Need opinions mostly about XT660X
 

Hi!

Been reading this forum for week. Read ALOT since on vacation.

My first bike was supersport. Nice and fun on good asfalt-road,
not so nice on other surfaces or even bad asfalt. Or for my licence.....
Then i bought naked bike. Its alot funnier than supersport indeed,
but its still missing something.

Now its came down to me wanting road-legal supermoto/enduro.
Ive test rode an XT660X ( 2006) and it was a blast to ride!
Surging, yes, but then this can get fixed. It had akra-slipons too.
Tho it was surprisingly bad-keepen for odos read-out ( 15t km)
so its still on the shop.
But no bad word about Yamaha. I even managed to almost fell with it
when my front slipped on muddy tarmac-road, and was able to keep and
lift it up again from position where bar almost touched ground.
It was heavy yea, but seems like not too heavy lol.

Now im struggling on my choice. On the other hand, KTM's
are plenty of there in Finland, unlike X's.

What drives me towards KTM:

+Power
+Weight
+Widely spread ( you can expect to get service and parts on them anywhere)

On the other hand..

-Reputation about their durability
-Too much electrics ( especially fly-by-wire on bike FYI)
-Tank range without buying expensive bigger tank

Yamaha

+Reputation
+XT660x/r/z-series widely sold too, so parts should be largely available
+Simplicity vs. KTM
+Longer service intervals

-Weight
-Power

List would continue. I see more +�s on Yamaha, but still
cant get my mind out of KTM's due to power and weight.

I would like to hear your opinions especially if owned both of these.

My ride would consist of commuting, 400km ( one way) trips to summer cottage, longer journeys, and some playing on forest/tarmac roads.
Thats why i lean more towards X-model ( which is uncontinued in Finland,
but it looks they are sold on other countries still, so not discontinued model?? ) since most of my drive would be on asfalt,
and still want to be able to ride anywhere i want ( not swamps, forests etc,
real enduros are for there).
My needs and wants for big service intervals, technical simplicity and reliability, and need to travel longer trips, otherwise pushes me
out from real supermotos.

Is XT660X on your mind the ultimate multi-use bike?
Or would you still choose KTM? I could afford
KTM 690 SM too. Or would you choose even XT660R?
Or something else?

Thanks in advance!

I love my 2009 XTX ive owned her 3 years finished paying the finance last october and thought about part ex it for a newer model or something different looked around alot but in the end decided to keep her for atleast another 12-18 months and spend money on upgrades to her see how i feel when she has been fully modded out but in all honesty i dont think i could see me getting rid of her she may not be the best bike on paper but she makes me smile

I have owned KTM's for the past 3 years & have just bought another one a 1290 & have had 3 XTX's in a row in the past.

The XT would be one of the best most reliable motorcycles out there & anyone can service & repair them, the XT will do long distance rides no problems the KTM will brake your rear on the long rides. The XT's motor would out last any KTM's cc for cc.

The KTMS can be serviced cheaply if you do all your work yourself, if your service is dealer based the KTM starts to get expensive in the long run to maintain. The XT will never feel like or match the KTM in power/weight ratio standard for standard. The KTM's surge twice as bad as any XT660 & vibrate a lot more in the higher revs.

If you want a reliable bike that will do almost everything I would say XTX, if you want a hooligan bike the KTM wins for me.

I can repair almost anything expect programming stuff.
Have done all servicing alone so far, and repaired broken gearbox
from my ex Kasawika.

Btw, forgot to add on my starting post, i also have to be able
to carry an pillion, my wifey / cry
Ive heard about problems on KTM's "subframe" ( lightweight bike dont come alone )
and that concerns me too, riding with pillion and stuff, do they last it.

Okay.

Thanks for replies, and thanks for this great forum!

Think i managed to make my mind. It will be either XT660X/R,
not KTM nor any other.

Reading and listening experiences from folks.
Seems at KTM would be most fun out there, and judging By specs,
it sure would be!
But on other hand, i had to remind me at im needing
reliable bike to trust with, and XT definitetly seems to be very tough one.
+ By looking mods section, it aint too hard to get
near KTM number rhwp's out of it without too much compromising
reliability. And still be cost-wise under price of KTM.

All in all, dont want to write a bible,
so thanks and now for me, start to look proper X/R-model!

I have owned many bikes over the years and I currently have my 3rd XTX. Through this site I have really enjoyed turning my XTX into the great ride that she is today and I enjoy this bike every time I ride her. I have done touring with a passenger and luggage and she coped with no problems and reliability of all three bikes has been great. These bikes have character and they are reliable. Have fun!!!!

SimonRoma: And you can built your XTR to chase KTM bikes as well :)

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Skickat fr�n min GT-I9295 via Tapatalk 2

One question.

Is notable clunk when shifting from 1st to 2nd just normal,
as seller tried to convince me, or is it a sign of something gearbox related problem?
Other gears shift flawlessly, and no problems to find neutral when stopped,
tried that countless times on test-drive.
Its a long trip to test-drive another XT, and its not otherwise interesting,
would just test that gearbox clunking.

Mine clunks in the lower gears. Has done from new. I was a bit concerned about it at first but now I think it's normal!