Faults:

Absolutely nothing has gone wrong with my XT600. All I do is routine maintenance - such as change oil, replace tires, sprockets, and chain.

General Comments:

I would recommend the XT600 to anyone. Reliable motor, excellent mileage, great handling/comfortable.

Probably the best characteristic of the bike is the amount of torque it produces. (On a flat road it will out accelerate many motorcross 450cc bikes)

Faults:

Nothing except for normal wear and tear for its age.

Front brakes not very good.

Has speed wobble with the front mudguard on.

General Comments:

5 litres of fuel per 100kms; excellent fuel economy.

Excellent cornering.

Good torque spread across the rev range.

Front brake fade a problem.

No stopping power in the front brakes.

Decompression cable, tappet clearances critical for easy starting.

Faults:

The bike has seen many kilometers, so some wearing has appeared.

General Comments:

Very heavy to move if you get stuck somewhere.

Very nice to drive around, except on motorways without a windshield.

Faults:

Stolen many years back - ran hard by thieves. Got it back - never started easily again. Hard starter now - used to start 2-3 kicks in the middle of winter. No other problems.

General Comments:

Otherwise great bike - tough as nails - lots of balls.

Fun to ride, but the seating position is not optimal for a tall guy.

Faults:

When I bought the bike, oil leaked from two caps, but the problem was fixed on the first appointment.

When the engine warmed up, a ticking sound was heard as if the valves were knocking. After 3 fruitless visits to Yamaha dealers, who adjusted the valves, the problem was fixed at the official dealership's workshop. It turned out to be large gap between the piston and cylinder, resulting in piston slapping on the cylinder walls. Later I found out that many later XT models had it, due to old cutting tools used in the Yamaha production line!! Of course it was covered under warranty.

Another problem was the backfire, at any RPM, when closing throttle. Solved again, after much drifting around, by the official dealership's workshop...

General Comments:

I bought the bike for its reputation to be "immortal", immune to problems. I have to say that after almost a year of owning it, I got to feel confident about it. Do I have a Monday model? Is it normal and acceptable in terms of quality for such a big company to accept old cutting tools in its production line?

Plus, why not a replacement bike for the time your problem is fixed, under warranty? Things they should consider...

Faults:

Some of the wheel spokes have surface rust.

The carburettors have a small gauze filter that became clogged. The filter is not shown in the manual, and it not visible in a basic strip down. The bike would starve for fuel after approx 3 minutes of running. After about 15 minutes it would run again! Eventually I realised that just enough fuel was leaking past to fill the bowls up again. Found the problem after the third carburettor strip-down. Removed the gauze filters and put in an in-line filter instead. No more problems.

The plastics are not very durable and are easily cracked.

General Comments:

A top commuter bike, nimble and plenty of low down torque.

A bit tiring on long trips at 100kph due to the upright seating position and the lack of a fairing.

Tank and footpeg vibration are tiring on long trips.

Road tyres make this bike a seriously good handler, considering the road/trail design of the bike.

The reserve tank is poor. You have to be very close to a service station, as it is only good for a few minutes riding.

The ignition (key) is between the instruments and is difficult to access.