XR 600 Question?

[Whirlwind]

Hey there. I was wanting to know if the 600 is a horse to handle or if it is an all around great bike? I live in Colorado and ride mountains (Vail & Rampart) and also do some track riding. The bike I have now is an 87 KTM 350 2 stroke. Does 600 wear you out pretty bad, is it pretty heavy, general questions like that. I am trying to decide if my next bike should be an XR 600 or even a 400. My only worries are that the 400 won't have enough power for me (coming off a 350 2 stroke) and I am worried that the 600 would be to much bike with weight and power. I weight 200 lbs am a fairly agressive rider I like track and trail and the only thing I know about XR's are that you can't go wrong with one. Thanks for any input guys. J

[Wilson-1]

I rode a 96' XR-600 for 2 years. It has some great qualities; reliability, lots of low end power and torque right off idle, does very well on fast fire roads in turns that you can toss the back end around, stable at speed and a seat by Lazy-Boy. I also liked it very much in fast single track that flowed, just keep the speed up and it rocks. The motor is very hard to stall and keeps the rider safe in most cases. However the bike is too heavy to make friends with areas that require you to lift it over stuff in the trail, as doing much of this will tire you out quickly. If you push the bike hard it becomes less friendly. At least for me the weight of the bike and suspension are not for the track. I rode it 5 min. on a track and that was it.

Way too heavy for me to jump it with any confidence. The front end has a heavy-planted feel. Was a bit twitchy in sand washes without a steering damper due to the heavy front end. Extra pre load in the forks may help that. All in all if you use the bike for what it's intended for it can me a great ride, push it over it's ability and it can be a handful.

[Gee]

I agree with most of what wilson-1 said, the 600 is a good bike and works well at Rampart and in the higher elevations of Colorado, at 13k the bike still had plenty of power where as most other bikes are gasping for air and are way down on power. I rode my 97 600 all over Colorado and Utah and think it is a good trail bike. On the track the bike is a pig, way too heavy, no fun on the track at all. My 600 was no faster than a XR400 but had alot more low end grunt. I've since switched to a "blue" bike and am enjoying it very much, it does everything the honda did, but does it better, it does require a little more maintenance though.

[XR/CRDave]

I had a 95 XR600 for 3 years and it was a great all around bike for everything except the track. I had it dual sported, some light motor work (port/polish and rebuild), pipe, and suspension mods, and the bike worked good for me. In stock form they are slow and the suspension is not good for hard riding. I agree with everything the other postings mentioned except for the 600 being about the same as a XR400, IMO the 600 is much more fun than the 400. Also the 400 would not be to good on the track either. If you want to go to the track sometimes then I would not recommend the 600. If the track is a priority to you then consider and CRF450 or other midsize thumper.