would a tt600 be suitable

As the title suggests , would a yamaha tt600 be suitable for an experienced road rider getting into the dirt world. Thinking of going to lake gairdner for the salt flat racing next year and i want to ride local dirt roads in victoria. nothing extreme but just get out in the country away from the police a bit. I am nearly a 100 kg dressed and 6'4" . I have also thought about a smaller bike like 350 size.Would they also be a vialble option? I want it to be pre 89 so i can put it on club reg as i dont want rec reg. Looking at yamaha tt's and xt's and honda xl's and xr's and also suzuki dr's. is there anything anyone can recommend . only got 2 grand to spend. Cheers

Check out Aussie Diggers reports on some rides he has done with his ex army XT.......do a search gor mongrel dog on YouTube.

yes. i reckon it would. how old is it? '80s or a belgarda? i've had a bit to do with the 80s ones.

its an 87 model. what should i look out for?

A tt600 would do the job. I'm unsure of the strength in the subframe though, it might be a bit light for carrying loads over distance.
The other consideration, tt600's like fresh rings at 20k or so, they won't burn oil but just get very doughy at the throttle, as the compression rings wear quite early. It applies to all yamaha XT/TT models from the 80's and 90's basically, the compression rings wear out a bit prematurely, but the oil rings seem good.
An 80's XR600R might put a grin on your dial too, if you can find one in reasonable nick.

I had a Belgardia model a while back. I'm 6'3" and 95kg
I had a lot of fun on it, it would pull like a tractor, which was at times handy when I got out of shape in the wrong gear on a steep hill.
Kick start only and at times a bitch to start - I don't miss that. It was also a lot thirstier than my current DRZ, luck to get 150km out of the 10l tank.
Thinking about it now a DR650 might be a better option if you want to set up for longer trips

a big thing is make sure the swingarm pivot bolt has been kept tight. eventually the engine cases got worn and broke if left long enough. if it's done a lot of station work (mustering etc) it might give you grief with stripped threads in the engine. all the heat from a lot of slow work seems to soften the alloy. oil tanks crack. otherwise it's the usual used bike stuff.

i got frank pons to rebuild the shock in mine. believe it or not a drz400 shock spring (even a stock one.) is an upgrade. also, (believe it or not again.) zz-r 250 carbs are an upgrade size, performance, economy and parts availability wise from the stockers. it takes a bit of fiddling to get them in, but it was totally worth it.

i also converted mine to 12 volt electrics with some xt600 bits. worked a treat. the subframe could probably do with some beefing up. keeping your load forward helps too.

Your TT sounds like just the thing.
Great old troopers.

AH thanks for the detailed input. So an XR might be more suitable. dont know if i could be stuffed with 6v elec or beefing up subframes. still, seen one for 1400 bucks, so maybeeee.....

whats about smaller capacity bikes like a 350 then. and is there anything out there pre 1990 elec start?

xr still needs the same stuff doing. my tt was great once i got it sorted.

and the xt600? how would that be?

XT600 have cush drive hub, gearboxes last longer ;TT and XR 600 used to wear gears faster on the road.

It's not 6v electrics, it's the lights running on AC with no battery. Only a problem if you want to power a GPS or charge your phone. I prefer this setup as there's less to go wrong. And a GPS takes the fun out of getting lost.

I wouldn't be too worried about the subframes. I've got an XR600 and abused fuck out of it, and I had a DR350 and abused fuck out of that (including riding 2up across Mongolia on it). You always hear people saying that the subframes are weak on both of those bikes, but you never hear of them actually failing. I've ridden my XR 2up with camping gear as well, though took it easy (the dr didn't get that courtesy in Mongolia ).

A TT or XR sounds perfect for what you want to do. Nothing wrong with smaller bikes too, they're normally the same physical size as the 600s. They should all be sprung for an 'average' weight rider, which would probably be more like 75-80kg, but if you just want a bit of fun on 4wd tracks don't worry about this too much at first. If you can try before you buy that would be good. I rode Jdeks (member here)'s TTR250, and hated the engine, no pull at all.


On the gearbox thing... If they change gears okay on a test ride then you're good. They don't wear out that quickly that you'd kill one in a year or two of casual weekend road/trail riding.

thanks for that. it is sometimes easy to over analyse things. simple is always good too.

Simple is nirvarna. That's why old-school air-cooled bikes with no ABS plastic shit are becoming a bit sought-after. If they conk out by the side of the trail there's not too much to have to look at, and there's a lot less stuff to conk out to start with.

If you dont want to do any think extrem you could also look at the KLR 650 Great bike my klr has taken me to some great spots and more important back home heaps of aftermarket stuff also bike been around since Jesus was a boy

What Burnsy said. Better with a Cush rear hub. I had a TTR600 Belgarda for a few years. I didn't travel much more than around 400k per day on mine, for which, in my opinion was a good days ride for it and also myself on that bike. 10litre tank size is a shortfall, can be hard to start sometimes (seems to be an inherant issue??), and mine was kick start only. I prefer the HP2e these days.

ok, so an xt might be more suitable if i can get one. would love a hp2 but doubt i'll get one for 2 grand!

Wife has a 06 drz400 with safari tank , gen 6, 500 kms, goes as good as my set up 05 klr650.been in the shed 3 years will take $2, 000 for it.we are in melb (flowerdale) every monday+tuesday.

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