Meet ‘the twins’, Steve and Jane Benstead’s accidental ‘his ‘n’ hers’ pair of XTs with lots of personality!
Motorbikes passed me by as a young man, despite the wide-eyed lunchtime visits to the local bike shop. Motorcycles didn’t fit in with all the hill walking, climbing and canoeing that occupied my life back then. My 40th birthday was the catalyst for taking a direct access course, and the start of my love affair with two-wheeled travel. My first bike, a DL650 V-strom, was an excellent introduction to riding, but it was the allure of wide-open spaces and roads without tarmac that really drew me.
So, what bike? I was looking for something which would cover the miles without stressing the engine; was well tested, robust, and simple to maintain, and with enough road speed to hold its own with passing trucks. A single air-cooled cylinder with simple wiring seemed ideal. An electric start, kicking over a large single-cylinder in the pouring rain or under a beating sun didn’t sound like fun. The XT600 E fitted the bill perfectly.
We loved the bikes from the start. They are simple, easy to ride, and flickable through traffic. It took us a while to realise that we needed to turn off the fuel tap when they were garaged, though, otherwise starting them would be a pig. I’m told it’s because modern fuel turns gooey in the carb if left for a while and then doesn’t want to vaporise. But like any long-term relationship we’ve learnt the little foibles.
These bikes are a compromise. At 178kgs they’re certainly a bit too heavy for the off-road stuff, especially for Jane. Not quite fast enough for the inevitable long road sections, and fuel injection would be more economical, but like the best of the Heinz 57 mongrels we remember from our youth, they’re reliable, do everything you ask of them, don’t mind a bit of mud and dirt and have a mischievous side.
We’d already sampled the roads of continental Europe and wanted to test ourselves, so chose North Africa as our first destination. Before departure, I replaced the thin, soft plastic handguards with aluminium-backed bush guards. The lack of windscreen made riding in the rain unpleasant so eventually I settled on a Secdem screen from France. The 15-litre steel fuel tanks were replaced with 23-litre Acerbis black plastic ones; the hard square-edged off-road seats were reshaped and restyled for comfort by Motorcycle Seat Works, and the small engine guard was replaced with a large bash plate from Touratech. I also reinforced the front mud guard with an aluminium plate, so fender bags could festoon the front of the bike in true overlander style. Other farkles included clear plastic headlight protectors, wider foot pegs from China, and on the advice from mate my Dave who’d just completed 14 months RTW on an XT, we also changed the bars for granite-feeling Renthal ‘high’ bars.
We already had one set of H&B aluminium boxes, but we bought a second, adding to the ‘adventure’ look. We also found that BMW F650 GS soft luggage fits almost perfectly on the XT. The first time we fully loaded the bikes was the day before we left for Morocco and we had far too much kit. We pared down the stuff and set off, still overloaded, and ended up jettisoning more with our daughter in Cardiff en route to the ferry.
The ‘twins’ never missed a beat all the way to North Africa, doing over 650 miles across Spain in a day and a half. They coped admirably with the temperatures in Morocco, climbing over 2,000 metres into the Atlas Mountains and tackling the long off-road pistes and unmade roads. They never faltered once.
Since returning from Morocco I’ve fitted stiffer springs to the rear shock and treated both bikes to Quill end cans, partly to help reduce the weight, but also for the sound. Extravagant and not exactly discreet but some things you just have to do. Also the 11kg of aluminium boxes for each bike have been replaced with army surplus rucksacks. One last thing: if you’re planning on welding larger plates to the side stand of an XT600 E, cut off the original foot. If you don’t, toppling over can become a regular occurrence and lead to insurance claims for damage. Would I buy them again? I think so. Will we keep them? Definitely.
The twins on Steve and Jane
We were made and then kept boxed up in a faraway place, slowly collecting thick, orange dust, until our new owners, Steve and Jane, gave us a lick and a promise to look like new. Jane likes riding my sister, who she calls ‘Lizzie’, very much, but she also drops her on the ground every now and again for no reason. Luckily Lizzie can take it. Steve always likes to go faster and find the rougher stuff; maybe that’s why I drink more petrol than my twin. Steve looks after us very well, though. He’s always trying make us better with new stuff, so we look quite different now. People often stop to stare at us and ask questions, but we don’t mind. It’s good being different.
Photos: Steve & Jane Benstead
