My first XT660
 

Hi XT660.com guys and gals.
Picked up my first XT660 last night on a cold, wet English Autumn evening.
She is an 09 XT660X with 6800 miles in blue/black with gold rims and MTC cans.
Did my first commute on her this morning, 35 miles into central London including a 12 mile motorway section. I have done this commute several times on my Fireblade but this is far more suitable.
What a great commute, I was grinning from ear to ear by the time I got to work and didn't want the ride to end.
I love the sound of the cans, the popping on the over run, the torque with a 3rd gear roll on. I can safely say, I made a good choice. :applause:
I will try to post some photo's later.
One little moment, I had a little slide from the rear tyre early in the ride under braking. I suspect this is because the rear end is lighter than I am used to, the tyre (BT021) is pretty new (and was cold), the road was wet (and cold) and the rear brake is probably sharper than the one on my blade (surprisingly). Is this something I am going to need to watch for?.....time will tell.
Anyway, all in all, a great first experience of this bike.
Being a bit of a short arse, I am going to look at the preloads on the rear shock to try and give me a bike more foot/road contact otherwise I may have to consider a lowering kit! ... but I'd rather not, I like the commanding position.
Oh yeah, The previous, previous owner removed the rear foot pegs and I want some if anyone has a set for sale.
Up the XT
Beekey

:006: Welcome aboard Beekey!

Hello, I also bought mine without rear foot pegs, luckily I got the WR125X '12 plate ones to fit very easily, they're the cheaper alternative as I couldn't find a pair for less than 60 quid, mine cost 20

Welcome mate.

Welcome aboard, Beekey. Although I have the XTR, I do fancy the X in your colour scheme. Very tasy. I, too, am short at 5'9" with a 32" inside leg and convinced myself that I needed to lower the bike, so I fitted the Lust Racing lowering links. Despite also dropping the yokes on the forks, the bike never felt right so I refitted the originals and am much happier. So, stick with it for a while and hopefully you'll get used to the height. I use mine for B road blasts, especially in the winter and,as you'd expect, get a few slides from the Conti Escapes. That, coupled with an effective back brake, means that I ride, and am comfortable with, the bike much looser than I would my main bike that has ABS and is much heavier. I also think that the riding position makes slides seem less a*se twitching than on a sports bike. Enjoy!

Ha, call that short! 5'5, now that's short! Paddling the bike around is a challenge, I try not to do this if at all possible. I really don't want to lower the bike and I think I will find it to be ok as is. There is a couple of notches on the pre-load still available but will have to see how the static and dynamic sag looks first. (I'm pretty light, so that may help(or hinder!))
I know what you mean about riding looser and slides being less scary than on a sports bike. I am looking forward to learning to drift it! :-)

That sounds like a cue for the ubiquitous Gaston Rahier photo...

http://www.dhpmoto.com/Trips/Baja%20...ech/rahier.jpg

Anything is possible! ;)