xt660z vs v-strom 650 xt ?

[hismaimai9999]

Hi,
since I have a little bit trouble with ordering xt660z in my country
I was wondering about some alternatives if they're. One interesting option
showed up this year is new v-strom 650 xt. Anybody can advice on this bike here?
Price is very similar, wonder though if v-strom can do anything significant off-road
as small tenere can.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

The Yam is a very old dirt bike made into a trail/adventure bike

The Suz is a very nice road bike with adventure styling


Have you considered a Husky 701 or KTM 690, if you want an off-road capable single?

[redbikejohn]

Any bike can go up a dirt track. The xt660z can do some pretty rough off road riding and is made to be dropped. Bit heavy to pick up though lol.
Never ridden a 650 but really it's a road bike at heart so if it's TAT type stuff you are into then look elsewhere.

[JMoandpiglet]

Hi Alex - I've owned an XT660Z (for over 30,000 miles) in the past, and would not entertain a V-strom at all in comparison - as Richard suggests above, it really is a road-biased 'adventure tourer', even though the US seems to consider it modestly off-roadable.

fwiw. If you are looking for something in between the two, then consider a Honda CB500X with the Rally-Raid wheel and suspension kit.



It rides very much like the V-strom (or any other larger twin cylinder ADV bike) on the highway, but is really just as capable as the XT660Z was off-road once you've upgraded the stock [road biased] wheels and suspension.

You can get a nice clean secondhand CB500X for between $3000-4000 USD these days, and the full kit [similar to my bike above] will cost you around $3000. That's a very capable all-terrain ADV bike for less than $7000 USD.

Alternatively, if you have the budget, then as Richard suggests - the KTM 690/Husky 701 is going to be a great choice if more aggressive off-road riding is your goal, but you'll need to spend a bit of money on that too to give it the long-distance/ADV civility that the old XT660Z had - fuel-range, screen, better seat etc.

Hope that helps...

Jenny x

[chunky butt]

That is one good looking bike that

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

A bike I aways liked the look of, but was only sold here in small numbers, was the Honda XR650L (or that's what I think it was called. Basically an XR with a Honda Dominator 650 air-cooled single-pot engine (I like my fins).

[JMoandpiglet]

A bike I aways liked the look of, but was only sold here in small numbers, was the Honda XR650L (or that's what I think it was called. Basically an XR with a Honda Dominator 650 air-cooled single-pot engine (I like my fins).

Yes, the XR650L (and Suzuki DR650) are bullet-proof old-school large trailies, and great RTW enduros... but they are still essentially trail bikes with little concession to long-distance comfort - needing similar modifying and accessorising as the KTM 690 / Husky 701 would (and both the Honda and Suzuki are still carb-fed too of course). The XR650L has a towering seat height as well (37 inches) whereas the DR650 is appreciably lower at least.

Nothing wrong with that option of course, but a very different mind-set is required to take an air-cooled thumper on a long-distance trip, never mind any sort of regular [higher speed] highway use.

Personally speaking, if the CB doesn't float the OPs boat, then I'd wait until the new 700 Tenere comes out in the spring - I get the feeling they are going to price/spec it competitively, rather than chase after the KTM 790 which is always going to be more powerful and higher-tech.

There is also a chance we'll see a new [twin cylinder?] KLR from Kawasaki at EICMA in a few weeks - or a 'prototype' at least.

Good times are coming ;o)

Jx

[Lairyskippy]

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Loved my old XR650L................why on earth did I sell it?

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Feel the same way about my DR350S.

No radiator, no water pump, no coolant hoses. Adjust the valves without having to take the top-end apart and fiddle with shims.

All this plumbing and nonsense on modern bikes...it's not progress.

[Ade8]

Hi,
since I have a little bit trouble with ordering xt660z in my country
I was wondering about some alternatives if they're. One interesting option
showed up this year is new v-strom 650 xt. Anybody can advice on this bike here?
Price is very similar, wonder though if v-strom can do anything significant off-road
as small tenere can.

You may well have made your choice by now going off the date of your original post but, after 3700 miles on a '19 DL650XT, I can tell you it is simply great on road, comfortable seat, economical on fuel, flickable in the twisties and quite quick enough for me. You can load it up with enough camping gear for a good long trip. Or get the Mrs and enough kit on it for a decent trip away if not camping.
Off road it's more capable than the credit it is given by some. I had it keeping up with some much more capable off roaders (albeit at a steady pace) around the ABR festival adventure track this year.
Although I did wait for the grass to dry out a bit, and lowered the tyre pressures to roughly 60% of the suggested on road pressure, it was spinning up the rear quite happily with tc off and the ABS (non switchable) was kicking in just a touch on the descents.
I think you'd need to look at changing the front springs for progressive ones, maybe alter the handle bar position to suit you, and deffo get some knobblies on it instead of the stock AX 40's, if you're looking at pushing on a bit off road.
Other than that I find it a bit top heavy at slow speeds but with enough revs, proper clutch control and correct body position it's perfectly capable of a snails pace u-turn.


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