I've had this bike for just over a week now, so I guess I owe you bastards a review.
The bike in question is a '02 Yamaha XT600. Don't ask for pictures, as it looks like every other one on the web. Except it's pre crashed (ex rental), so I don't have to worry about scratching the shiny bits. Which I expect to be doing off road.
My previous bike was a triple R moto-X Spec (donor bike was a CBR250R). It was an reasonable bike when I put it around Taupo, but was too limited in it's capabilities.
- Commuting: Inadequate low down torque, poor mirrors, poor visability and generally tiring to ride.
- Touring: Cramped riding position and cruising around 100-110km/h equated to ~10,000rpm in top gear.
- Sport riding: Not enough power to keep up with real sports bikes, forks would bottom out under braking.
- Off road: 140 rear gave reasonable grip on gravel, but would spin up on wet grass. Did a good skid though.
I was faced with the option of upgrading to another sportsbike of a larger displacement, and continuing to develop my skills on a sportsbike, or go with something capable of off road riding and develop another set of skills.
I came up with a list that included
Suzuki DR650, DRZ400, DR750
Kawasaki KLX650, KLR650
Yamaha TT600, XT600, XT400
Honda XR600, XR400, XL650
In the end the XT600 won out against others in my price range for a number of reasons:
- Air cooled 600cc single. Not much to go wrong with this beast, only weird bits are a funny twin carb setup that might get binned in due course and an issue whereby the 5th gear needs to be replaced between 50k and 100k. (Had been replaced 8k ago on the bike I bought)
- Electric start. Can't really argue with this for commuting purposes.
- Enduro style plastics. Not alot of stuff to break when it goes down (Compared to a KLR650).
- 15L tank. Bar the 23L tank of the KLR650 and the DR750 this has the biggest tank of the lot.
- 2002 model. Parts will still be available, as this model revision was continued through until 2005.
So enough about why I chose it, what's it like?
Bloody different! The tires are a 90/90-21 front and a 120/90-17 rear. It tips in really quick, combined with wide bars I'd say it turns quicker than the 250.
In traffic you can idle along at 2500rpm quite happily, just roll on the throttle if you want to accelerate. No need to keep tapping the gear shift.
Very high seating position. 800mm seat by memory. Easy to see over cars, and can be ridden standing up to see further ahead. Great mirrors too.
Droppable. It got knocked over at uni this week, and there was no damage, as it landed on the wide bars. If that happened to a faired bike, or even a naked road bike, I'd expect there to be a degree of damage. As I was I picked it up and rode way without a care in the world.
As regards riding technique, there's so many different ways you can ride it. On a sportsbike I would hang off and stick a knee out in a corner. On this you can do anything. You can stay on the bike, you can lean into a corner, or you can stick a foot out by the front wheel Mo'Tard/enduro style.
I've been finding myself adopting a MX style of riding whereby you lean out of the corner, sit on the high edge of the seat and move the bike under you. It seems like it shouldn't work, but I feel quite comfortable doing it on the road.
I think it increases the lean angle required for a corner, but as your upright on the bike you can crank the throttle on and slide the back a little to get around the corner.
So I think I've found the ultimate communter. I can't think of any bike which would do commuting better. I'd be keen to sort out a different set of carbs, lighter/less restrictive exhaust (stock unit weighs 15kg) and a bigger Acerbis tank, but it's sufficent for my use for now.
For sports/track riding I might look at a getting a motard as well in a few years, but for now I'm happy with the XT as my scoot.
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Originally Posted by Firefight
Good choice, nice lookin bike and I assume like most single cylinder 4 strokes would be very nice to ride 
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