Radiator protection and off-road ability
 

I posted a while back about getting an XTR - I've had trouble selling my TDM so it hasn't happened yet, but I'm still working on it.

I have a couple of issues that are worrying me about the XTR though, and can't seem to find a good answer. I searched but came up blank.

I need my bike to be very reliable as I intend on going to some pretty remote places in Australia, often on my own. I know from comments here and elsewhere that the the XTR is as reliable as it gets (being Yamaha), but the exposed radiator worries me. No point having a reliable engine if I drop the bike in the back of beyond (which I will do) and hole a radiator on a rock.

Is there a solution to this? I want decent protection (engine bars) to protect the radiator from falls on the side, not just a mesh guard on the front. The bars I've seen don't seem to do much in that area. If I get an XTR I will fit high exhaust and bashplate immediately, which could complicate engine guard fitment. Has anyone made their own radiator protection in this same situation?

EDIT Somethig like these Hepco Becker bars for the XTZ would be what I am after (I assume they won't fit the XTR).
http://www.motorcycleadventure.com.a...05-500x500.jpg

Second question - I've read a few comments about the XTR being nose heavy, and hard to wheelie. I've ridden smallish dirt bikes all my life (eg XR400), and it is essential to me that I can pick the front wheel up easily to get over logs, potholes, ruts, fallen riding mates :bike:etc. Can anyone comment on this in real life offroad situations (not just popping the front wheel up on the blacktop)?

Touratech do protection bars for the XTR, and they look very neat!

...brucetopher1 has them on his XTR.....he said they were about �170 though......

thanks folks, will send brucetopher1 a pm.... no photos on the Touratech web site so some photos would be great...

Metal Mule do a nice metal rad guard too!

I FOUND IT FOR YOU...!!!! its on the German Website
http://www.touratech.com/shops/001/p...dd2ccf7ab57805

The bike is very capable of doing offroad riding and stands up pretty well to being dropped ,but please bare in mind this is nearly 200kg ,it is not and enduro bike and does'nt pretend to be although i did take mine most places an enduro bike would go ,but it was quite hard work .
The benefits of this bike are , a lot less maintenance ,better milage ,more storage areas an more confortable over distances ,if your planning on doing more extreme offroad look for a different bike in my opinion

Excellent! Thanks, that looks like what I am after.

Thanks for that honest opinion, really appreciate it. I think I'm on the right track, I'm coming off a TDM900 at 220kgs, a little bit lighter would definitely be good, but better suspension, bigger spoked wheels, and able to stand up on the pegs for reasonable distances comfortably is what I am after.

I spent many hours on my XR400, and while it was a fun bike, I don't need to go flat out through the single track anymore, but I do want to be able to cover some long distances. An enduro bike isn't really suitable for that, so the XT looks like a comfortable middle ground. If it weren't the XT it would probably be a DR650, but I definitely like my Yamahas, for various reasons.

Ive done some seriously challenging off road stuff on my r and would agree with jasext, its not and never will be a lightweight 250 to be flicked about and raced. However it is very capable in all but the trickiest of terrains and it does seem to stand up to the knocks and falls that this use throws at it.

Ive taken my old XTR (just bought my dads triumph tiger) off roading in Wales for 2 days, England 2 days, done a few other days off roading here and there, and done a far amount of off the main road riding with plenty of bumps and knocks.

The only problem ive had with the radiator was the crash bars I have, after some off roading in England, has been pushed back a bit onto the water pump housing. This nipped the water pipe and created a small leak. Lucky enough it was a simple fix as the slack in the pipe could take out the nip.

Apart from this ive fallen off a couple of times in the snow/ice, off roading, been knocked off by a transit van etc and the bike seems to work well with hand guards and crash bars as the radiator doesnt seem to every try and touch down.

Thanks for the comments, all very helpful.

So if I'm ticking along in 2nd or 3rd, up on the pegs, and come across a deep washout or hole I didn't see in time to avoid, will a flick of the clutch and some body language loft the front wheel over it? Not up in the air balance wheelie, just enough to clear the obstacle. I've always found if you look after the front wheel the back looks after itself (mostly).

It all depends on your experience offroad.....Jase is the one to answer that...

But as far as I see it, from a novice point of view, yes you will be able to do that. It has plenty of low down grunt.

As far as the many "offs" and "climbing trees" events I have had, the XTR drops well, I did bend my gear lever, and replaced it with a Touratech one (again, only on the German site).

it is a pretty tough bike all in all....do the handlebars, get some ebay footpegs, barkbusters, tyres and a sump guard, and you'll be fine. The rad bars are a good idea tho, as extra insurance,...and I will say again that they look very neat. (I may get some in the future.)

a flick of the clutch and a bit of a lean rewards in 2nd will have it stood up vertical if you want to get it that high!! in 3rd it will still have the desired effect.

You are correct in what you say about lifting the front over obstacles and the rear following but i am often bottoming my bash plate when riding like this and several times now i have actually bent it so that it was touching the exhaust pipes.
but then i am 16 stone so that might have something to do with it????????

The XTR will do it easily in 2nd but 3rd might be pushing it slightly it will lift the front but will take a pretty big slip of the clutch if your carrying any form of luggage.

My suggestion would be to run a 14 tooth sprocket up front which will give you that little extra enuff when needed but the bike will still easily cruise at 65-70mph when required.

and id be similar to stumpy dave only not that stumpy but still got the pounds!!!!

I go along with the 14T front sprocket.

Sounds good! Looks like the xtr could be a great hoon bike as well as an adventure bike :-)

Having just done 6000km in three weeks on my XT660R out through the Flinders and a bit more of SA and western NSW, I can say it's a great all rounder.

But it needs a bigger tank (Gilli-moto tank on the way) I did have two Roto-pax fuel tanks with me and needed them several times.

I'm hoping the larger tank will give more protection to the rad as well, if not I will be looking at making some bars or ally to add some strengh in there.

I am sticking with standard gearing because of how long we can sit on higher speeds in some places in Aus, as some may know it's nothing to sit on 120 ish for hours on end.

It's a great bike and while not as stable on the dirt as say a TTR600 it's good enough. Oh, and a s**t load of fun hehe.

i would like to add my experience with off road riding, to get anywhere close to serious riding i had to make a lot of changes to OEM.

For me best option is metal mule concept including 2-1 exhaust, bash plate and radiator grill, which will give you good protection and most imporatant your bike will loose at least 8kg and gain some space underneath engine.

As for sprockets im using 14 tooth in front and 46 in back, gives you little bit more on though terrain.
Best protection that i have is kappa side rack, sometimes im using saddle bags so this was it's primary mission but it works very good as crash bar as well.

It's is still not a hard enduro, but we like to think it can go everywhere :tank:

wi yer luggage on the bike,, its more prone to be lighter on the front end... 3rd gear lifts over obstacles off the throttle wi no half clutchin is easy,,especially wi weight onthe back.... its very Torky ye know..said the dustin in the lift. well he said shes very sparkly ye know.......