With 600kms on the clock and a deep breath I took my baby to go get some dust on it.
Some sandy single tracks (I hate sand....) and hard pack gravel roads with the original Metzeler Tourance tyres. Ran them at 25psi and apart from "That Sandy Corner" (insert appropriate words here...) I felt quite secure. But I wouldn't run them on a long off-road trip....
I was very impressed and once again I knew I made the right decision to go with the Yamaha and stay with a 600cc - not 1000cc.
I love the low centre of gravity with just enough grunt to twist the throttle and get out of a spot without changing gears too often and I can stand and ride without making any changes to anything (and I'm 5'10").
After riding the XT600e for a while I didn't really notice the extra weight and that was with a nearly full fuel tank.
The windscreen forces me to look ahead and not down in front of the bike which helps a lot. It was fairly warm (although a long way from summer here in the Tropics) and I was going slowly - fans only kicked in once. Engine ran ticketty-boo.
When I did stop in the sand (did I mention I hate sand?) because I wasn't going fast enough, I tried to hold it up with my leg in the sand, but the bike and I kindof did a slow motion sink into the soft stuff - much to my relief! If it was the gravel.....:-(
It actually went so far over the middleman that the wheels were higher than the handlebars and I couldn't lift it on my own. I was impressed that nothing leaked out anywhere too.
I feel a bit more comfortable that I have dropped it (that may sound odd) but it's not "brand new" anymore and all I have to do now is ride it everywhere - and grin!

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On my 4th XT!

Sounds like your loving your bike. ..great stuff! Steve

sounds and looks good

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Plough on