New to me 89 XT600
 

Hi all. Newb here. Been riding most of my life but never a Yamaha. Found a seemingly neglected 89 XT600 for sale in my state and am considering the purchase.

My question...is there anything inherent to this vintage/model of 600 that I should specifically be looking for/at or be concerned with? My riding history is almost exclusively with Honda XR/XL's in the 500 and 600 class. I've heard and read mostly positive reviews about the XT and was hoping to give it a try.

Thanks in advance.

Hi and velcome! My first bike was the same, depence what mileage you have? Listen for strange noise engine, check for oil leaks, specially check the oil filter bolts for leaks, threads seem to be issue when people dont use torque wrench. I would adjust valves and do a comp test, the rest you know from similar bikes with lubrication and check wheel bearings.

Yep , same issue that you have to look for on the XR's are the same for the XT's . Ticking in the head / rocker area is one big one , they do make some noise same as the XR's but a very pronounced tick can be bad , usually from lack of oil .

Also check for a noisy 5th gear., since it is a major teardown to renew. Basically the only XT600 model that doesn't suffer from 5th gear wear is the later 4PT model which has the clutch cable on the right hand side of the engine. Search this site for "5th gear wear" for more info.

Bob

Appreciate the advice guys. Turns out this one was a bit more of a basket case than I was willing to tackle. The search continues! :biggrin3: