I was not looking for another bike, but a bargain appeared on Facebook Marketplace. It was a XT600 almost completely dismantled for $420. The vendor had pulled it apart, but due to personal circumstances needed to offload it. He had purchased a lot of parts for the rebuild including wheel bearings, gasket kit, piston rings, new handlebar and levers plus many more bits.

 

 

 

 

 

Included was a bore honing tool, which I considered using, but sent the barrel off to my friends at Crankshaft Rebuilders as they only charged $50 to do it properly! He even included a valve spring compression tool.

As with any bike nearly 25yrs old there will be a few stripped threads. Recoil kits are a life saver.

 

 

The wiring harness is a complete mess. This bike has had a TT600 motor installed at some point, so the harness can be tidied up a  bit. Still no fun though.

 

 

 

 

I’m trying to do this bike without spending too much so I thought I’d forego to powder coating for the wire brush and sandpaper.

 

 

 

 

The barrel was finally done. Motor assembled and ready for install.

 

 

 

 

Had to buy a front tyre, then front end completed.

Got the engine in today. Always a fun job!

 

 

 

 

 

Mounted the Trailtech speedo. Avoiding starting on the wiring harness!

 

 

 

New grips and levers. courtesy the previous owner. I bought a $6 ebay kill switch and mounted the switch block.

 

 

I have bitten the bullet and started the wiring. Have decided to do it from scratch.

Test fitted the tank and seat. Then back to wiring.

 

Wiring all done!

 

Was a bit slack blogging the rest of the build. Had some ignition issues I eventually outsourced to get the bloody thing running. Kicking a 600 single over and over wore a bit thin.

I is now registered and I’ve put a few k’s on it. It runs beautifully and I can’t wait to do some big dirt rides.