XT600E or XT660R

[motoartur]

Hi!

I'm going to travel from Poland to north Africa or east USSR and east Asia. So I need a bike which allows to drive about 120kmh in Europe on highways or other fast roads and then just relax on bad road / off roads in that part of Africa or Asia. I tried my friend's Honda Africa Twin but this bike is too tall and too heavy for me.

I read almost all post concerning XT600E here but I still do not know if this bike is form me. I have three questions:
1) Is it possible to drive about 120kmh on highways / fast roads comfortably? 2) ...and ride together wit Africa Twin???
3) Which one is better all-rounder XT600E or XT660R (models)?

Thanks,
Artur

[Ilpoj]

I dont know about the new XT:s but my XT is definately not comfortable to ride over 100kmh on highway, with knobby tires without a windshield.. After 15 kilometers I feel quite weary and tired. But its good for off-road driving if one can handle a heavy machine like this.

[motoartur]

I think that it's not a problem to attach a windshield but what about over 100km/h vibrations in general? Many people here ride RTW on tuned XT600 but how it is on highways?

[pottsy]

I've put in about 9000km on this Euro trip so far on my '02 xt600e and found it to be fine running to 110kmh on most roads. The main advantage with the 600 is it's a bit lighter than the 660 - useful if you'll be really loaded - and a whole lot simpler with the carb. Saying that there's a lot of 660's around so they're pretty popular in the Med area. But the youngest 600's will be at least 5 yrs old...

[hurcomb]

ive not ridden the 660R but my 600E is not that ideal on long stretches over 100km/h. A screen would help i'm sure but i also got a sore backside after about an hour.

great off road though even loaded up.

[bruken]

to be honest, if you are going to ride motorways at 120km/h for any great distance, a single is not what you want. In your shoes, faced with a motorway to get across Europe to get to the sweet spots (I take it you are time dependant), I would give serious thought to putting the bike on a train / ferry to get those distances out of the way and to give me more time on the points of interest of the tour. That being said, go with simplicity and expendability. You dont want the bike to dictate the course or enjoyment of your travels if you can avoid it. Travelling on your pride and joy has it's own rewards, but these are often at odds with the concept of travelling on a "voyage of discovery".

[maxwell123455]

I have a 06 Yamaha XT660R with just over 16k miles on the clock and its great for touring and doing dirt track touring. Ive used it for the last 10 months to commute to and from uni in all weathers. Ive taken it for a 2 day off roading trip in wales which it handled very easy.

It is possible to ride at 120kph or 75mph for near most of the day but can get a bit vibby on the hands, footpegs, seat. Ive a bigger screen on that came with the bike when i bought it and it really helps at motorway speed. You can change the sprockets over very easily to change the gearing for slower or faster riding. I dropped to a 14tooth sprocket for the off roading just for the better slow handling as it was slow, techniqual off roading.

The XT660R is a great all round bike and can do anything that is thrown at it. The bikes very low maintenace being a big single, only needs serviced every 6k miles, is cheap to service, has plenty of extras that can help any form of biking.

If you want more information on the XT660 have a look at this forum

. : XT660.com The #1 xt660 resource : . | The #1 xt660X, xt660R and xt660Z Tenere resource

great site with plenty of information about the X (supermoto bike), R (off roading/touring bike) and the new Z/Tenere (adventure bike).

If you plan to sit on the motorway all the time then you might want to have a look into something like a honda transalp but it doesnt handle the off roading as well.

Hope this all helps.

[Matt Cartney]

I think your bike choice depends on whether you want to enjoy your off-roading or not. Personally I find my XT600E fine on the motorway. Not fantastically comfy but it will rattle along at 70mph. But because I can sit through the motorways on a bike that is less suited to them, I can enjoy the off-road more, on which the XT is great for a big bike.
If being comfy on the motorway is more important than getting the most out of the off-road, you could get something like a F650 or a Transalp.

I think the XT600 and 660 are not poles apart in terms of performance etc. The 660 might be a bit nicer on road and the 600 better off, but if you are buying second hand and have decided you want an XT, I'd just buy the best value example of whichever one turns up.

Matt

[*Touring Ted*]

Go for the 660R

Faster, smoother, windshield, better seat !

I used a 600E over south america and for long days it wasnt that comfortable and pretty slow too.

[maxwell123455]

Forgot to say there is a guy on the XT660 forum who lives in wales and loves his off roading and even set up his own website for people who want to meet up and do off roading in wales.

His names jason aka davidsoimtold (forum name), cracker site with loads of information of any type of off roading bike.

Valleys Dual Sport Riders

have a look at some of the ride reports and see what an XT660R can do (all be it with off roading tyres on)

[dallastx]

Or you can try the new XT660Z Tenere, it already has a large fueltank and is is an overall strong and well developed bike. I did ride a XT600E, prepared for the long haul and it did well, but lacked the power and smoothness of the Tenere, I now ride. But it's your choice, also depending on your budget. Greetz, Hans.

[motoartur]

The new tenere looks extremely cool. I think this will be my bike after some practice on an used/cheaper model.

So what about main differences:

1. XT600E vs 2. XT660R
cooling: 1. air 2. liquid
engine: 1. carb 2. fuel injection
low speed: 1. OK 2. surging
highway 120kmph: 1. so so 2. OK
fix/parts: 1. OK 2. not so hard

A. cooling system: XT600E air cooled (how doest it perform when it's about 40-60C? Does it need an additional oil cooler?)

B. fuel injection: how does it run on bad fuel (leaded)? what about lambda sensor??/

C. low speed fuelling: Is it possible to fix it completely (XT660R)? Does every model has this problem?


ps. Thanks for all your posts!

Artur

[Andysr6]

I own an XT600E and have driven my friends XT600R. I found they handled very similar, the E was lighter and has a lower seat, the R has a better engine. mainly road riding i would choose the R and for off road i would pick the E. Andy