My XT600E 3TB 1994

[AndyYam]

So i bought this XT600E to use as my commuter over the winter and then start getting ready for some longer trips with a friend who has an xt600r.

It claimed to just need the rear tyre re seating and should be good for an MOT. Great I thought, my trusty CBF125 commuter had just suffered an expected engine failure ( I have a spare engine ready to rebuild but not the time to do so).

I got it home and got it running. rough but running. I took it for an mot and it it failed on 2 things:

1.the tyre ( garage said it would be fine and could just blow it back on). turns out the tyre was crap Slovenian made and "was never going to seat right".
2. Excess play in the suspension linkage.

Tyres, fine, I've bought and fitted a set of Conti Escapes....The suspension linkage though....what a headache.

I've replaced the large long bolt that connects the swing arm to the linkage as it was visibly worn. I've also replaced a couple of of the solid bushes in the relay arm. The needle roller bearing seems good. I've got rid of most of the play but there still may be some in that middle section that meets the swing arm. I'm also finding that the clevis at the bottom of the shock has play. I've got a new bush and collar but the clevis i cant get hold of. Any thoughts?

The bike was running very rough and I thought it was due to old fuel but when i stripped the carb down to clean it/them I found that it was very dirty and that the part of the body that the float pivot pin goes into was actually broken. It stays in position when all together but definitly not something to leave along.

I was looking for a new set of carbs and a few other bits that i need ( chain guard as mine is butchered, panels, seat/cover, etc) and found a Norweigan import with no papers up cheap.

I enquired and found it has an Acerbis oversized tank. Its a kick start model so I believe it's an XT600K? I'm new to these bikes so really have not much of an idea.

I got it for £555 all up including delivery costs and so will salvage it for parts i need and break the rest.

The carbs on these look grim as well but I've invested in an ultrasonic cleaner ( always wanted one). so hopefully ill be able to build a good carb/carbs from the 2.

I also intend to fit the kick start mechanism from the donor bike to my E which I believe is doable with a couple of extra parts.

I've replaced the inlets as they were dead and leaking as appears to be usual.

The first bike came with a DNA air filter which is very useful.

One thing I'm stuck for at the moment is a rear rack for the bike. Seems to be loads for 95- models but not much for the 90-94. Any help there would be appreciated.

On the stand front, I have a centre stand of some description but it seems to have its own bracket that mounts onto the foot peg mounts. It's clearly all bent and takes 2 people to get the bike on and off of it! I'll probably go down the SW motech? one. Not sure if ive got that name right?

Another issue I have is that the front drain bolt has been snapped off in the thread. I can drain oil from the bottle and I bought a siphon pump to extract from the top. I'm not sure if I'll be causing more issues for myself by trying to remove the broken bolt.

Anyway, I'll get some photos up when I get a chance and maybe make this a project thread. I won't be stripping it down to the frame anytime soon so hope this is the correct place for the thread.

Forum looks great. Through googling i found loads of threads on Horizons unlimited but not much from here came up. Glad I found it eventually!

[xtrider]

Someone else over on The Hubb forum had a similar issue with the MOT guy failing due to "to much play in suspension" He bought all new parts and it had the same amount of play because that is how much they have from new. He went to another MOT place and past with no issues . Maybe you went to that same guy ?




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[AndyYam]

Thats interesting to hear, cheers. I'm quite limited to where I can take the bike for an MOT. Theres a Yamaha dealer who are awful. A Kawasaki dealer who rank slightly lower than awful and 1 other independant motorcycle workshop who I'll trust with my bike the same day I trust Stevie wonder to ride the bike to there!

I've just found a place that just does MOT tests though so I'm gonna give them a go. I've also found that simply bearings (online site) sell versions of the nylon collars but in bronze. So I might order the parts to rebuild a shock linkage tomorrow, in case they dont like it either.

[Kedishen]

I found the opposite that racks are harder to get for ´95-.

The main yamaha dealer in fact said one was never made.

However, a pre-95 racks fits just fine it seems as it is what I fitted to my ´99

[xtrider]

We didn't get your model over here so I'm just going by our last model as far as if it's possible , For your drain bolt broken off you could drill a smaller hole in the old bolt, maybe for an 8mm bolt . Then just use a regular bolt with a copper or plastic washer . There are probably those size drain bolt used in something and could use that. Would need to sand the broken surface flat and drill as close to center as you can. It would be best to be able to drain all the old junk out that settles down there.






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[AndyYam]

I ended up buying a rack on ebay which turned out to be completely wrong, then found one from Germany which again doest seem to fit. Its almost right but where it fits to the grab handles its too wide. I ended up getting lucky on ebay and getting a full set of Hepcko and becker pannier racks. But the bolts holding the grab handles on are stuck at the moment.

[Kedishen]

I got mine from EBay too. It was indeed too wide, however all it needed was a longer bolt and an extra nut to act as a spacer. Don´t even notice if the nut is placed next to frame.