Ive never owned a XR650L, so I have no grounds for comparison. That being said, I've owned Honda's and they're every bit as reliable as Yamaha.

Compared to the XT, the TT is more offroad oriented whereas the XT is more road oriented.

My impression is, that Yamaha spent abit more fitting quality parts to the TT.

For example the oil tank comes stock with a temp gauge and a sight glass which makes oil level checks a breeze. It has beefier 46 mm Paoili forks which in theory are more flex resistant. Rear shock is a high-quality Öhlins. A stark contrast compared to the mediocre XT suspension. The rear tire is 18 inch, which allows you to run the serious offroad tires such as Michelin Deserts or Dunlop 908 Rally Raids.

The Deltabox swingarm has grease nipples, so you don't have to pull the whole thing apart to grease it. Same thing with the rubber swingarm protector, its made so it can be replaced without removing the swingarm.

All throughout, the TT has nice small details like that.

Its also a surprisingly stable bike at speed.


Its one of the lightest 600cc thumpers of its era weighing 134 kgs dry. Besides its based on the proven XT600 engine, which was a important as reliability is high on my list.

Another thing was price...for my needs, this was the best buy at the price. Didn't need to go around spending money on proper suspension, etc. I wanted a bike which capabilites didn't limit my offroad adventures, yet was still civilised on the road.


That's difficult to tell. I haven't done any desert trips yet. Normal highway riding in the summer or heavy city riding sees temps rise to 120c which is perfectly fine. I did 900 km in one day, where the last 400 km was on the German Autobahn during a heatwave (38-39 c), where I pushed the bike hard, as I had a deadline. During that time, oil tank temp was a constant 130c. The bike burnt 350 ml of oil, but that was due to the high engine revs I kept for hours at a time. Probably blow-back, as the bike hasnt burnt a single drop since.

I heard from another Hubb member, who contacted Dave Lambeth on the oil cooler issue for desert riding. He said, that the XT would cope fine and no need for an oil cooler.

It needs this because the standard tank is designed for enduro = 10 litre capacity (and the bigger carb must have a worse fuel consumption but I con't recall what I managed to get out of mine).

Yes, then later, Yam fitted a lesser suspension on the TT600RE to pay for the electric starter.

I bought my 2001 model secondhand and it definitely didn't come with a temp gauge - maybe some earlier owner removed it.

I also seem to remember using a dip stick for the oil level in the dry sump tank - a typical Yam black plastic thingy but it was a few years, and a few bikes, ago.

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Dave

just to recap regarding the question, if you could take either the Honda Xr650L or Yamaha Xt 600 what would be people choose and why?

Personally I'd take the Yamaha. Even though I've done many trips on my XR600 and therefore feel "connected to the XR-L the seat height makes it a non starter. That's because I've got short (29") legs and although you can do as Mollydog says and slide off to one side, balance on tiptoe, wear platform boots etc it does become mentally tiring on a long trip. I know the XT isn't that much lower but, as in other walks of life, those few extra inches can make all the difference.

If that's not an issue that affects you then it would depend on what turned up and what condition it was in as I'd be happy with either. These days both bikes are going to have had previous "careful' owners (probably a number of them) so condition will be everything. In the UK at least the XR-L is a bit of a rare beast so the Yamaha parts situation is likely to be better.

There's a bit on bike selection here from the book "Africa Overland". Both Yamaha and Honda are mentioned.

https://books.google.dk/books?id=iE6...africa&f=false

I can second that. My XT is great and touch wood is doing a good job dragging me round the Balkans fully loaded

IMG_2362 by Wayne 66, on Flickr

Wayne

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The Balkans
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/poi_entity/8417

Thanks for your opinion. You seem to insinuate that the main reason was because of the seat height, but aside for that which one do people feel is better mechanically? Which has the better engine / transmission that will stand up to daily abuse in the desert heat?

I dont think there's a general consensus on one that is generally considered a better bike than the other. Both the XR and XT have many years behind them, and have proven themselves as tough and reliable bikes.

The internet is bursting with info on both models, so troubleshooting won't be an issue either. Neither will parts, as long as you have a parts fiche, there are several internet shops that can provide everything you need for them.

Choose the one you like and don't look back.