XT660R feedback

[Wrigsby1]

I have posted a few posts re buying Thumpers or going from a R11GS to a single. Reasons are.... move to France, slightly smaller more economic, possible reasonable offroad bike.

I have seen an 04 XT660R with a good selection of extras and sutiably corroded (suits me, bit less cash) for a reasonable price. It seems to tick many of the boxes that I want and is a good mid term buy with an excellent reliability record.

If you have feedback as to the 660R and have changed or owned one for a bit that would be great. Also what the bigger screens are like... I'm 6'5"

I know the power difference and the weather protection difference and have ridden a few singles over the years. I feel as though this may be a great idea or i may be completely stupid but you only live once

My 11GS is scruffy but very well equipped and well maintained. It rarely goes two up these days and not for long miles. I like big miles but my girlie hates it! I think its a cracking bike but re-registering it in France would probably be a no-no....

Cheers

 

[Adventure Boy]

Ive owned 6 now, 3 Rs, 1X and 2 Z,s
the R is a great bike bit does need some fettling the injection problem makes the throttle like a on/off switch which makes for interesting traffic or off road riding this is fairly simple to sort with a Kev mod filter and airbox modification, its not that much of a problem with the Tenere as the airbox is a fair bit bigger, although still there log onto xt660.com there is a mile of info on them over there the kev mod is a mod that makes the air temp sender think that its a lot colder than it actually is thus richens up the mixture to make it run better
Later bikes have the Exhaust sensor in them and the mod for them is in progress
On the hole a really good bike I fitted my first 2 with TKC80s which were great on road and light shingly offroad surfaces but really crap in the muddy stuff the last two and my current Tenere I fitted with Pirelli MT21s they are for me anyway the trye of choice and transform the bike only grips is they may not be the best on wet tarmac

Screen,s ive pretty much had them all but the Yamaha large touring screen was the best for wind protection but looked the uglyist by a country mile however when fitted 80 Mph you could have the visor up no problems,

Reliability, only issue ive ever had with any of them is that one clutch cable got stuck and wouldnr release after fitting a set of renthals (My fault)

Cush drives go in no time but there is a modification for that, solves the problem in 20 mins

If there was anything id change on them it would be that Yamaha fitted them with an 18" back wheel for greater offroad trye choice, O and maybe a little more power, as I stated in another post as long as you know you are not going to beat a WR450 offroad or a 1200GS onroad youll be just fine with one, A good solid cheap bike, that is fairly good at everything, cheap to maintain and can be fitted with farkles till your heart is content,
There is also on the xt660.com site a full list of free mods that can be done all from members that have done them with how to,s, have a look over there its very interesting, if you cant find anything or need any help with them give me a PM either here or over there and ill give you any advice you need ive done them all
Hope this helps a bit
Rob

 

[Wrigsby1]

Cheers Adv Boy....

Do the mods have much of a difference on the mpg?

I was until recently, totally 11GS (my 3rd) but once you get the itch to change, it's hard to stop

I have had a read about the much reported snatchy throttle... the 11GS's can be glitchy sometimes... maybe it's similar?

As I understand the XT660's are assembled in France by MBK on behalf of Yam France I would have thought they are easy to maintain and register over the water. It has to be post 03 as it's to do with type approval. Don't think it would break the 100bhp law

Ta

 

[Adventure Boy]

Hi mate very little difference in MPG as your only richening the mixture by a little but its enough to make it run nicer,
the glitchyness is a bit worse than the 1150GS so really needs sorting

I know a bloke that has a really nicely sorted one for sale at the mo its on ebay he is a member here CD01UK his name is Keith a really nice fella he will fill you in on the details if you PM him as I say he is a straight up guy that tells it as it is and really knows his onions with XT,s

I dont think it will be a problem registering it at all have you had a look over on xt660.com yet ??

 

[cdo1uk]

thanks Rob,
The XTR is imo the best all round XT, the XTX is good, but harder ride and more focused, the tenere is a great bike, but can be too tall for some and with the extra weight it carries, can make it feel a little sluggish with gear on it, but the XTR is the best real world bike (did i say this is my opinion) the "on off throttle" was a problem in 04 and mostly sorted after that up to 07 when the 02 sensor came on it, this is harder to work around.

Sales pitch, my XTR im selling, is by far one of the smoothest i have ridden, its been propperly set up too ,so may have made a difference..... also, never been used in winter so no paint corrosion on engine cases...

check it out http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270698176284&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

 

[Wrigsby1]

Thanks for the replies.... Had a look at the ad and it looks good. Just going to get my head round parting with the GS...

Have a feeling it's going to happen though for an XT or similar...

 

[cdo1uk]

hi mate, if your interested in getting rid of you gs maybe we can do some sort of deal...
my email is [email protected].

thanks

 

[Wrigsby1]

hi mate, if your interested in getting rid of you gs maybe we can do some sort of deal...
my email is [email protected].

thanks

I'll update once through the weekend 'cos I am going to give the GS the "big" clean. I'm not the most ardent cleaner and the bike is used all year when I can. It has a few dings and things but mechanically it is v good with a recent clutch and SED'ed gearbox as well as a few useful mods. It is certainly not a TT bling bike

I'll get cleaning...