Soooo, by way of background.... I got the bug for something off road and motorcycle'ish earlier in the year... was close to a quad but I have always been more comfortable on a two wheel'er in the bush, long story short I was traveling home from a funeral a couple of months ago and spied a ex-Aust Army XT600 (one of only 500 they bought in 1991) for sale on the side of the road, pulled up and took a look and it was pretty much what I had in mind for my hunting/BUBOV/toy in that it had a long range tank, electric start and racks/bags that can sustain one for some time. Ugly as sin (but so am I so am I) in OD and black coloUrs. When I got home I did a little research and figured that the asking price was too steep for the age/condition and that it seems a little "collector" and perhaps novelty interest was driving up the prices.
Anyway I started watching some auctions and ended up seeing a 2002 XT600 come up located close to my office. Got permission from Mrs Andy
:beaten: and won it at auction Sunday night. Finally got it home last night (nearly 100km down one of the freeways that is notorious for dead motorcyclists).
It is cosmetically a little rough but seems mechanically sound. Plugs along just fine. New (March this year) long range tank and recent exhaust. Only down side is the street tyres it is wearing (but fine while I run it around getting bits and pieces taken car of) and one snapped pillion hand rail mount. Already arranged a paint job ... :devilish::devilish: and it looks like I have scored a set of racks and crash bars off one of the ex-Army XTs from a guy who used his as the basis of a custom job. I also need to loose the windshield (as I could see it taking my nuts off
:sorrow: as I went over the bars on a steep bush decent).
Anyway.... pics right.... in all it's glory.... :mask::nightmare::highly_amused::black_eyed:
I should add that I have a close mate who while still in the Green Machine here was, among a number of interesting things
, Recon in a Mech Infantry Btn. That mean he got to ride out front on one of the XT600s and scout for the Diggers tooling around in M113s...
I e-mailed him about his experiences on the XT and he replied with....
5/7 RAR recon. Yep, XT600s. I killed mine once, but I smashed the absolute f%ck out of it. I mean like into trees, thru bushes, over and thru rocks, smashed open the transmission on a rock. RAEME managed to revive it with JB weld over the crack. Kudos to them. Rode them from Sydney to Shoalwater, all over SWBTA, all thru Holsworthy, Pucka, Port Keats (c@%t of a hole), NT. Never missed a beat. I fell off it 5 times a day. Broke the brake handle, snapped off the foot peg, broke the saddle bag frame pulling it out of the mud. Mud, bulldust, sand, hard pack, rock, whatever. Absolutely no issues (apart from being fu%king heavy after lifting them back up falling off for the fifth time) I'd buy one in a heart beat they are that reliable and tough. I love 'em. Very quiet at 1st gear idle too, can't hear it from 50m
This is probably a really good explanation of why NOT to have bought one of the ex-Army jobs...
and am shopping for some racks and bars for it....Mad max was the inspiration... 
That sucks...!! I need to drop down and see you in the next few days anyway (911). Can you e-mail me you ph number again and I will call at some point... 
) and a good general clean up...stay tuned... 
