What should i look out for xt600
 

Well in our little part of the world the Australian defence force is auctioning off 90 odd XT600's fro 1991 with from as little as 8000k's up to 60000k's. the auction center that i'll be going to has 25 for sale with no reserve and no starting price. These are military bikes and have been serviced and repaired using only Yamaha parts, service intervals have been adhered to. the bikes are standard except for a large tank (acerbis) and additional wiring for black-out lights etc.
So the question are....

• what should i be looking for,
• do they have frame cracking issues,
• will they take a rebore
• are the parts expensive
• these don't have a kicker...good or bad..
• can the head be removed without taking the engine out of the frame

Any help would be great as this will be the dirt road bike, and my first foray into solo adventure touring, I'll be taking my riding buddy along and he intends to buy one as well:thumbup1:

this is an example of the bikes...

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...at105550AM.png
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...at105534AM.png
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...at105519AM.png
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...at105503AM.png
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...at105450AM.png

Watch out for Redbacks in the toolbox. http://www.tenere.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/LoL.gif

Nah serious there's one sat right next to me, bargain bikes.

Mezo.

Have a good look at the rims, some have had a pounding and have cracks in them.

And some will have replacement plastics, painted black to match the black OEM.

It appears that only white plastics are now available, and it is getting scarce, particularly RHS side covers and hand guards but I am happy to be contradicted on this.

Don't pay too much, $less than $1000- should get one , unless it is particularly clean and low mileage on the speedo is matched by the condition.

Redbacks, nice beer....as for the rims that had skipped my mental list, i take it they are alloy and the Army didn't order steel rims for some strange reason. As for the plastics i don't really care if they have been painted as I'm not going to restore the bike just set it up for some touring and and and well we'll see :thumbup1:

Can the engine be striped in the frame?

Rod

If I could I would LOVE to take three or four of those AT LEAST! :(


Oh man 25 you say?! I'd be in wonderland :innocent:


Vando beer

No not 25.....90 to be auctioned off Australia wide :eek3:

You lucky Ba****ds..!
 

I'd love to be there and snap a couple up!!

I did africa on one and had 3 so far! Good bikes, reliable and easy to strip down. I did the piston rings without removing from the frame in the Congo..! Whoop Whoop!

They'll take a rebore but just do a compression test first, as long as the filters were regularly changed and same with the oil, they'll be fine! My old '03 Xt600e (50,000+ miles!) is still bashing it's way through Southern Africa with it's new owner and he's loving it!

I'm in Iraq and trying my hardest to find out when I can purchase one of the US military DIESEL KLR650's once they hit the market next year! (1000km per tank!!)

When/where are these bikes being auctioned?
Can they arrange delivery abroad???

I wouldn't mind a few being sent here to the UK...

90???? doh OMFG!!!! I gotta moove to Aussie! Lovely women, great bikes.... ouch ;P

XT's by the hundred
 

Hi all,

I believe there is a total of 500 of these magnificent beasts being supa seeded, starting from 2009 when I stole mine for $900 AUD. at auction.:clap::thumbup::punk:

Great bikes, legendary, enough said, just do it, you won't regret it.:funmeteryes:

Cheers from OZ

Would it be worth it, at sub $1000 Aus plus freight....are they that expensive in the UK :cool4:

Rod

You just stay were you are :stormy: we've only got so many :palm: :palm: :Beach: :Beach: :Beach: beer beer beer beer beer and beautiful women and at the moment just one beach per person is just how we like it..:clap:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...2/Stradie1.jpg

A half decent 1991 XT600 over here would be up to £1250.
If I could get 3 or 4 (or more) of them shipping would be fairly good value.
I'm sure I could make a profit from them:thumbup1:

How much would it cost to import 5 bikes from Oz to the UK???

Any ideas???

And this is where your plan kind of falls through, (but check it out) as the cost of importing will probably out weigh the profit margin! Unless you can find some spare room in a container heading your way, from Oz.


Any ideas???
So, Why not buy one, fly out on a holiday and ride purchased bike, you could for instance ride it over to Rod’s or Mezo in “Tenerland” and leave it with him, cheaper than hiring one out there and ……. Well I should have asked Mezo and Rod first, why don’t you? I would if I could.

Sounds like a Socks plan

Auctioned in Sydney and Brisbane
 

I think they are being Auctioned in Sydney and Brisbane ? Is that right ?

Australia wide......

Car auctions, truck auctions, damaged car auctions, online car auctions / Melbourne Sydney Brisbane Perth Adelaide Hobart

Forget importing the bikes from Aussie to Blighty - the cost will double the bikes purchase price (or more) and therefore wipe out any profit. :(

Nice to know the venerable XT6 is being used by the Aussie Army like this. Maybe they are getting rid of this batch of early bikes for a new batch of XT660's with new pattern paint job - Multi-Cam camoflage?:clap:

I'd say that the bikes themselves have all probably had a very hard time and that any prospective purchaser needs to be very careful. The plus side is that the bikes will have probably been serviced well and had oil changes at the right intervals.

Proceed with caution my Aussie cousins... :taz:
Finally - OUR team has just thrashed the Indian's in Cricket. We look forward to doing the same thing with you're team in the near future... We are now the world's number 1 cricket test side. lol. About time we started to win in the games we Brits invented (football, Cricket, Tennis and Golf).

We just lost to the Irish in the rugby :censored: such a shameful day and I'll not be drinking a beer today as the shame has made me loose my thirst :blushing:

As for the cricket, dream on, we let you win one every now and then just to keep your hopes up :thumbup1:

The XT's, my main concern is that the low K's ones have been only driven a short distance then turned off, again and again. So although they have low k"s might have scoring on the bores and other internal engine damage due to not being fully warmed up during use.

Rod

This has been my favourite bike - bar none
Not the best at any one thing but across the range the most capable bike in every instance combined.
The cc is sufficient to not have issues on the motorway and not too big to cause overweight issues off road. more than adequate for 2 up loaded.

Check:
Rims & Spokes - need to be carefully looked at, especially where the spokes go into the wheels.
The rear frame - behind the seat is the first place to crack if over loaded but wont affect the integral structure of the chassis.

Electrics - make sure it charges indicators work and that it starts You Aussies sell a replacement black box that sorts out the original unit so that is probably worth getting anyway.

Carb rubbers - old ones tend to have split but is incredibly difficult to see unless you remove the carb - so plan to replace anyway.

Exhaust headder screws the ones that are double ended and screw into the head - theyre and absolute B..rugger to get off if they havent been attended to with the wrong tools its lots of bad language and 5 hours each with the right tools and out the bike its half an hour each. - Hot making device (and wart remover - V cool)

Exhaust connector flange thinggy. probably ben replaced with a make shift effort and has never needed to be changed... yet

Handle bars are made out of a material that is simply indestructible, so if yours is bent of cracked, the bikes had a tough time

Replace:

Battery.
Clutch cable.
Throttle cable.
Brake pads.
Cush drives.
Exhaust down pipes - Absolute necessity and the whole pipe if possible, original is heavy.
Front tyre - its probably done more miles that you would believe and has started deteriorating from old age not wear.
Carb inlet rubbers.

Plan to replace rear shock and spring to suit your setup, ie overloaded or just heavily loaded



Love it awesome bike totally and utterly practical. You really cant go wrong with one.

WARNING - OFF TOPIC!

Blimey I forgot RUGBY - Yes WE Brits invented that too! :innocent:

To think that we ENGLISH invented nearly ALL of the worlds major sports. Pity we're crap at most of them isn't it. :(

Did we invent motorcycling too? :scooter:

And Perth(18) and Darwin(16)

Rod

I should just buy 5 and set them up for Adventure touring in OZ and hire/sell them to the tourists :mchappy:

Rod

Mate thanks for taking the time to write that all down :thumbup1: it's exactly what i was looking for and will set me up on the day, I'll take a mirror and a torch and do my best, unfortunately the bikes can not be started or ridden prior to the auction, so I'll have to go by appearances only, and service book :cool4:

Rod

I just checked the web site and the way I read it they are all in Sydney. Is there a listing somewhere else ?

I dont want to be a prophet of doom, but I'd be very wary of buying one of these bikes. Thats a big long, and expensive, list of bits you're probably going to need to replace. The bike itself may be cheap, but when you start adding all that into it it suddenly doesnt look like such a bargain. Plus you cant start it or ride it before you buy it - who in their right mind would buy a bike that you hadnt heard running? It may have a service history, but its been ridden by any number of squaddies, thrashed, overloaded and abused over the years by people who have no concern for its well being. Isnt it common knowledge that he best second hand bike is the one with the least number of former owners?
I know XTs are tough - mine is brilliant, and I love it, and you may well be lucky and get a good one, but dont be surprised if it ends up costing you more than a tidy low miles private sale bike in the long run.

Good luck - I'd be interested to know how you get on with it.

SearchResults

Darwin is not listed there yet but will be.

Rod

Suspension
 

Don't forget the rear suspension linkages too: bet Aussie squaddies are just as lazy as the average owner when it comes to grovelling underneath with a grease gun...and the pivot pins/bush combo adds up to almost £100 for Yam parts, not including the swingarm needle rollers (hopefully they'll be ok, as the seals are pretty good).
Also of course, the fork seals: my Tenere gaiters were full of sand when I bought it, and needed stripping and new seals. Cheap and worthwhile job, but time-consuming.
And head bearings...

I picked up one of these bikes from the Perth auction last week. I got mine for $1400, $1655 with fees. more than I wanted to pay, but it was the second cheapest bike of the day. People were paying more for lower kms, which is a good idea, except that two bikes had obviously new speedometers on old bikes (with 561 and ~3000kms on the dial), and they went for over $2000. Didnt make sense to me!

I got the bike home, it started once, but hasnt run since. I have a mechanic coming to look at it next week, hopefully a carby rebuild will solve its problems.

Im not overly interested in all the army gear hanging off the bike, does anyone know of a group that would want this stuff? Im happy to give it to someone who will actually use it.

The bottom end of the XT market here in South Australia is around $3,000- they are a popular bike here and the owners seem to keep them for a long time, and repair / rebuild them rather than rather than sell them.

So when they come on the market the are usually good mechanically and are complete with all the farkles and the necessary bits too.

Hence the floor around $3,000-, and what appears high prices at auction for the ex army bikes.

That was the second batch to be sold and the first lot sold a good bit cheaper, but there was a bit more publicity this time.

Mine came from the first batch, and the PO did all the expensive bits first up, registered it for a year then sold it a month later, for around $500- less than they went for at the second auction.

It has two broken exhaust header studs,and a few stripped threads- Photographicsafaris was right on that one, but just what is the best way and the right tools to get them out insitu?

I wad kind of resigned to removing the head and welding a nut on to the broken bit, but if five hours of fiddling gets them out that is OK too, if someone cane let me know how.