Buying an XT600 - What to look out for

[fraserbyrne]

Hi guys,

So... I'm in the market for an XT600 for a big ride to Asia. Have been scouring ebay/Autotrader for the last few weeks while I've been waiting for a client to cough up.. In this time have seen a few gems slip through the net, and annoyingly wasnt in a position to pounce...

Apart from looking for one with low milage - anyone have any general tips? things to look out for? or tips for closer inspections?

Is there a milage number you'd steer clear of as a rule of thumb?

Budget is approx 1500-1800.

[Mezo]

Millage has nothing to do with it, depends how its been looked after.
If its had the engine done recently no problem going anywhere.

What model are you looking at buying? year?

Mezo.

[fraserbyrne]

Hi Mezo. 600E, flexible on year. Will have to see what surfaces in next 2-4 weeks thats within budget.

[Mezo]

Originally Posted by fraserbyrne

Hi Mezo. 600E, flexible on year. Will have to see what surfaces in next 2-4 weeks thats within budget.

Just a thought, why not fly here & buy an ex Aussie army 600E & ride it back to the UK, they come with a big Acerbis tank & have done very little mileage & they are plentiful.

Only problem i can see is getting in to OZ on a one way ticket? i don't think they will let you buy one? they want to make sure your leaving.

Mezo.

[otr002]

Have a look at my thread, this bike cost me $1600 unregistered. I have done nothing but change all the fluids, brake pads and give her a good clean!
It passed its registration check (MOT) and was registered an hour later! 11111k's and a rebuilt engine 20000k's ago!!

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...516#post387838

[fraserbyrne]

Originally Posted by Mezo

Just a thought, why not fly here & buy an ex Aussie army 600E & ride it back to the UK, they come with a big Acerbis tank & have done very little mileage & they are plentiful.

Only problem i can see is getting in to OZ on a one way ticket? i don't think they will let you buy one? they want to make sure your leaving.

Mezo.

Roaaah. That beast looks like something out of Mad Max! That is a great idea, although my body compass feels like I need to ride from my doorstep for some reason. Also have potential work in Cebu to head for. Thanks for the tip though. Interesting!

[fraserbyrne]

Originally Posted by otr002

Have a look at my thread, this bike cost me $1600 unregistered. I have done nothing but change all the fluids, brake pads and give her a good clean!
It passed its registration check (MOT) and was registered an hour later! 11111k's and a rebuilt engine 20000k's ago!!

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...516#post387838

Damn, that is a lot of miles. Like you pointed out in your thread, I guess half the battle is finding a good, genuine owner. I missed one a few weeks back, 1 owner, 6000 miles and it sold for £1800...

[Mezo]

That bike i pointed out is from a young lad called MIke, we got an ex army XT from him (sitting here) he gets them from auctions & flogs them off, he sold one the other week with around 1500 K`s from new (hardly run in).

He gets them all the time so worth asking him to keep a look out for a low mileage one, some come with rifle holder, paniers & black out lights. LoL

Mezo.

[fraserbyrne]

Nuts! haha. I'd like a bike with a rifle holder.

This one looks like a beaut:
YAMAHA XT600E,,,OUTSTANDING CONDITION,,LOW MILES | eBay

If my clients weren't slow paying assholes I'd snap it up I think. Funny how you race to meet their deadlines and they take mooooooooooonths to pay.

[gwel]

Ok here is my list:

Engine:
Carb Rubber Intake, prone to crack near cylinder
Oil filter bolt, fragile tread tend to worn out after many oil change,

Frame:
Bearing> Swing arm and front head look for play in both easy to check
Fork Seal leak on tube

Electrics Corrosion:

Starter Relay,
Main Fuse wires,

Exhaust Corrosion

Header and silencer, I broke dwon once because the silencer burst due to corrosion the super heated gas flow burned the air filter box, and lost almost all power

I found that the starter relay tend to blow when the battery is not charged enough/old...

Other than that the xt frame and engine is as basic as it can get and very reliable so nothing major can go wrong if engine is clean and not making any noise= no leak due to gasket, valve stem seals, guide.

i found that most porblem with xt came from corrosion!! to electrics,frame. Also battery charge not being optimum the starter relay tend to suffer when the battery is not charged enough/old...and will eventually fail.

That's it

[fraserbyrne]

Thanks for that Gwel and others for input.

I picked one up at the weekend... Christmas came in August for me. haha.

Managed to find a mint one, 2 owners from new and the guy I bought it off was a very genuine old boy in his early 60s, bike was his pride and joy, barely used it for the last 5 years... 8500 miles on clock, 2002, totally stock, full MOT history, garaged its whole life for £1800. Rode 200 miles home on it and so far so good!

[kentfallen]

Haven't read through the thread but -

£1,800 should get you a real beauty.

My 1999 mint (6,000 mile) XT is in my opinion worth £1,600 (bargain price).

Well done, you have picked the best bike for the job. It's powerful, simple and bulletproof reliable. As you know the XT series of bikes are lengenday RTW bikes especially for African adventures. Powerful enough to pull you and your luggage everywhere you need to go. It's a superb allrounder.

The bike can get a bit vibey on motorways but providing you cruise at 60 MPH you won't have a problem. Forget speeds over this, although the bike is capable of 100MPH (Just) you will end up ruining the bike by maintaining these speeds.

I wish you all the very best of luck. Enjoy your trip and above all STAY SAFE!

Where are you Fraser your posts don't show it.

[kentfallen]

Whoops just read the last post.

Well done. You have got a lot of bike for £1,800.

I challenge you to find a better RTW bike for this amount - You won't find one.

Just go and see what £1,800 gets you with other bikes. I saw a 2009 Honda CG125 for £1,500 yesterday! Think how much more YOUR bike gives you..... Bank for Bucks the XT6 is king.

I was thinking of upgrading to a more modern water cooled XT660 but after seeing one I realised it wasn't worth spending another £6,000 on. My XT600E will do everything a XT660 will (most would admit the XT6E is more reliable because of it's utter simplicity).

I keep my bikes looking pristine by using copious amounts of WD40 and GT85. This is a lesson worth remembering if you want to ensure your bike remains looking pretty.

LOOK AFTER YOUR XT6E (don't thrash it all day, keep to 60 mph max), give it regular oil changes (the more the better), clean it and it will look after YOU!

I have fitted Michelin SIRAC's to both my bikes and this tyre would make a good allround RTW tyre choice. It depends how much offroad stuff you intend to do - if I was going offroad a lot I would look at Conti TKC80's.

Rifle holder??? I carry my rimfire .22LR rifle (I have a FAC) in a gun slip. I use the bike to get off road where the bunnies are.

Lastly you need to name it.........

Good luck my friend.

[fraserbyrne]

Originally Posted by kentfallen

Whoops just read the last post.

Well done. You have got a lot of bike for £1,800.

I challenge you to find a better RTW bike for this amount - You won't find one.

Just go and see what £1,800 gets you with other bikes. I saw a 2009 Honda CG125 for £1,500 yesterday! Think how much more YOUR bike gives you..... Bank for Bucks the XT6 is king.

I was thinking of upgrading to a more modern water cooled XT660 but after seeing one I realised it wasn't worth spending another £6,000 on. My XT600E will do everything a XT660 will (most would admit the XT6E is more reliable because of it's utter simplicity).

I keep my bikes looking pristine by using copious amounts of WD40 and GT85. This is a lesson worth remembering if you want to ensure your bike remains looking pretty.

LOOK AFTER YOUR XT6E (don't thrash it all day, keep to 60 mph max), give it regular oil changes (the more the better), clean it and it will look after YOU!

I have fitted Michelin SIRAC's to both my bikes and this tyre would make a good allround RTW tyre choice. It depends how much offroad stuff you intend to do - if I was going offroad a lot I would look at Conti TKC80's.

Rifle holder??? I carry my rimfire .22LR rifle (I have a FAC) in a gun slip. I use the bike to get off road where the bunnies are.

Lastly you need to name it.........

Good luck my friend.

Thanks for the info KF... I was going to ask about tires.. Not sure what it has on at the moment but they are way too off road specific, can see a couple of cracks on the nobblys just from the 200 mile ride back.

How many miles would you expect to get out of a pair of Michelin SIRAC's?

Yes, these steeds deffo aren't built for speed eh haha. I have a motocross bike too and it feels like a tractor in comparison. But for a long distance ride through third world countries I don't think I'd trade it for anything else.