Mad-laners Megathread

Cool, thanks for that mate.

Defo need to move the camera, that vid really doesn't do justice to just how deep and rutted those tracks were. In many of the ruts I'm sitting down with my legs splayed out, the reason being I can't get my feet on the pegs as the rut sidewalls are higher than the peg, and the pegs are inside the rut and catching on the edges. You can see my bike drop down into one of the dips at 6:43, but when Phil goes over it it looks like a little dip, being so low the camera doesn't have the perspective.

If you stuck it higher up somewhere you would see what was going on from a wider angle too, and not have the front forks and wheel taking up half the picture. Trouble is look how often the front wheel waggles back and forth, if you put it on the bars the whole picture would be doing that. Maybe helmet mounted is the way to go.

The 4x4's really have made a big mess of that lane.

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

the bike itself is a 1999 with a 2003 engine in it phil (the engine has done 9k miles)! It just looks like it was made shortly after this is england '86, proper retro!



The deeper darker purple, re-wrap the seat in black leather cloth and new graphics = it'll look like a newer XT for £1150 it's well in my budget and is ideal for what I'm wanting to do

I'll report back once I've spoken to the guy

I think that could be a good bike. Obviously you need to check it over properly, but the XT is a really simple bike. They basically consist of a frame and engine, suspension, drive gear, wiring loom & electrics, and bodywork.

The frame has been resprayed, and the swingarm looks pretty good in the pics, so the work that needs done on mine to deal with the rust, should all have been done. Forks have been done, engine has been sorted, new battery fitted.

At that price you don't need to worry about consumables (pads, disks, chain. sprockets, as they are all dirt cheap to replace on this bike). Tyres and tubes have been done.

New Yamaha seat covers are on ebay from about 40 quid upwards.

What you do need to think about is what is still on the bike that has done 24000 miles. Could you have:

• electrical/wiring loom gremlins? is the CDI/TCI unit OK?
• Has the rear shock been replaced or do you need to budget for a replacement? Is the shock linkage OK?
• bearings - head race, wheel, swingarm
• will the carbs need a service
• are the original brake lines still on the bike

24000 miles in itself is not a problem, my SV has 23,500, but that's an 06 plate, and a combination of age AND mileage can leave a bike in poor condition.

Still, go and wave £1000 cash in front of the guys face, and then you have a £500 budget for anything that is needed.

The 1980's XLR my mates brother has in Portugal is absolutely sound, because he takes care to keep on top of the maintenance (engine has just been rebuilt, etc), he's good with the grease gun, and when the bike needs something like new bearings, or a shock absorber, it gets it. These bikes are so simple, you can run them forever if you get them into good nick and keep on top of them.

Hey Col, would changing front / rear sprockets make the XT more snappier ?
That would seal it for me if it just had a bit more off the line pull and sprockets are cheap.

Originally Posted by specialone

Hey Col, would changing front / rear sprockets make the XT more snappier ?
That would seal it for me if it just had a bit more off the line pull and sprockets are cheap.

I've already dropped the front sprocket by one tooth, you can't go further than that without eating through the swingarm protector and damaging your swingarm, but you could go up on the back. I don't think you'd want to take it further than that, as 75mph is already 5000 revs. A final drive kit with AFAM steel sprockets and a Renthal R3 Enduro O Ring chain was about 80 quid.

Don't judge the XT's power by my bike. I'm not convinced that it's not 33bhp restricted. People on Horizons Unlimited reckon their XT600's pull wheelies off the power in first and second gear, and there is no way my bike would (though most of them are probably 4 stone lighter than me). I've never had the exhaust off or the carbs out to look for restriction though. My bike has had 7 previous owners, it's quite feasible one of them was on a restricted licence.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

I've already dropped the front sprocket by one tooth. A final drive kit with AFAM steel sprockets and a Renthal R3 Enduro O Ring chain was about 80 quid.

Don't judge the XT's power by my bike. I'm not convinced that it's not 33bhp restricted. People on Horizons Unlimited reckon their XT600's pull wheelies off the power in first and second gear, and there is no way my bike would. I've never had the exhaust off or the carbs out to look for restriction though.

Your bike isnt slow by any means, but just thought it might be down to 'touring' gears.

How much HP should it have?
A dyno run could tell you a lot maybe?

I went on a thetford forest run with a kiwi called Logan on an xt a couple of years back.
His xt had loads of power and could lift the front no problems col.

Originally Posted by specialone

Your bike isnt slow by any means, but just thought it might be down to 'touring' gears.

How much HP should it have?
A dyno run could tell you a lot maybe?

43bhp it should have.

I think a 600cc single should lift the front wheel with aggressive throttle use too.

I really need to get it into a good mechanic to get the carbs serviced, and I need to get the exhaust off and look for restriction washers.

Then if I still haven't found any improvement, then I'll get it dyno'ed so I know if I'm actually down on power, or just expecting too much from it.

It's not like I actually need any more power, it does everything I ask of it. I'd just like to know if it's all running properly.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

43bhp it should have.

I think a 600cc single should lift the front wheel with aggressive throttle use too.

I really need to get it into a good mechanic to get the carbs serviced, and I need to get the exhaust off and look for restriction washers.

Then if I still haven't found any improvement, then I'll get it dyno'ed so I know if I'm actually down on power, or just expecting too much from it.

It's not like I actually need any more power, it does everything I ask of it. I'd just like to know if it's all running properly.

If it has swallowed up 10 hp somewhere, it would explain the lack of snap.
Thats almost 25% down if thats the case which would make a huge difference.

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by specialone

Sorry Paul, was taking the pi55, you'd put 1989 instead of 1999.

Why are you trying to hack my head phil! Why! I know it's a 1999 but those colours look 1989!

I'll give the geezer a call and have a natter about all the other bits - electricals was the only real thing which came to mind, and although it's possible, if I was going to all the trouble of swapping the engine I would take the time to strip/check the carbs before fitting them.. Bearings could be a biatch but again if I'd had the frame/forks/swingarm/engine all apart from each other it would have made sense to stick the bits in there if they desperately needed doing..

But then again this isn't an ideal world so one mans meticulous resoration is anothers half arssed poorly finished project, so I'll see what the geezer says. Just wish he wasn't over 200 miles away

He's 120 miles away from me as well

Had a look at the others, one guy wants £1800 for a 1987 bike , then theres a high miles 06 for same money.