Since bringing them back Spain, they haven’t been nurtured as well as they should have been, mainly due to lack of time and money.  They’ve never really let us down which is probably just as well because finding a good mechanic out here is like finding hens teeth.  After years of being the work horses they were built to be, both Doris & Boris started complaining and as soon as we fixed one thing, something else would go wrong.  So we reached a crossroads with them and had to make a decision on whether to trade them in, or keep them.  I’ve had other bikes in the past, but for me, there’s a special bond between Doris and I and we’ll be together to the end – whichever one of us expires first.

Here’s an account for both bikes – a ledger detailing the problems, the mileages and the cost to fix them.  Up until now, we’ve only had a few problems which we’ve easily overcome.  Interestingly, we’ve encountered similar problems with both bikes at the same time.   But now we’ve found a good mechanic, hopefully this will be the beginning of a long, happy and lasting friendship we will all have together .

Some prices are in in GBP and some in Euros depending on where we bought the parts.  You can find a full list of where we source XT600 parts in Spain here.

Doris

Boris

Having had Bridgestone TrialWings, Metzeler Tourances, Vee Rubber and now Heidenau, I have come to the conclusion that it is all a matter of personal choice, riding styles, climate and how your bike is loaded.

Personally I thought that the Tourances were rubbish, gave little confidence in the wet and due to their tread pattern (or lack of it) were pretty useless off road. The only good thing about them was that they wore consistently and were both shagged at 8,000 km.

Unlike a lot of riders I liked the Trailwings as a true dual sport tyre with a road bias. I made my way through several sets and loved the feed back they gave, particularly in the wet. The rear usually lasted 8,000 km and the front 16,000 at a push. And not too much road noise to boot.

Vee Rubber (that was all I could get hold of at the time), initially was an excellent dual sport tyre with a road bias, but after 5,000 km they were getting a little unpredictable. Changed both the front and rear at 8,000 km.

After pushing my last Trailwing combination to 10,000 and 16,000 km, I have switched to Heidenau with a more aggressive pattern for off road work. I have to say that these tyres have exceptional road manners given their tread pattern and the off road grip is also in the same league. The only downside is the road noise, but I can live with that given their all road performance. So far they have covered a little over 3,000 km and appear to be wearing slowly.

As I have said before, a tyre that suits one rider could instil fear into another. So workout what you want out of a tyre, do your research and make your own decision.

PS, I always buy my tyres from these guys MyNetMoto they ship anywhere (and everywhere when requested) and are pretty cheap to boot.

This video is a good place to start as it demonstrates the safest way to pick up a fallen bike.

Picking up a motorcycle can be dangerous and cause serious injury if done incorrectly or under poor footing. A simple back injury could wreck your life! Always, always, always try to get help first—and remember, you don’t want anybody else to get hurt, either. You need to think clearly, use common sense, and be in good physical condition. Keep your body and back straight, and lift only with your legs. Maintain control of the motorcycle and never twist your body while lifting. Check the motorcycle for damage prior to riding it again.

Step 1: Assess Yourself

Take a few minutes to calm down. Seeing your bike lying on its side can be a traumatic experience, but it happens to everyone at one time or another. Your bike’s not going anywhere without you. Spend a few minutes asking yourself questions and talking yourself through it: are you hurt? Are you able to pick up your motorcycle in a normal situation? Do you want to pick up your motorcycle? Is it safe to pick up your motorcycle? Etc., etc. You have the rest of your life to pick up your bike; take a few minutes to relax and assess the situation. It’s best if you get help. And remember: if someone helps you, don’t forget to warn them not to touch the hot exhaust pipe, not to lift by the turn signals, etc. Also make sure they lift correctly. You don’t want someone else getting hurt.

Step 2: Assess the Environment

If you are in danger from other traffic, get away from your motorcycle and seek a place of safety. Let law enforcement respond and take control of the scene before picking up your motorcycle. Take a look at the ground: do you have a solid surface to lift from? Is there gravel? Is the pavement wet? Are you right next to a ditch? You don’t want to slip and get pinned under your bike.

Step 3: Assess the Motorcycle

Turn it off using the engine cut-off switch or the ignition switch. Turn off the fuel using the fuel supply valve. Spilled fuel is common, so use caution (though usually you need sparks, flame, or an ignition source to have a fire or explosion.) If the motorcycle is lying on its right side, put the sidestand down and put the motorcycle in gear. If the motorcycle is on its left side, you can’t put the side stand down and can’t put the motorcycle in gear. Make a mental note of these facts. You don’t want to pick up your motorcycle and then immediately drop it onto its other side! Techniques to Lift the Motorcycle—Preferred and Regular Methods.

Technique I: Facing Away from the Motorcycle – For Large Motorcycles Preferred Method for any Size

	Turn the handlebars to full-lock position with front of tyre pointed downward. Find the “balance point” of the two tyres and the engine, engine guard, or footpeg. The motorcycle will be fairly easy to lift until it reaches this point because it’s resting on its side. Once you start lifting from there, you are responsible for the most of the weight of the bike.
	“Sit” down with your butt/lower back against the motorcycle seat. Be very careful to keep your back straight and your head up. Put your feet solidly on the ground about 12 inches apart, with your knees bent slightly. With one hand, grasp the handgrip (underhand, preferably), keeping your wrist straight.
	With your other hand, grip the motorcycle framework (or any solid part of the motorcycle), being careful to avoid the hot exhaust pipe, turn signals, etc. Lift with your legs by taking small steps backwards, pressing against the seat with your butt and keeping your back straight. On slippery or gravelly surfaces this technique probably won’t work. On inclined surfaces this can be very dangerous.
	Be careful not to lift the motorcycle up and then flip it onto its other side! If possible, put the sidestand down and the bike in gear. Set the motorcycle on its sidestand and park it safely.

Technique II: Facing the Motorcycle – For Small and Medium-Sized Motorcycles Regular Method

	Turn the handlebars to the full-lock position with the front of the tyre pointed skyward.
	Find the balance point of the two tyres and the engine, engine guard, or footpeg. The motorcycle will be fairly easy to lift until it reaches this point because it’s resting on its side. Once you start lifting from there, you are responsible for the most of the weight of the bike.
	Stand very close to the handlebars. Plant your feet about shoulder-width apart with the lower handgrip in between them. Use both hands to lift. Keeping your back straight and your head up, lift carefully, keeping the handgrip close to your body. Use your leg muscles for power, and not your back muscles.
	Be careful you don’t lift the motorcycle up and then flip it onto its other side. Set the motorcycle on its sidestand and park it safely.

	Yamaha TT600K Service Manual (28kb)
	Yamaha XT600E (2001) Exploded Parts Catalogue in English (2Mb)
	Yamaha XT600E (2001) Exploded Parts Catalogue in Spanish (2Mb) Catalogue de Repuestos
	Yamaha XT600E (2002) Exploded Parts Catalogue in Portuguese (5Mb) Catálogo de Peças
	Yamaha XT600E (1990) Factory Workshop Manual (148Mb) 351 pages of in-depth technical information – big download!!
	Yamaha XT600E Owners Manual (2Mb)
	Yamaha XT600Z (1988-90) Tenere Parts Catalogue (6Mb)
	Yamaha XT600Z Owners Manual (4Mb)
	Yamaha XT600Z Service Manual (4Mb)
	Yamaha XT660Z (2008) Service Manual in English (25Mb)

If you download these manuals for use on your own site, please credit the original source back to either Moto Andalucía or Smokin’ Lizard.

A big thanks to Euan and David for supplying the XT600Z manuals.

Please note, the factory workshop manual is a big file and you need a good internet connection in order to download it.

To obtain an accurate reading from a new spark plug:

1. Accelerate at full throttle on a straight,
2. Push the engine stop button and pull the clutch lever in to release the clutch,
3. Coast to a stop,
4. Remove the spark plug.

This information is intended to assist you in correctly choosing your spark plugs and determining the performance condition of your engine.

Even plugs which present a good appearance such as those show in Figures 6-24 can quite often be covered with a lead deposit which causes misfiring.

Wet plug firing-ends such as shown in Figures 1-2 are normally attributed to one of the following causes:

1. Excessive choking.
2. Trouble within the ignition system.
3. Oil pumping past worn piston rings and valve guides.

The causes of sooty plugs like those shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 are usually the result of:

1. A plug with a too high heat rating is being used and the plug firing-end does not reach its self-cleaning temperature (above 400-450C) due to light load conditions.
2. Use of a too rich air-fuel mixture of richer than 8:1-10:1.
3. Trouble within the ignition system.
4. Improperly functioning cooling system resulting in excessive cooling.

The firing-end burns illustrated in Figures 25, 26 and 27 may be a result of:

1. Too low heat rating, permitting the plug to exceed the highest limit for optimum operating temperature of over 850-1000C due to excessively heavy load operations.
2. A too lean air-fuel mixture.
3. Ignition timing too over advanced.
4. Abnormal combustion such as knocking.
5. Cooling system trouble, which causes engine overheating.

Overheating conditions shown in Figures 28 and 29 are due to intense knocking and pre-ignition following situations identical to those in Figures 25, 26 and 27 where increased temperature of the spark plug firing end results in melting of the electrode.

Bikes can be picked up in most ‘major’ parts of mainland UK at least one week before departure, or you can take your bike to the hub warehouse in the midlands.

The bikes are strapped into ‘stillages’ – steel frames to protect the bike and allow safer, easier stowage. Digital images are taken of the bike and you sign a damage declaration report. The stillage is covered with a canvas top and the bike stowed in the truck.

It takes the truck about 3-4 days to get to Malaga where we you can either pick them up at the airport. Alternatively, we can arrange for your bikes to be delivered into storage 35kms north of Malaga. Please note that storage facilites are limited and for short-term periods only.

Your panniers can either be taken on the plane as luggage or they can be placed on the truck for a small extra charge.

Your bike can either be returned to storage or picked up two weeks later at the same location and your bike is taken home.

You get your bike back about a week after you arrive home.

On receipt of your email, we will send you a PDF brief with pricing etc, but typically a baseline charge is £500 return per bike.

If you require more information, fill out the form and send it to us. Please note that up to 30 bikes can be shipped per trip and you are advised to make early enquiries/booking.

Please Email Us For Further Information

It is a sad fact of life that motorcycle tires are a short lived affair, especially the knobbly ones that so many of us enjoy punishing in the dirt. During the summer, I change tires every other week, or at most, every third week (either putting new ones on or rotating old ones to utilize the sharp side of the knob). Because I do it so much, I have gotten better at it than I used to be, and I thought perhaps I could share that hard won knowledge.

These pictures happen to have been taken changing dirt tires, but the techniques shown here apply equally to street tires (well, maybe not the bits about rim locks and tube positioning).

Tire changes are not difficult. In putting together this set of directions, I changed both tires on my KTM at an unhurried pace, including shooting the pictures which took lots of time to pose, and including cleaning and greasing axles, checking brake pads, and validating spoke tension, in 54 minutes from first picture to last. I never used more than moderate force, did not break a sweat, and no curses were uttered.

A few things to have in mind as you approach this project.

1. If you are using force, you are doing it wrong. You are not stronger than the tire bead, and you don’t want to be (broken beads mean wasted tire). If things are not happening easily, THINK about what forces you are putting on the tire and reposition things to align those forces with what you are trying to do. Like most things, tire changes are more a mental exercise than a physical one.
2. The devil, as they say, is in the details. A small change in position or etc can make all the difference. Pay attention to the subtleties of what you are doing. The single most important thing to notice is that the profile of the rim has a dish, or a low point, at the center where the spokes join. This dish is your friend- if the bead of the tire is resting down in the dish, it will be loose on the opposite side. If not, not even a 50 HP dirtbike can break it free.
3. Always look at the side of the tire opposite where you are working. All of the tension that you are working around is generated over there, not at the point where the tire iron is contacting the tire.

Again, these same approaches will apply to street tires as well, but I’ll just focus on the pictures I have for now and worry about the others later.

Tire Removal:

We’ll assume, for a moment, that you are able to get your bike situated so that the wheel in question is free, and are able to remove it, and so we’ll start with the wheel off the bike and go from there.

	I like to change tires using the new (or old) tire as a rest for the work I’m doing. The primary reason for doing so is to keep the sprockets and brake rotors off the floor and unbent. Lots of companies make nifty stands, but I’ve never been able to justify one given how well another tire works.
	Step 1: Let air out. Remove the valve stem all the way, so that the tube can “breathe” as you change the volume of the tire through your manipulations. Tip: loosen the valve stem nut, if you have one, prior to letting the air out.
	Step 2: Loosen (but do not remove)the rim lock. Once the nut is loose, push the stem in to make sure that the rim lock has released its grip on the tire carcass. You may need to hit the stem with your socket hammer that you used to loosen the nut to get it to let go.
	Step 3: Break the bead. On dirt tires, this is no big deal- I’m doing it here with my chaco’d foot. I can also do it by hand, if I feel like getting dirty. This is the biggest difference for street tires. If you’re feeling uppity, turn the tire over and break the other side right now too, but chances are good that it doesn’t really matter, that it will come free during your other manipulations anyway.
	Step 4: Insert 2 tire irons, 4-6″ apart, 90 degrees off the valve stem and/or rim lock. You don’t want to go opposite the stem or rim lock because then the bead can’t seat all the way into the dish of the rim. You don’t want to be anywhere close to them because they will make it harder to get the bead out. So, split the difference.
	Step 5: Start working around tire away from initial “bite”, inserting tire irons close at first and farther as the bead gets looser.
	Tip: if the tire is making it difficult to get the iron inside the bead, insert the tire iron just out from where the bead is crossing from outside to inside. It will be a very small bite, but it will be easy to get the iron in.
	Step 6: Continue to work all the way around the tire until one whole side is off. Step on the middle of the rim and pull the tube out, taking care to ease the valve stem out through the hole in the rim.
	Step 7: Flip rim and tire up to vertical, and insert tire iron as shown to pull second side toward the same as the first. Use the other iron to pull the bead off. Once you get about 1/4th of the way around, you should be able to simply jerk the rim out of the tire.

Congratulations – you are now halfway through the project.

A few words before we get started on installing the new rubber.

Your primary task in installing a new tire is protecting the tube from damage. You want to make sure the tube is lying straight throughout the tire, so that it won’t chafe on itself and cause a flat. You want to make sure not to damage the tube with the end of your tire iron. You want to make sure that the valve stem is nicely aligned with the hole in the rim, so that it doesn’t rip the stem from the tube upon shifting.

New KTM’s often locate the valve stem hole relatively close to the rim lock hole, which is very convenient for tire changes as we are about to see, although it does not help the balance any. However, many other makes will have the valve stem and rim lock opposite- I’ll cover that eventuality in a moment.

Some dual-sporters like to run 2 rim locks, to improve tire balance. I’ve done this, and it does help with balance, but it’s a bitch to install, and no way around it. Personally, I never bother anymore. I really can’t feel the difference when push comes to shove.

As above, if doing the rear wheel, it is nice to work on the side opposite the sprocket. Plan accordingly.

I do not use any soap or water- I prefer the tire to be a little sticky, so that it holds position as I work on it. Others disagree with me. Experiment and make up your own mind.

Step 1: Install the valve stem and add some air to the tube. The goal is to give the tube enough body to roll itself out of the way of the tire iron or etc, without making it hard to get the bead into the dish of the rim. Another important function of adding air before you start is that it will ensure the tube lies flat, with no twists or kinks, inside the tire.

You will be hard pressed to flat the tube with your tire iron if you have added some air first.

	Step 2: Install the tube in the tire (I cheated here and put the tube in the tire before adding air).
	Step 3: Align tire/tube combo with rim/rim lock combo, so that valve stem is ready to pass through the hole.
	Step 4: If the valve stem and rim lock are in the same quadrant of the wheel, you’ve got it easy, because you can pass the valve stem through the hole in the rim, and align the rim lock all at the same time. If they are opposite, just worry about aligning the rim lock for now. I’ll show pics of how to deal with the valve stem in a moment. Aligning the rim lock- you want to push the rim lock down, so that it is between both beads of the tire and when the time comes, can suck the beads up and into the rim as it is designed to do. Trust me- if the rim lock is not inside the beads, you will not pass go, and you will not collect $200 no matter how hard you try. Here the valve stem has passed through.
	And here the rim lock has been pushed between the beads and the tire is ready to be pulled on.
	Step 5: Pull the first side of the tire down onto the rim, taking care as always to keep the bead in the dish of the rim.
	If you could not slide the valve stem in at the outset, here’s where you do so. Note that the valve stem is aligned with the hole it will pass through.
	This picture sucks, but all I’m doing is shoving the valve stem inside the tire.
	And this picture sucks too, but I’m lifting up the tire from the opposite side (the one that is already on) so that I can move the valve stem into the hole.So, now we’ve got one side of the tire on, the valve stem and rim lock positioned correctly, and the second side completely off. We’re on the home stretch.
	Step 6: The second side of the tire. You want to start with the portion of the tire immediately adjacent to the valve stem, so that the bead of the tire won’t trap the tube adjacent to the valve stem.
	From there, you want to work the shortest route toward the rim lock. If the rim lock and valve stem are exactly opposite each other, whichever direction will be fine.
	And finally, you want to finish the tire off 90 degrees from the valve stem and rim lock, so that they are not in the way of getting the bead into the dish of the rim. As always, take care that the opposite bead is down in the dish.

Step 7: Air the tire up. Always fill tubes slowly- not from a 120 psi compressor that’s all charged up. Filling the tube too quickly can result in a twist that does not resolve itself. Bicycle floor pumps are best, but if you must use a compressor (I do), just switch it off once it hits 40 psi or so.

Step 8: Tighten the rim lock- this should always be done after adding air to the tire, so that the tube has no chance of being caught between the rim lock and the tire bead, AND so that the tire has the best chance to seat evenly.

Done!

Ready to go….