If you find a twin vibey .. then a single will be like a jack hammer. Yes some are better than others, but in general they vibrate .. more than a twin. The smoothest engine is the triple, fours vibrate more than a triple .. but less than a twin.

One of the main factors for dirt work is weight. If your carrying a lot of luggage then the difference in the actual bike weight does not matter so much as you'll have your luggage weight on top of that .. say 40~50kg.

If you have the time then the secondary roads are better for sightseeing as you'll be going slower.

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Assumptions
UK based?
Not a lot of experience?

Some other considerations ..
Do the bikes have 'good' luggage mounting possibilities/availabilities?
Insurance costs for each? (that will also give you an idea of repair costs and theft rate)
Service intervals? You don't want them too frequent.


Oh - yes and to the hubb..

thanks for the welcome

ireland based but uk was a good guess...i have already discovered that backroads are my favoured domain so far, i prefer the slower lazier sightseeing pace of things but to get to the nicer places in europe certain distances have to be covered to get there
not a lot of experience and especially offroad but i m not looking to do rough offroad.....insurance costs will be similar and servicing will be roughly similar too,
the xt is a little better on fuel but not much by all reports

and the twin i only found vibey at certain rpms, at others it was as smooth as silk..i guess this is just a particular bikes character...

my luggage consists of an aussie made swag topbox and waterproof side bags ...i dont think the luggage aspect is an issue between these two bikes

i have ridden a 250 single and to be honest didnt mind any vibrations on that, it never even entered my head ...vibrations only ever became an issue on that gs500 twin

i ll be buying second hand so test riding both isnt really an option...i think i ll just bite the bullet and go for the single when my arm is fully healed

i think i have 80 percent made up my mind on the xt just one slight concern of how bad the vibes might be at 80mph , though i d be looking to keep that kind of riding to a minimum anyway