XT660R review

This year, the XT has been given a proper seeing to. Say hello to a liquid-cooled, fuel injected engine, brand new chassis and styling. If you picture a rally-type bike as a tall and imposing beast, the XT no longer fits this bill. It looks small and compact and even climbing aboard the 855mm seat height’s a doddle.

In true off-road style, the bike gets 21-inch spoked rims kitted out with knobblies, while the soft suspension has decent travel to tackle the dirt. The package coped well on the hard, rocky terrain that led us onto the muddy stuff. But when the going got trickier the road-biased tyres, gearing and power delivery came to the fore, with the bike slipping and sliding its way forward. The chassis felt less suited to the dirt than the heavier BMW F650, another ‘adventure’ bike I’d ridden off-road just a few weeks earlier. So it was with some relief that we hit the twisty Tarmac.

Here, the ‘fun bike’ tag that accompanies these machines made better sense. Forty-eight bee-aitch-pees don’t sound like much, but they’re delivered cleanly from 2000rpm with a hearty low- to mid-range punch.

Revving the engine is of course pointless as power tails off to leave a wheezy top-end. But ride the mid-range and it’ll pull you effortlessly from one corner to the next. The wide handlebars give plenty of leverage to flick the lightweight (for the road) chassis around, a welcome bonus since the squishy, long-travel suspension means it’s not the most agile thing out there – although it soaks up town speed bumps and potholes like they don’t exist. This year, the XT has been given a proper seeing to. Say hello to a liquid-cooled, fuel injected engine, brand new chassis and styling. If you picture a rally-type bike as a tall and imposing beast, the XT no longer fits this bill. It looks small and compact and even climbing aboard the 855mm seat height’s a doddle.

In true off-road style, the bike gets 21-inch spoked rims kitted out with knobblies, while the soft suspension has decent travel to tackle the dirt. The package coped well on the hard, rocky terrain that led us onto the muddy stuff. But when the going got trickier the road-biased tyres, gearing and power delivery came to the fore, with the bike slipping and sliding its way forward. The chassis felt less suited to the dirt than the heavier BMW F650, another ‘adventure’ bike I’d ridden off-road just a few weeks earlier. So it was with some relief that we hit the twisty Tarmac.

Here, the ‘fun bike’ tag that accompanies these machines made better sense. Forty-eight bee-aitch-pees don’t sound like much, but they’re delivered cleanly from 2000rpm with a hearty low- to mid-range punch.

Revving the engine is of course pointless as power tails off to leave a wheezy top-end. But ride the mid-range and it’ll pull you effortlessly from one corner to the next. The wide handlebars give plenty of leverage to flick the lightweight (for the road) chassis around, a welcome bonus since the squishy, long-travel suspension means it’s not the most agile thing out there – although it soaks up town speed bumps and potholes like they don’t exist.