1985 Yamaha XT 600 Supermoto Project *Completed*

[Raf]

So i was looking to buy a big single piston machine to mess about on when i came across an XT 600 going for around £500, the pictures looked rough but it was near and i was up for putting the work in. When the bike arrived it was in far worse condition then i imagined. There was green mold everywhere on the fairings, the front headlight was rusty from inside, there was a massive oil leak which i later discovered was from multiple places, the tach was broken, the electrics where completely messed up which i discovered after buying it as the power would randomly turn off as i would ride it. And many many more small things the owner did not tell me about.

Anyway i don't actually have any pictures of it when it was in one piece, it was in such a crap condition it was taken apart the very first day after only an hours or so riding. Basicly it looked like a pile of crap.


I have actually finished the project now but since the pictures are huge and take hours for me to upload i will upload a few now and again to show the work as it was done.


AS you can see here the headlight is filled with rust, the gaiters are mouldy and ripped at the back.

https://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2820/p1000601lp.jpg
https://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2883/p1000602.jpg

Started sandblasting everything that was rusty, which was pretty much everything that was not aluminium. The downpipe where so bad i had to resort to the angle grinder with a flap wheel as the sandblaster was not powerfull enough.

https://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5914/p1000600i.jpg

As you can see there was allot of dirt and mold on the fairings, the sandblaster did a good job removing it.

https://img198.imageshack.us/img198/3214/p1000599t.jpg
https://img63.imageshack.us/img63/8500/21102009015l.jpg
https://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1701/p1000598t.jpg

The seat had a nasty blue cover which you can see in the first pic. So that had to go. To my suprise the original was still underneath and not in that bad condition.

https://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1308/21102009014.jpg

Finished sandblasting the engine which took ages, and painted with VHT paint. After removing the tissue blocking the inlets i noticed some sand had leaked through! Time to strip the engine down.

https://img687.imageshack.us/img687/7103/15102009008.jpg

Finished sandblasting and primering the fairings, painted them gloss black.

https://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8257/15102009009.jpg

Took the engine to Bitterns house to strip it down as there was just too much sand around to do it in the back. It was getting everywhere.

https://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7734/15102009010.jpg

Removed to forks to paint and replace the gaiters.

https://img130.imageshack.us/img130/1117/15102009007.jpg

New gaiters and paint!

https://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7011/21102009013o.jpg

Ok thats all for now, i will try upload some more soon.
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[BenR]

Good project. Can't wait to see the end result. Bit silly trying to shotblast the engine in one lump (no offence) due to all the oil leaks probably best to strip it anyway?
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Current bikes: suzuki RG125UN wolf. Yamaha MT-07

[mattsprattuk]

it will be interesting to see who gets the fun job of stripping, cleaning and rebuilding that engine!


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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Raf]

[Steve-D]

I want a go/one.
Bloody rich students.
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www.southwestbikers.com
Tristan The said 'Dunno what my pace will be like, fastish slow puncture on the rear and if I go too fast I risk my 'keys' falling out'

[Raf]

[Steve-D]

Lol last bike night was ooh erm 2 months ago.
But yea go if you want, meet you there.
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www.southwestbikers.com
Tristan The said 'Dunno what my pace will be like, fastish slow puncture on the rear and if I go too fast I risk my 'keys' falling out'

[Raf]

[Raf]

Carb,s removed, cleaned, painted and finally rebuilt.


https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6446/p1000635x.jpg
https://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5836/p1000636.jpg
https://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2751/p1000638i.jpg
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[Raf]

Finished sanding down and painting the frame, oil tank, downpipes & rear shock with brush on Hammerite since it would almost always be covered in mud i could not be bothered to have to strip everything down, primmer, sand, paint and lacquer again.

Took about three coats to get rid of the brush marks and ended up looking a bit blotchy but considering it was a budge job it looked acceptable.


https://img11.imageshack.us/img11/381/05112009041w.jpg

Also cut out the great big ugly airbox and relocated the battery to expose the rear shock which was in terrible shape, nothing we could not fix with some hammerite though

https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/477/05112009043.jpg
https://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6189/05112009042.jpg
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[oJaXo]

looking forward to seeing her finished
keep up the good work
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A2 License - 26/03/09 PASSED!
Fs1e -> 03 dt125r -> 99 Hornet 250 -> 95 CB400 Super Four R - > Hornet 600 2013

[serlant]

Half assed just the way i like it. try not to crash it when its finished.

[Raf]

Glad to see someone showing some interest in the thread.

If your interested in seeing what it looked like when i picked it up i found the Ebay link.

The Ebay pictures make it look better then it was.


https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110440071401&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1142
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[Frost]

As a former XT600 engine owner i HIGHLY recommend having a look at 5th gear whilst the engine is out. To go fast on a bike like that you just bang it up to 5th as early as possible and give it a big fist full of throttle. For this reason 5th starts to strip itself from day 1, and may very well be the reason the bike hasn't been used in so long. I bought all the gaskets and gears to do mine for £120, and it took about 2 hours. Sounds expensive, but it's a hell of alot cheaper than a new engine, or the £1000 the garage wanted to fix things!

[Raf]

[Frost]

If they were about 2mm wide and 8mm long they are gear teeth

[mattsprattuk]

[Frost]

[mattsprattuk]

so basically its only a problem if you rag it from low RPM as you said earlier?

overloading the engine/abusing it.

lol @ you searching for, finding and posting all that just to prove a point
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[ms51ves3]

[Frost]

Sorry about that, but i'm currently researching for my dissertation so it's become second nature

The problem is 2,3 & 4th being too close together an basically being a bit pointless. Big singles have lots of low RPM torque so really you want the bike in the highest gear you can get away with at the time. At speeds of 30mph+ this is always going to be 5th. If the bikes done 50,000 miles i'm willing to bet its done 48,000 of those in 5th. Thats alot of wear on the smallest gear in the box! As soon as 1 tooth goes it puts extra pressure on the next, until like me you end up with a cog with half of its teeth missing (litterally round, it's at my dads or i'd post a pic ).

To be honest his bike might be okay, but it's a definate problem in about 1/3 of them. Bits of metal int he gearbox and a bike thats not been used in a long time would persuade me to have a look inside for the cost of a gasket set.

[mattsprattuk]

so gearing the bike differently for less top speed and more torque would help the matter no end?
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Raf]

This is the first picture of the bike finished. Later on i completely stripped it down, cut out the airbox, added Cone air filters, street fighter lights, repainted the frame and engine and more.

https://img682.imageshack.us/img682/8648/28102009017y.jpg
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[Raf]

Final *Completed Pics"


Final Frame Repaint, Airbox cutout, Battery moved, Rear Shock Repainted, Downpipes Repainted, Oil tank Repainted.

https://img11.imageshack.us/img11/381/05112009041w.jpg

https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/477/05112009043.jpg

Core Air filters added.



https://img682.imageshack.us/img682/4295/p1000643.jpg
https://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2572/p1000642lw.jpg
https://img188.imageshack.us/img188/6720/p1000641g.jpg
https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/7544/p1000647.jpg
https://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5234/p1000644.jpg
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[BenR]