"Not much of an offroad bike, too heavy and has road-biased geometry."

Oh, I don't know! My 68 year old German mate Burkhard manages to take his off road

























Cheers,

Dicky

DickyB's Turkish Delights - ADVrider

I didn't realise the 600E had points ignition...

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dashmoto.net

Cheers for that ,its food for thought, if I do decide to sell my 660Z. Which in itself would be a tradgedy for me as I absolutely love it, I have always liked the XT600... maybe because as a teenager of the 70s into 80s the XT500 was the bike I always hankered after

Sorry if I seem to have disappeared for the last few weeks. Work, family ...

The XTR is now fully bedded-in as my daily driver, and the XT600 has been SORNed pending a full refurb. I'm loving the XTR. I'll post some pics in a few days when I get some time (at work at the minute), but here are a few things in regard to comments above:

For the moment, I am keeping a lot of it standard. The fuelling isn't perfect at lower revs, but it's not a big issue, and I will live with it for a while yet. It needed a new chain, so I have fitted a DID X-ring and standard sprockets. I have a couple of LED spots fitted to the crash bars for the night-time commutes. I also fitted a 12V socket to the handlebars for the satnav and phone charging etc. The biggest addition was a set of Givi pannier frames, which are about the lightest and least ugly I could find. The soft panniers I had didn't sit very well on them, so I have sprung for a pair of Givi E21 hard cases, which are small but practical for my commute, and may well be enough for light touring. The Yamaha bash plate and hand guards seem to be adequate and I have no plans to upgrade just yet.

Comparison with the XT600E:

A good bit quicker, cruises easily at 70-75, where the XT was happiest at 60-65, and slightly more economical - 60-ish mpg compared to 53 average. It's a lot more comfortable over a longish journey. It's heavier and therefore a little less chuckable, but for the kind of riding I do the chassis won't be a limitation. It's more refined than the XT and has less of a raw feel, but it is still a lot of fun to ride. Like others have said, I prefer simplicity, but over the years I have got used to FI in cars and bikes and it no longer concerns me as a reliability thing. The XTR engine has a good reputation for toughness and durability, in any case.

So far, so good. I don't regret selling the BMW at all.

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Well the Tenere was sold and funds went to help out my life !!! It left me with enough to get a bike and after being dissapointed in getting rid of my 09 Tenere I looked for a bike and an XT600 came up for a good price with nice extras, arrow can, renthals, heated grips, hepco/becker rack and pannier frames so just went for it.
I can confirm after a good day out on it, that its predominantly slow !! I fail to work out how a DR350 sits at 65 all day and yet a bigger engined XT600 still does the same. OK Im being unfair.... its not that slow, but coming off the 660 engine it just feels it. Overall its comfy enough, has better mpg than the Ten and it seems is very cheap to get parts for. Its far easier to do some lanes on than the Ten, although the front springs are definately needing stiffening up for me. Around back lanes and B roads its a hoot. A roads is OK and holding 65 seems sympathetic enough, 70 gets a bit thrashy.
Would a 16t front sprocket fit, if miles were needing to be done at a better lick ??

16 fits, yes.

It lowers rpms around 500 in top gear, but makes the bike feel a tad more sluggish.