Hi,

I'm looking to buy an XT600 in France and saw this one on ebay,

YAMAHA 600XTE 2003 FOURCHE FAUSSEE BON ETAT SINON en vente sur eBay.fr (fin le 14-avr.-09 09:36:29 Paris)

Has done 93,000km and has a twisted fork but is apparently rideable? I'm going to have a look.

My question is whether it is worth biding for and how expensive/difficult is it to fix a fork yourself?

Bikes in France unfortunately seem more expensive than the UK.

Thanks...

Bent forks are a sign of a rather nasty smash (probably explains platic panels on tank)..

Fork tubes can be straighened buy its not recommended for anything serious. You are looking to replace the fork tubes, seals and maybe the handlebars and steering stem too if they have been damaged .. How can you be sure ???

I think its a £300 job to fix all the potential problems assuming the worst. (not including the wheel if its bent)...

That bike is VERY HIGH mileage too. Thats due a rebuild. I wouldnt bid more than £800 for it and thats only if your capable of doing all the work yourself.

Also consider the availabilty of all the spares you will need. Genuine prices will be crazy. You would have to spend weeks/months looking for a front end on ebay.

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www.touringted.com

93K, good of the seller to be honest but just wait for a normal mileage one at givaway UK prices, XT's are cheap bikes.

Hi thanks for the comments - I went and had a look today. He basically slid the bike on its side but did not hit anything. There are a couple of scratches down one side and the steering is a couple of degrees out. Otherwise looks pretty good and runs fine. I read somewhere that it is quite hard to bend a fork and that often it is a case of alignment rather than damage. I have a friend with a garage so will take a change but will not bid above 800 euros (sadly about the same in pounds now!) and see if I get it....

You heard right. Forks are quite hard to bend - usually only in a serious frontal impact. But forks are quite easy to get out of alignment. The wheel twists one way, the bars twist another, and the forks get out of line. Usually just slackening off the fork pinch bolts at the top and bottom of the clamp, and then re-aligning the forks by eye, will be enough to fix it. Hope yours is that simple

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Richard
Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

You can buy mine if you like!?!?! Nothing wrong with it apart from worn break pads. I put a new thread up today about it.

thanks but I got my bid in with 1 second to spare (computer started playing up just at the wrong moment!) and ended up paying 720 euros so about £650. Taking it round a mechanic mates house next week to see whether the forks are really bent or not.....so fingers crossed...I may have bagged a bargain.

Id say you got it for what it was worth...

Good find thoguh. You will have fun fixing her up

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www.touringted.com

93.000km aint all that bad.

A guy here from Denmark bought a new xt600 sometimes in the 80s, and have riddend 250.000km before the piston gut stuck in the cylinder.

he got the cylinder bored and honed, got a new piston, and rode on it again.

Amazing what theese machines can manage, when taken care of.

well i got it home in one piece - the previous owner was really nervous about me riding it with the bent fork, which of course made me nervous! he even rang to make sure I made it...in the end was not too bad...just slightly odd riding with one arm bent and the other not!

10 minutes later I followed the advice of richard and slackened off the pinch bolts and sure enough the bent forks were straight again.

Some of the plastic is a bit scratched up, the air scoop plastic panel is broken, and the neutral indicator light is not working. Any ideas on where I can find some cheap replacement panels and what might cause the light not to work?

Well, I've only found two websites from which you can get the plastics from.... one is CARENAGENS EM PLÁSTICO and the other one is HONDA PARTS - Consolidated Motor Spares - Search Parts ...on this last website you will have to search for the exact Yamaha OEM part number!


Safe riding!

Vando