carver
12th November 2007, 19:49
XT 660 x
A brief spin
At the start of the year I had the chance to buy one of these, but I settled on suzuki’s excellent DR 650 instead.
Having ridden the DRZ 400 Sm, and owned the DR 650, I was keen to see how the Yamaha compared
The salesman who sold my friend this bike looked at my ER6n and said “this bike will eat yours, and it wont have much less power”
So today, I find myself in the saddle of the same XT, on the kawhia road.
This road is filled with tight 35-75 kph corners, somewhat ideal for a supermotard.
Having just jumped off the ER6, I was surprised at the lack of punch and power, I am sure my old DR had more power.
Second, this thing vibrates pretty bad, and is bordering on uncomfortable.
But
This thing handles well on the Pirelli GTS tires, yes I induced a few slides over the corrugations caused by trucks, but the suspension keeps it controlled, as does the lack of power.
You just ride it as hard as you can, into the corner too fast, on the front , then on the rear and down a gear to give it a bit of flick, 2 fingers on the clutch safeguard against any chatter in the rear, then hard on the gas half way through till the next corner, and it starts all over again.
This thing is by no means fast, 160 tops (tested in my private racetrack of course) and it feels like death to get it there.
This bike is easy to ride fast in the tight stuff, im a lot faster on the six, and I prefer it for its superior HP and torque.
However the XT is a good fun thrash in the tight stuff, its natural environment.
The owner was stoked to have the scrubbing all the way to the edges of the tires, allright!
A brief spin
At the start of the year I had the chance to buy one of these, but I settled on suzuki’s excellent DR 650 instead.
Having ridden the DRZ 400 Sm, and owned the DR 650, I was keen to see how the Yamaha compared
The salesman who sold my friend this bike looked at my ER6n and said “this bike will eat yours, and it wont have much less power”
So today, I find myself in the saddle of the same XT, on the kawhia road.
This road is filled with tight 35-75 kph corners, somewhat ideal for a supermotard.
Having just jumped off the ER6, I was surprised at the lack of punch and power, I am sure my old DR had more power.
Second, this thing vibrates pretty bad, and is bordering on uncomfortable.
But
This thing handles well on the Pirelli GTS tires, yes I induced a few slides over the corrugations caused by trucks, but the suspension keeps it controlled, as does the lack of power.
You just ride it as hard as you can, into the corner too fast, on the front , then on the rear and down a gear to give it a bit of flick, 2 fingers on the clutch safeguard against any chatter in the rear, then hard on the gas half way through till the next corner, and it starts all over again.
This thing is by no means fast, 160 tops (tested in my private racetrack of course) and it feels like death to get it there.
This bike is easy to ride fast in the tight stuff, im a lot faster on the six, and I prefer it for its superior HP and torque.
However the XT is a good fun thrash in the tight stuff, its natural environment.
The owner was stoked to have the scrubbing all the way to the edges of the tires, allright!