Getting more power from the XT
 

Alaska - Chile - 2008.

Well.. I chose the XT600E for its relaibility all round versatility. I love her for commuting but the other day I took a 60kilo pilion and JESUS !! The poor bike barely moved.

Once I get 100k of luggage on the back and 23L of fuel plus me in my full gear, this poor machine aint gonna go anywhere quickly and will involve some serious throttle which is gonna kill economy.

She makes about 40bhp so im told.

Can I squeese anymore power from this girl without compromising on reliability. I was thinking of getting a unbaffled exhaust but i also dont want to go deaf on the road and anoy the neighbours.

Im close to trading her in for a F650 dakar for more ooomph !

Yes you can
 

But any increase in power will of course reduce lifetime. The two are connected.
The easy things are:
- Increase air flow. Put in a good airfilter and / or open up the airbox. You'll be amazed by the increas in power by just instaling a K&N filter. However, thse things do not really filter so only suited for on-road use. A large washable foamfilter is best, but will require modifications to the airbox.
- Exhaust. Size matters. Get the biggest can you can find. It will be a bit noisier, but not that much. Laser duotech works well on a XT600.

And then of course there is lots of other things you can do to increase torque, but it gets specialistic and even more expesnive then the above.

Auke