Hi all, i have two questions. Firstly I am planing to do an around Australia trip on my 99 XTZ660. I was wondering if the suspension should be upgraded. I expect to be giving the suspension a hammering as some big roads i will be taking have horendious corragations! and the bike will be fully loaded, i weight 65kgs (145lb). So would progressive fronts springs be reccomended for this bike? or just get them rebuilt? And same for the rear shock?

My second question is gearing. what front and rear gearing (amount of teeth) would you recomended for a big trip on this bike. The bike will mostly be doing long straight roads and long sandy corragated roads. I don't expect to be doing and tight hilly stuff. I just want a setup that will give me better economy but still suitable for sandy corragated roads.
Thanks for your help
Brad

Hey mate my name Daryl give me a call on 0424840896 and I'll give you what ever advice I can.

Hi Brad,

Ive had both 15/45 and 15/41 gearing on my '96 XTZ 660. most of my touring has so far been with the 41 rear which is fine for the long trips. i think it sat at (from memory) ~3900rpm at 110kph. I think that these bikes are happier sitting at ust over 4000rpm for 110+kph. guess thats just where they produce the torque required for the wind resistance? ive recently swapped back to the standard ratio (15/45) and find it a bit more grunty however i now cruise at about 100kph...maybe 15/43 would be a better compromise??

Ive recently decided that ill just carry a couple front sprockets prob a 13 and 15 tooth so i better manage both tighter/hilly stuff as well as longer open roads. its not too much trouble changing the front.

Do you or anyone else know if a 16 tooth will fit the 660?

As for the suspension i would love to know what you learned?

cheers
James

PS when you setting off? im heading to cape york sometiome in June/July drop me a line if you want.

I have just fitted a 16 tooth CS sprocket to my 1999 XTZ660. I needed to grind a VERY small raised area of the crankcase to allow the sprocket to be fitted. Took all of 2 minutes to grind off and allowed CS sprocket to slip straight on. Needed to use a Dremel tool as it was pretty tight. It is a tight fit, but certainly not looking like causing a problem. The whole process took about 25 minutes from start to finish.

With the standard rear sprocket (45T) it gives a final ratio of 2.81 compared to a 15:43 of 2.86, and a standard 15:45 of 3.00. The bike cruises on 4100rpm at 100kph and 4500rpm at 110kph. Feels comfortable and not stressed at all. Cant report on fuel economy changes at this point, but will endeavour to post changes.

Just curious, did the 15:41 (2.73) "lug" the motor too much in top? What was your fuel economy compared to standard? - I have been getting about 17.5km/L on mainly long open stretches, and upto 21km/L on slower sections where going maybe 80kph in 5th. The main reason for the change was to reduce fuel consumption at cruising speeds, where I spend most of my time.