87 klr 600 or 89 xt600w?

[freethumper]

I love the hubb. It has been more helpful than ANYONE else.

I bought a 1989 yamaha xt600 that cuts out and seems to not get gas (die start die start). it seems to run rough then smooth then cuts out when fully warm. I am having the carb rebuilt and hopefully I wont need electrical done also. I learned everything I know about xt's from y'all. It was a "barn bike" for 10 years with no real upkeep although owned by a mechanic type guy. its beat up and a little rusty, my goal is to turn it into a cheap commuter/trail/tourer and best friend. I still need new front brake lines, speedo, rear foot pegs and some other small things (if my major problem is fixed).

Enter the 1987 klr 600, on craigslist for $1350usd. It would be nicer and cleaner, everything works better but seems more light duty and quite a bit less powerful. It has some oil under the engine, smokes when warming up, and the plastic near the exhaust is blackened from smoke, and it seemed to not have a lot of compression. it has 12,000 miles.

my questions are:
Which bike is better?
Can the klr be made much more powerful?
Is the klr a better bike even though it doesn't wheelie the same (or at all)?
Will the xt ever be a good enough street/touring bike?
Does the klr sound like it has problems of its own?

my thought is to buy the klr as backup in case the xt doesn't work out. It could work out here in the next two weeks. then I could ride both until I decide which I like more. as long as I sell one eventually, I could pull that off. My biggest fear is that the smoke in the klr is a sign of a need to go thru the engine. If the klr will run fine with the smoke I'll go get it. (and maybe make a little money, is it worth more than $1350?)

thanks in advance,
(we should all be)Freethumper.

[Breed1229]

I had the same problems with my barn fresh xt, What I did was to take off the original carbs and throw them in the trash, got onothe set from a 2005 raptor quad, put them on my xt, took a little doing, nn real mods to the bike except to the air box. Adjusted the new carbs to the motor and adjusted the valves. It now has more power than ever and ridabilaty has inproved like never before.