XTR young rider impressions :)
 

Hey all bought my XTr back in september,
since then I have put 4k on the clock! I ride it everywere! It is the best bike I have ever had or ever been on the back of!

My XT wasnt brand new its a 57plate so its still a youngun like me! :)
Unfortunately though mine has a restrictor fitted at the moment but it doesnt seem to do much as I can still beat most other cars and bikes of the line! Can't wait to get that extra 11 standard BHP back!!! :P

This bike has fantastic aceleration both in gear and off the line. I had some sketchy moments with people pulling out on me and things but the awesome handling and acceleration of this bike has pulled me out of harms way! For a large enduro/crosser style bike its handling in my opinion is next to none! I have no problem keeping up with and even beating my friends who all ride ZXr 6's bandit 6 VFr etc around twisty turny roads!

The forks have allot of dive on them when you brake heavy and tend to extend allot when you accelerate, but thats what its designd for! Sucking up the bumps and ruts that most other bikes would throw you off on! Makes for a pretty exciting ride I think! the on road/off road hybrid tyres on the XTr are fantastic in normal dry conditions, but I find that they are a little fishtail like in the rain! But as long as your not trying to be Rossi into corners your fine!

Visibility over other cars is awesome! you are sat very upright on the bike which is a very comfortable riding position, allthough long motorway trips can be uncomfortable! Though by sliding back on your seat a little and tucking your self out the wind behind the screen I find its more comfortable. I plan on getting the larger screen from yamaha for doing long touring journeys.

I plan on doing some sort of green laneing with my XTr but I wanted to get peoples advice on that side of XT life first, what do people make of the r for green lanes and minor off roading??

Im taking my XTr to wales this weekend so hopefully ill get some nice shots and ill let you all know how it goes when i get back!

Hope this was a good report in awe of the XT's!

:coolsmiley:

Spot on young man - and pics are mandatory on this site so show us some good ones - a few members here from Wales so you will probably get an offer of being shown the ropes by our experienced guys. :thumbsup:

Cheers guys!!

and ill keep those tips in mind!!

I promise ill get some pics on soon! hopefully get a few good ones in wales so as long as you can wait out till then!

cheers

:P

Your report is very true of the XTR, yes its not the most lively or doesnt handle like rossi's bike in the rain but its just so much fun. Being young myself (21) i understand how you feel coming from a 125 (hair dryer on wheels for power) to something with this amount of torque/bhp.

As for safeyness its just experience/getting milage under your belt, you soon learn to understand whos watching the roads and whos not!! Also as kiethblade said liftsavers and generally keeping awear of whats around you and infront mainly is key to being safe/smooth/fast rider.

Off roading you shouldnt have too much bother as long as you stick to dryish paths or rocky paths as the traily tyres arent too good in mud/wet stuff.

Off roading tips are basically take it easy the first few times, stand up on the pegs, make sure you look at the surface your going to travel over and not around you etc etc.

Thanks for the advice especially the off roading stuff!

Im fairly decent on the roads I jumped straight from a 50 to a 500 and now to my 660! I did 8000 miles on my GS500 in 7months including wales scottland cornwall and france on my own!! but i apreciate all the tips and tricks!!! you can never be too careful!! (or have too much fun!!! :op )

Cheers Guys hope to see you at the lakes!

But we hope to have some good shots of Keith after the May meet....


We have special sheep up here, you don't get them anywhere else in the country - they are much clever,rer than the Blonde ones that Keith is used to, as they know which way is home.....

As for off roading, there are some things it's best to understand, Take a look at this site: http://ww.trf.org.uk/ and havea read through the Green Lane Code, it's just common sense really. Don't try to run before you can walk, riding a straight forward gravel track is just as challanging for starters as 2 meter drop offs are for the Enduro Gods, sorry Godesses..... Stick to gravel or packed rock at first, and especially if you are alone - there is nothing more soul destroying that having to heave your bike through a mud bath on your own!! Try to avoid looking right in front of your wheel, look a good 20 - 30 meters ahead and plan your route, keep in a low gear so you have the option of power when you need it (drainage gulleys are a real *****, you'll need to power over them or you might just end up leaving the bike!). There is loads to learn if the dirt is your thing, best thing to do is go out with someone who has a bit of experience - watch and learn, experience will just creep up on you bit by bit....

There is one thing to be sure of, riding off-road gets you access to some much better views :

http://www.smokingtailpipes.com/Gall...y-4-Jan-01.jpg

http://www.smokingtailpipes.com/Gall...y-4-jan-02.jpg

http://www.smokingtailpipes.com/Gall...er-Sat15th.jpg


And this one is actually a tarmac road ->
http://www.smokingtailpipes.com/Gall...0Pass%2004.JPG

I was asked by someone starting out Green laneing about extras for the bike. This is what I told him and he saw a fellow rider go down with all the toys on his bike. It was towed home due to a very monor fall. Hope it helps.

Don't fit crash bars to your bike if your coming green laneing. They catch on things and pull you off. Things go wrong very suddenly so keep the bike as smooth as possible. If it falls over with crash bars the bike will dig into the dirt and break. You want it to slide and there is less damage. There is less chance of getting hooked by the bike as it goes over a cliff. Your better off watching it slide away from you. Appart from hand guards forget the after-market crap, it's just for the movies mate.

A bit of foam rubber on the tank in the nut-bag area can be a good idea.

Ive met Chris and his enthusiam is great ,his dad rides Moto Guzzi cant be bad.Enjoy and welcome

I'd say that was a good point - not quite sure why you'd want crash bars,


Especially with the pipes routing under the bike - never understood why Yamaha made this change from the XT to the XT-R, the Z has the pipes going the correct way, and my TTR (the sort of XT stop-gap, but better spec'd) has the pipes taking the riight route too.......

Without a bash plate you really do run the risk of crushing the pipes on a rough bit of crushed rock - I had my TTR balancing on it's bash plat ethe other week!!!!

yea my next 2 investments are going to be a bash plate and hand gaurds, oh aswell as some ccc full length rounds!! :)

though i do have to shame my self, i dropped my XT in the ice! it was very embarrassing! coming back from wales and got caught in the snow! aghhhh!!

its ok though only came off with a bent brake lever easily fixed! if im honest i was supprised at how the xt just bounces up!! i was so impressed that it had no scrtches scuff marks etc!!! top notch and thumbs up to the XT and a slap for its owner!!! :)

That's no shame. I wonder how many 'Sunny Sunday' riders you passed ??? They're the ones with the shame:moon:

no i wouldnt trade the bke in for ... whats one of those things with 4 wheels called again???

this Review is excelent as I will have to have my xtr restricted when i get it this weekend hopefully. so its good to hear it still has some welly!!!
especially coming straight from my first bike a 125!!:toothy2:

techno bog....who gonna know if ye have the bike restricted or not..... dae ye think the police or the insurance is gonna call ye up an want ye tae book the bike in fur a dyno tae see how many horses yer pushin......Na...leave it like it is,, its not breathtaking speed anyway....

I have thought of this, but have decided to keep mine restricted. I know the chances of getting caught are very slim indeed, but I just dont like the thought of losing my license for the sake of 11bhp. I find it's quick enough at 33bhp, like mentioned before it still beats most things off the line. The front wheel still comes up in first gear from acceleration.

The only problem I have found is overtaking on A roads, I have to plan ahead further than more powerful bikes and build up the speed more gradually. Although saying that, in the lakes when me Keithblade etc went on a road ride, I apologised in case I was slowing them on the A roads, they seemed shocked that the bike was restricted! I must just be a fantastic rider :tongue5: *ahem* *cough*

I guess it is helping me to become a better rider having to plan ahead even further.

Harry

p.s. Once my restriction is up, I fancy me one of those stage 3 air boxes :thumbsup[1]:bigwink

After reading this comment i must agree so much. When you jump on a 125 you think right ok i will just sit behind this car etc (think i over took about 3 people in 6 months and 1 was a tractor!!!)

Anyway once you up the power yes you can over take a few more people but you still have to plan your overtakes and seeing as most riders only just ride a 125 to get up to a bigger bike they dont really spend that much time in the seat. So the 33bhp restrictor is good in a way but also can cause you to over take in some dangerous situations.

I think they should have like something like a 40bhp restrictor one year then next its 80bhp. Ok it is boring/annoying being restricted but you have to think about it as you say that bit more power for what really, getting caught by the fuzz or binning your bike by doing something silly that if you where going slower or had more experience would have been able to save??

This is all very true!

I went from a 30hp DR350 bigbore to a 130hp ZX10 while restricted.
Granted, before my restriction was up, I pulled the plates out. Not without replacing them with something slightly larger though, so it was still restricted as such, but had a little more power to get used to.

Then once my restriction was up I was squaring off back tyres from pinning it in first all the time :headbang:

would just like to comment on the advice on this post would like to come along to one of the meets and ride outs and would like to meet up with all you people who help make this site what it is so thanks for all your hard work

Marco, come along to Kettlewell next weekend. You'll see plenty of XT' ers there, trailing and camping or just come along for the day.