Hi All,

I am in the process of choosing a bike for a RTW off-road trip starting spring 2004. I'm new to all this and so far I've narrowed the choice down to either a TT-R600 or an XT600 but I have a few questions..

I want the best unladen off road ability I can get (without sacrificing reliability) as I plan to occasionally unload the luggage and go for some serious off road fun :-) This is steering me towards the TT-R rather than the XT at it is lighter and looks more of an enduro focused chassis but still in steel and with the nice reliable XT motor.

Would anyone agree / disagree with this choice?

Can anyone tell me what model changes took place from say 1998 to 2002 for the TT-R? (and/or XT)

Are there any model changes that make one years bike much better than another?

Are the electric start models really worth having? (I seem to remember reading somewhere that the TT-R600E suspension was a lower spec than the kick-only TT-R600)

I tried to find TT / XT model histories on the web but no luck and although the excellent looking xt600.de site probably has the info I want, I can't read German :-(

Lastly, any other bikes I should be looking at? I ruled out Honda XR650R because of ally frame / high compression and XR650L because of availability. KTM just too expensive I think and parts perhaps a problem. I also heard stories of electrical frailty when abused.

All opinions and advice much appreciated!

Thanks very much, Andy.

The Yamaha Italy website specs are a bit vague on the differences between the TT600E and the TT600R, but only a 9kg weight penalty for the convenience of an electric starter (& slightly larger tank) would swing it for me. They both have Öhlins suspension & the motors seem identical.

EDIT: Oops, looks like the R has the Öhlins, not the E. ISTR that the E uses a Paoli shock on the rear. E uses Paoli 43mm USD forks, R uses 46mm USD according to Yamaha Italy, but the photos show conventional(?). I don't know how good these components are and how they compare.

TT600E: http://it.yme.com/page.cfm?pageID=37171

TT600R: http://it.yme.com/page.cfm?pageID=34688

The TTs are cheap, especially new, and lighter than water cooled bikes like the KTM, but less power, equipment and with possibly iffy build quality. They're rare in the UK but there's one for sale on Biketrader at the moment - think it's a TT600E, and there are big tanks (expensive)and other goodies available.

Chris Scott had a similar list of bikes and went for the XR650L imported from Australia. See Desert Riders (http://www.adventure-motorcycling.co...ders/index.htm) if you haven't already.

Let us know what you go for!



[This message has been edited by john (edited 22 September 2002).]

Check out: http://www.tenere.ch/english/eindex.html

For a history on the Tenere,
I found it useful when trying to decide on which bike to buy.

Geoff

If y're looking for offroad , don't think to the XT/E ...it's handling behaviour is way different (and worse) than the older kick-start XT's ... and the poor suspensions and rims needs costly changes.

TT/E is really more similar to older Kick-start XT 'S 2KF , same power (43 HP/shaft), more-or less weight (148 - 155) front fork USD had some problems with joints
TT/R weghis a bit less (135 dry) a bit more power (48 hp/shaft) and shorter gar ratio . suspensions are good & regolable , fork is traditional .

Thanks everyone.

Does the TT600E also have a kick start? I'd be wary of relying on only electric.

Does anyone know of any aftermarket rear shocks and fork springs that fit the TT600E?

Cheers Andy.

No...TTE isn'equipped with the Kick-start, but shold be possible to add it (Klaus , confirm ?)
several producers of Shocks makes for TTE , WP, Ohlins, Technoflex , Koni, a interesting alternative is Italian's Bitubo www.bitubo.com , that makes models even for the old ones like XT500 & XT550

I had a TT-E on one of my desert tours once - and up till then I always thought they were neat, but this thing was just a flashy XT-E, prety crap really.

I would no recommend a TT-R for RTW because by the time you load it up it will handle like a XT-E and it really is a play/racing motor that does not have the legendary XT reliability, its more like and XR6.

I would say Tenerise an XT6E which are cheap, there's an outline in the book or a feature on Davids LAmbeth one on the MC Years on my AM website.

Also I feel the kickstart debate is obsolete these days with jap bikes. No cars have crank handles anymore and you can always push start a flat bike.

We picked XRLs for desert riders but I dont think I would have chosen it for RTW - a lower Dommie would have done the job.

Chris S

www.desertriders.co.uk