XT600E 1991 Ex Aust Army Project

[Danjet600]

XT600e 1991 Ex Aust Army project
ok a bit about the bike, it runs and starts easily turn on fuel pull choke and she starts first or second go!, its complete, came with a pair of fibreglass paniers and i like the old school bikes with the big fuel tanks (21lt acerbis) it blows a bit of smoke, has a bit of a knock in the motor (sounds like its in the clutch?), 50000 km on the clock and everything works my plan so far is to get it mechanically 100% not too worried about repainting the plastics (i like the rough and ready look of the camo), and there's a fair chance it'll be dropped as its been about 18years since i owned a bike!, i have some small repairs to make on the frame where the rack bolts on welds are starting to crack, will sand blast repair and repaint frame, repaint swing arm and forks, tidy dodgy wiring, motor build ect
it has had quite a few new bits and pieces on the bike, new o/ring chain, rear sprocket, front and rear disks and pads in good shape, previous owner had rebuilt the front forks with new oil and seals

long term plan is a cape york trip on the bike, did the cape in my landcruiser in june 09, great trip well worth the time for preparation planning ect

ok thats a start now some pics

[Danjet600]

i was having a look at the standard muffler and found it had started to rust, so thinking its stuffed and wanting to put on a lighter aftermarket pipe down the track i decided to cut the end off and knock up a new outlet
so i removed one baffle and welded on the new outlet

below is the baffle i removed

standard pipe in all its glory

standard outlet beside the new/louder one
below are the cracks in the frame around the rack mounts, wonder what the rack mounts are rated to weight wise? i imagine the army would have lugged quite a bit of gear around

[Mezo]

That`s right Danny the Cape York trip, id sorta forgotten about that since all the shit happened.

Wouldn't want to be trekking up there this year, apart from the soggy ground think how many mozzies there must be this year.

Mezo.

[Danjet600]

That`s right Danny the Cape York trip, id sorta forgotten about that since all the shit happened.

Wouldn't want to be trekking up there this year, apart from the soggy ground think how many mozzies there must be this year.

Mezo.

yep i'd just about given up on the trip, got to get stuck into the build again, need prep time for the bike and me!!!

[Danjet600]

well i had to try out the new modded pipe



the stock pipe was super quite (stealth)

the modded pipe is NOT

[Danjet600]

so i started to take her clothes off

[Danjet600]

gear lever is in bad shape, nothing that a freshly calibrated knockometer can't fix
and a welder,grinder ect ect


1 small part of many done

[Mezo]

Ahhh so its a race you want eh.

Mezo.

[Danjet600]

the brake lever not in good shape, time to get the knockometer out again



there's quite a lot of play in the foot brake lever, as you can see the shaft has a fair bit of wear



well after some trial and error i got the brake lever back into shape, cleaned up and ready for paint, i sat on a wr250r at the local bike shop the other day and noticed just how small the factory foot pegs are on the XT so this arvo decided to knock up some peg extensions



progress shot of the foot peg extensions



standard foot peg vs modded, is there any reason these pegs were so tiny 60mm x 25mm



MMMMmm laarge and toothy



got the sand blaster out this arvo cleaned up some more bits and pieces



i also managed to take 90% of the play out of the brake lever by spot welding on the worn shaft and hand filing for a snug fit

army issue bike rack
as you can see its bent but repairable will sand blast, straighten and repaint



he rifle holder has been ground off , its a shame i would have liked it to be there

some progress
rack back in shape and in undercoat



foot pegs and mounts painted any thoughts on colours?





more stuff
sand blasted and painted exhaust pipe today




i used a black heat proof paint, must say i like the finish it should go well with the camo , done the heat shield in gloss black enamel might stand out too much

the rack with 2nd coat of paint nice and glossy



thanks shane!!!!
a mate of mine had a pipe off a 750gsxr sitting in the shed gathering dust he has since sold the bike so had no use for it and kindly donated it to the project




bike exhuast
stopped at a bike exhaust shop today, bloke quoted off the top of his head around the $200 mark for an extra mount on the can a flange to suit and a mid pipe

test fitting can
couldn't help myself




sat the plastics on, bolted the can on, it sits too far back will need to make bracket or change mount on can, there's enough room to move can forward about 120mm

a bit more
spent quite a few hours today setting up and positioning pipe, made a bracket to add strength back to the frame.
the can in position


i moved the can in a fair way and no longer have a clearance problem with the rack , under full compression i have about 12mm of clearance between the can and the tire would this be enough clearance to fit a knobbie?



heaps of room



then i made a start on the strengthening bracket, lots of trial fits and bending little bit at a time with pipe bender to get the right shape and fit





can bracket done
finished the can mount and strengthening bracket, sand blasted undercoated, 2 coats of paint



and bolted to frame



and with plastics in place

[Danjet600]

pulled the headers off



the bolts that hold the heat shield on are seized, hit with wd40 and some heat no go
used an impact screw driver got 1 undone, but broke tip off on the 2nd , so end up having to weld a nut on to undo it


made a start on cleaning it up, but might go get them sandblasted



got headers sand blasted today at a local powdercoating shop, $14
they done a good job too, got into all the tight spots


i gave them 2 coats of heat resist paint, then painted the heat shield gloss black