xt 600 preperations
 

Hi all, leave for sa from the u.k on 9th of october, two of us going on 2000 year model xt600e,s
got alloy panniers, uprated front and rear springs, bash plates, headlight guards, tyres+spares , bags, GPS, bike to bike radios, tool kit, seat padding, various spares( chains,sprockets,bearings,gaskets,nuts bolts etc)

have i forgotten or overlooked anything major?

any suggestions?

does anyone know where i can get some spare spokes from?

cheers

Centre stand?
Matt :)

Hi Deebee,

I strongly recommend adding top and bottom chain rollers to your spares collection, we got through a few when our XT's were fully loaded, though with your improved suspension you may not have this problem. But they are small and light, so I'd take some just in case.

I'd also consider including brake pads and control cables. Ignition coil and voltage regulator have also failed on me so I would takes those too.

I would also recommend having your wheels rebuilt with heavy huty spokes, and consider retro-fitting kick starts.

Hope this helps

Mark

I would take a few oil filters ( genuine). They don't take up much space and you may have trouble getting them ( I speak from experience). Take a couple of spark plugs. I also carry motion pro valve clearance tools ( a 10mm wrench and knurled knob combo thing) and motion pro angled feeler gauges as I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it.
Learn how to do all the basic maintenance yourself (cheaper, easier and probably safer).
I also take a laminated sheet with all the basic info for the bike on it- torque settings, wheel bearing sizes, tyre pressures, oil capacity etc.
I have the service manual on a C.D. too, just in case. A bowden cable repair kit tin is very useful to get you out of trouble, hein-gericke sell them in the U.K.

Need a place to stay???
 

Hi, if you need a place to stay between Frankfurt and Heidelberg - welcome!

I have plenty of XT 600 parts....

Jens

Keep in touch!
 

Hey deebee, Keep in touch troughout, myself and some other enthusiasts that live in Cape Town would love to welcome you to our country. We can also help you were ever we can regarding routes and travel in Africa, especially sub sahara!

Take it easy and enjoy the ride!

Chris

I was talking to David Lambeth today and he recommended an 18" alloy rimmed rear wheel and keep the original front wheel (its easy to knock back into shape/weld etc.


Also.. Spare bulbs, control cables, fuses , brake & clutch lever, a selection of high tensile bolts (engine & frame - dont use weak stainless here) and nylock nuts , zip ties, electrical tape and a length of high amp cable for repairs.

Thread lock is useful too on those bolts which keep coming lose.

Take a battery operated tyre inflator too, C02 canisters dont go far at all.. at least have a manual pump too if you dont want to pay for the battery one.

Spare valves and valve key, spoke key.

Airfilters!
 

If I remeber correctly, the XTE's have disposable paper air filters, which will not last very long in dusty circumstances.
Consider a washable item. In this particular case your only option is, I'm afraid K&N as the ordinary foam type filter will not be large enough.

Auke

Yep, mine has a paper filter. Couldn't find any aftermarket washables which I liked the look of. Wouldn't fancy using a K&N or similar open pored filter in the desert though.
Matt

fit heavy duty inner tubes front & back and take (if you have space) one spare tube for each wheel.
some spare spokes zip-tied to the forks will go a long way when you break a few (wadi halfa & moyale roads...).
some patches & tip-top?
spare speedo cable (zip tie your cables into place longside the ones already in place - saves space in your top box and easier to fix when the old ones break.
sheet of gasket paper.
small roll of plain wire.
some oil filters
2x new air filters (watch out for the dust in north & east africa - can get very bad)
i found two rolls of plumbers tape useful for taping up the srews at the air-intake (the thread in the plastic housing wears out after a while)
that should be the lot.
hope that helps.
have fun.

Here

http://www.central-wheel.co.uk/cwc/spokes.html

or here

http://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/HagWheel.htm

Have a great trip!

Foam air filter
 

Uniflow advertise that they make a reusable foam filter for XT600E's, and a pre-filter.

Unfortunatly, I tried to order one in Bristol, UK but it never appeared but it could well have been the shops fault

Have a look at http://www.uniflow.com.au

Has anyone any experience of these ?

Mark

IF u r in West Africa
 

Deebee

Once u get to West Africa, look me up as can help u with any XT repairs and parts...plenty of XTs in Ghana where i live....I do suggest you take along as other people have told u

spare plugs
ignition coil
voltage regulator

Do get extra spokes and of course tires.....

Happy riding

Jono:scooter: :scooter:

Recommend 2 front tubes!!
 

I prefer 2 front tubes than 1 of each, as a front tube can in an emergency be placed in the rear wheeland on inflation will fit. the opposite is however imposible, due to the narrower wheel diameter of the rear wheel.

Also in a dire emergency grass and any other matter can be stuffed in the rear tyre just to get you to the nearest town. You cannot do that in your front wheel


Enjoy your trip

We're all routing for ya!

Chris:scooter:

re-usable air filters
 

Hi,

I will go travelling through South America with a XT600E (2002) and I was adviced to take Twinair filters by a Paris-Dakar driver (several times by motorbike). They used them for P-D because the K&N's couldn't handle the the sanddust well enough (for them).
It consist of an inner, fine filter and an outer, course filter. The outer filter is easy to take off and just hit it agains your leg a few times to get the dust out. The inner filter is washable and you can take some extra as well as they are cheap and take almost no space.
Hope this helps..

Happy travels,

Gerben

spare spokes
 

I think that spokes are only sold in sets (i.e about 36 spokes + nipples). They are very much bike and model specific. Since on a long trip your bike is most likely heavily rear weighted I'd recommend you to carry at least the rear spoke set. If there is metal fatigue they might fall like dominoes i.e. a few neighboring ones at one go (seen this happen in rough terrain). Also remember to check their tightness every few days - the loose ones put extra stress on the tight ones.

Its usually your front wheel that takes most of the abuse. The rear ones losen more quickly under load but its the front wheel that gets knocked about really.