent, they where more popular there than in the uk it seems.
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Old 29 May 2007
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Xr250 economy.
When i was recently in north Thailand i hired out a couple of xr250's on two separate occasions (different bikes). These were both used for wek-long tours of the mountain roads around Chiang Mai/Mae Hong Son/Golden Triangle etc. Also indulged in a few spots of off-roading up jeep tracks (and some pure singletrack through the jungle). I'm a bit anal about fuel economy and found the bikes would give about 60mpg (a geared-down '97 xr with knobblies, a lot of off-road), and 84mpg (standard '06 xr with more road-biased tyres, a bit of off-road and a fair amount of road cruising). I'm 5'11" and 85kg and the bikes would happily cruise at 55-60mph (fine for quiet Thai backroads - not sure about Euro main-roads, mind!), with light luggage on-board. Nice bikes, but they need regular oil-changes (enduro bikes, of course...), at least every 3000km's, according to the guys there.
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