In addition to a list of modifications, below you will find my thoughts on how the bike and the various changes I made held up during the trip. For similar reviews on all the gear I took, take a look at the page marked "The Gear".
Where would any good Welsh lad be without his sheep? Idris seen here sporting the latest in black sheepskin
Attached to the frame in front of the pannier, you'll see a 'Lubeman' chain oiler. Much cheaper than other more well known brands, it will be interesting to see how that works out.
There are also some Metal Mule lowering 'bones' fitted to the rear suspension.
Plus the ABR sticker, Idris wouldn´t leave home without it!
Also some touratech engine guards.
And a Hein Gerike bar bag.
You'll note the front forks have been lowered 14mm through the yoke.
Time to show off those lovely ARDcases mounted on Halon racks, and with two tool tubes fixed to the inside of the boxes (when removing the cases the tool tubes slot through the rack).
You can also see the home made bottle mounts on the back of both boxes - the left for mounting spare oil, and the right for two water bottles, held firmly in place with elasticated velcro straps.
You'll also note the fender extender on the front, and the DNA sticker evidencing a stage 2 upgrade to the airfilter, with snorkle removed, plus there is a 'kev mod' to adjust the fueling.
A nice set of Mefo Explorers, with heavy duty innertubes and ultraseal.
What was the verdict on Idris as an overlander choice?
First up, in my humble opinion, I can´t see the value in going for a 1,000cc plus motor as an overland choice (well, perhaps unless you are riding in a group where everyone is using the same larger capacity machine - and where people are available to help you lift the thing up). Idris´ 660cc single thumper pushed out more than sufficient horses for me. And while there were times on longer motorway type stretches where a larger capacity machine would have done the job better (and easier), I didn´t feel that the 660 was being strained at any stage.
Idris also proved capable of hauling me in relative comfort (once the sheepskin bedded in) along with my luggage and gear. I think I will have a look at modifying the mounting of my hard panniers a little lower to bring down the centre of gravity a little (I went for the ease of a flat surface across the pannier tops and rear seat - which resulted in quite a high carry position for most of my gear). But, again, that wasn´t a major issue.
The 23 ltr tank was a boon, and with reasonable fuel I was able to return over 500kms on a tank on a regular basis. In fact, I averaged 72mpg over the 20,000+ mile trip. Incredible - and that saved me quite a few pennies. It was also impressive that the machine ran well on fuel from 84 to 97 octaine - with the only notable difference being the tank range, rather than throttle response. Equally, I had no issues in riding the machine at altitudes over 4,500 meters. Again, impressive.
As the bike is a single, maintenance was very simple and cost effective - though in truth I didn´t need to do that much. I changed out the oil and filter every 6.000 miles or so. I changed a few light bulbs, tyres, the OEM chain and rear sprocket, and cush drive rubbers (which are now packed out with inner tube). The bike always started first click - hugely reliable. The only mechanical issue I had, really, was the need to rebuild the OEM shock. It had gotten all gunked out with fine fesh fesh in the desert and had lost its damping. The rebuild did work, however, and I´ve since done some 6,000 miles on it without issue. It now needs a good service and the thottle is sticking open a tad from time to time. In short, if I needed to take it a distance - I wouldn´t worry about packing up and heading off again overnight.
And, while reporting on the positives, the bike also still looks pretty cool. I think the red and grey helps, and the colour seems to stand out in photos even when the thing was actually pretty dirty. This also helped attract attention almost everywhere. And particularly from those who knew their bikes it attracted a little envy too, and often sparked the question as to why Yamaha don´t routinely supply the XT660Z across the Americas. I´m afraid I can´t answer that. I know they are pushing the 1200 as the overlander of choice - and that is a very mpressive machine - but the 660 has a lot going for it too, particularly if you are travelling solo.
But are there any downsides to taking this machine on a major trip? Yes, hand on heart there is one. Travelling around the world´s waistband would be less of an issue, but it seems to me that in both the north and south extremes there lives a whole lot of wind. And wind at a level where you probably want to be a low down as possible. On an XT660Z you ride high - great in traffic and in other country areas - but in the high winds of Patagonia, for example, I often felt like a sail! At a fuel stop on Tierra del Fuego I noted that a chap who was more or less the same hight as me was sitting on his GS1150 a head lower! I can´t help thinking that this was a distinct advantage in the land of the wind.
That said, if I went on another big trip, would I take Idris? Yes, without a second thought. This bike got me out of trouble a few times - and it has soul. It gets under your skin in a way that only some bikes do. And if you are going to spend months travelling together, then that quality is essential.
Very Highly Recommended
So, to list the bike mods - and to see how they held up:
ARDcases x2 and halon racks - Half the price of some big name brands, but not half the quality, these welded ali boxes were produced to my spec and colour scheme by Roger at ARDcases. But the question is, are they ard? Oh yes, they are indeed! They took the brunt of all my falls, and while now sporting the rakish scars that any overlander would be pround of, they continue to function and remain waterproof. A little fiddly to dismount, perhaps, but nevertheless that can be done within 30 seconds (with a bit of practice) each box. And with a bit of garden hose and para cord linked across the tie loops on the lids, we get a very cheap and easy carry handle too. The locks on both sides are easy to use - though you only have to undo one side and use the other as a hinge. Very Highly Recommended.
Tool tubes x2 - Mounted to the boxes, which then slot through the racks when fixing the boxes to the bike, these are really handy extra storage for items that you may not need on a regular basis (its a bit tricky to unscrew the caps as they sit behind the indicators - good for security, but I need to take the boxes off to get in them easily). Recommended.
Bottle mounts (home made) x2 - I can´t remember where I got the inspiration for these, but I made them myself from a strip of ali and some kitchen draw handles. The elasticated velcro straps worked in perfect harmony in holding both two litre bottles of water and spare oil to the outside of the boxes without issue. Cheap and easy to make, worked a charm, and don´t look bad either. Highly Recommended.
Sheepskin seat cover - I almost crippled myself the first time I rode a couple of days in Idris´ standard seat. Talk about a pain in the arse! Covered with the black sheepskin, however, I can now ride all day in reasonable comfort. In fact, after the first 6,000 miles or so, the seat seemed to finally bed in and it became particularly comfortable. The skin keeps your bottom warm in cold weather, and it doesn´t get too toasty if you inadvertantly park it up in the burning sun. It also seems to wash pretty well with a hose. When it gets wet, I´ve found if I take the seat off the bike, bash its back end on the floor a few times, most of the water shakes off. I love this seat now. Very Highly Recommended.
DNA Stage 2 Airfilter - said to give the bike a few more horses, it also helps reduce the amount of exhaust popping that the standard set up creates - which is not bad either... when overlanding you don´t really want to scare the natives. Highly Recommended.
XT660.com Kev fuel mod - in conjuction with the airfilter this mod fools the temperature sensor into altering the fuel mixture. It smooths out the throttle response to remove the snatchiness and also helps cut down on those backfires! Cheap and easy to fit. Highly Recommended.
Camel Toe - With a standard length sidestand on lowered suspension, the bike stands quite upright, especially under load. With the Camel Toe fitted, it is pretty much 100% vertical - which is not great. Dakar Motos kindly altered the underside, fitting countersunk screws instead of bolt heads, which helped it sit a little lower. But it is still too straight, so I took the thing off after leaving Peru. While fitted, it really does help stop the sidestand sink into soft ground. I´m thinking of shortening the sidestand a little, in which case I´ll refit it. Recommended.
Touratech Horn Repositioner - this is essentially a mounting adaptor that moves the horn from right in line with front wheel muck to underneath the coolant expansion bottle and the right hand side of the bike. Cheap and easy to fit, it avoids the horn getting all mucky from road dirt. Recommended.
Touratech GPS Bracket - The XT660Z has a little black bar across the top of the clocks designed to fit stuff to it. The only problem is it is too close to the clocks for anything useful to be mounted there. So this Touratech bracket essentially extends the mounting bar higher up. Well made and easy to fit, as you would expect for the TT price, it nevertheless does the job well, looks good, and didn´t slip down at all during the trip. Recommended - if you want to mount a GPS that is (bit pointless otherwise).
Touratech Garmin Nuvi 550 GPS Mount - Relatively expensive, but very well made and lockable by key, this mount attaches to the above bracket and has vibration aborbing rubber mounts built in. It really works too. In fact it is a very impressive bit of kit, the only bug being that without the GPS installed in its clamp like cage, it buzzes like crazy with the vibes from the engine! I use an elastic band wrapped around the unit to prevent that! Highly Recommended.
Skidmarx Touring Screen - A lot of these mods are subjective as the effects will depend on rider size and riding style, take the standard screen for example. I found that at over 60 mph I suffered some of the worst head buffeting I have ever experienced on a bike. It was like someone was smacking my head from side to side with a wet fish! In short, this higher aftermarket screen stopped that... nuff said! It was pretty cheap too. Very Highly Recommended.
Skidmarx Clear Headlight Cover - Fitted to avoid damage from flying stones, it attaches through some super-velcro style grips (3M Duel Grips I think). It fell off on a few occations, after around 10,000 miles of travel. And despite application of super glue on the grips, they refused to continue to hold it secure. It finished the trip in a pannier while I try to figure out a better way of securing it. Not Recommended.
Barkbuster Hand Guards - These are designed with the viby nature of the XT660 in mind, so come with built in bar end weights. They have quite a chunky ali bar which sweeps around the front of the bike´s levers and attaches again to the handlebar through some suitably robust mounting brackets. The hand guards are then finished with plastic plates (two on either side allowing you to adjust the amount of protection you want). I fell off a few times on the trip (plus the bike went over on its own) and the Barkbusters hit the deck on each occation. And each time they protected both my hands and my levers. I did have to file the ali down a little after one fall, as the burr threatened to cut skin. But once done, they were back to looking cool again. Not the cheapest hand guards around, but they really are easy to fit, look good, and robust in a fall. Very Highly Recommended.
Touratech Upper Engine Crash Bars - The XT660Z´s fuel tank has some cheap but well made protective plastic panels on each side, which are designed to take the hit when (rather than if) the bike goes over. However, below that on both sides of the bike in standard form there is little protect the bike´s vitals. Indeed, in standard form most of the bike´s impact would likely hit the tank protector if it went right over. So I decided to fit these upper engine guards to not only protect that area of the motor, but also to ease possibility of heavy tank damage. They come with some well engineered heavy duty mounting plates which bolt direct to the bike´s frame. In short, the usual standard you´d expect from TT. And, I think, they look pretty good too. And I´ve had the oppportunity to test them out. Most falls were absorbed without issue (but with a few scratches), but the heaviest one with the greater forward momentum saw the left side bar being pushed backwards a little as the bike slid down the road. A few smacks with my camping mallet sorted that, and they continue to work well. You´ll note below that I´ve fitted thee with a different lower engine guard and bash plate by Adventure Spec. If you do the same, be prepared to 'modify' the left hand crash bar to fit. A bit of heat and careful hammering will relieve the underside of the lower arm sufficiently for the two to fit together. Highly Recommended.
Adventure Spec Lower Engine Crash Bars and Bash Plate - perhaps the more or most expensive on the market, I was immeadiately impressed by the engineering quality put into this bit of kit. It comprises a powder-coated crash bar that fits around the lower of the engine and up around vital components, such as the water pump on the right hand side. Mounting is straight forward. The chunky ali bash plate then sits within this frame. All together it looks really good, and did the job well judging by the number of times I could hear the bash plate ringing with stone hits... without damage or incident. I did find the bash plate was ringing like a buddist prayer bowl over 4,000 rpm when I first fitted it - a really strange sound to hear on a bike and one that had me dismount the kit and fit the original plastic one for a while to narrow down the cause. I ended up using some plastic washers on the front mounting bolts between the crash bar and bash plate, which seemed to solve the problem. Also remember to torque up the rear bolt well. Very Highly Recommended.
Xenon Headlight Bulbs - I swapped out the main and dipped beam bulbs for these before heading off, plus took a spare (and the two originals). These bulbs provide a clearer and whiter light than the standard issue that cuts into the dark with greater efficiency. I´m sure there is someone out there who can report the difference in technical terms, but I felt they offered around 50% greater visability. In short a cheap and easy modification, which offered greater night time visability. The only negative was that these replacement bulbs do not fit as perfectly as the originals, and on two occations I had to refit them as they had stopped working (the second time a small elastic band was used to supplement the metal spring-clips in holding them in place). Recommended.
Pivot Pegs - I didn´t find the comparitively small original pegs that comfortable, so I looked around for something larger. I plumped for these after much soul searching - they are quite expensive for such small items after all. But I am glad I did. The wider footpad feels more comfortable and secure, with the metal teeth offering a suitably non-slip surface for my boot, without eating away at the boot´s sole unnecessarily. Stood up they, again, feel strong and secure, with the slight pivot allowing for easier rear braking. That said, I could not help wonder whether the flexing at the ankle would prove overly tiring over time. Due to generally higher winds on my dirt road stretches, I didn´t stand up for long periods. One of my favourite mods. Very Highly Recommended.
Hiflo Oil Filter - I used Hiflos on each oil change throughout the trip (4 in total). I think they offer a good balance between price and performance. Recommended.
Yamaha Centre Stand - This was the only mod already fitted to th bike when I purchased it. And I´m glad that it was as it saved me having to install it. I would not do this sort of trip without a centre stand. It proved vital in changing out the front wheel puncture on the side of the road in Patagonia, but also most useful in doing regular maintenance throughout the trip. Very Highly Recommended.
Fenda Extenda - A relatively cheap bit of black platsic which is stuck to the back of the front mud guard to prevent some of the road crud from flying up into the bike´s radiator. And it worked. Does look too bad either. Recommended.
Handlebar Ram Mount for Camera - Cheap and easy to fit, this was handy when mounting the video camera. It didn´t get in the way either. Recommended.
Iridium Spark Plug - How do you rate a spark plug? The technical bods will tell you that this mod will give you a few more horses, so I´ll have to take that as read (hard to tell on the throttle given all the other changes). The bike started first click every time, and I must confess to not having even checked the thing since before setting off some 24,000 miles plus now - and the thing still starts like a young un, and pulls like a train. On the basis of all that, I´d say it has worked out well. Highly Recommended.
Loobman Chain Oiler - I took a bit of a punt with this chain oiler for a few reasons. The first was the price (around 20 if I recall correctly) - it was one of the cheapest on the market. The second was that it used standard engine oil, which I was planning to carry a supply of anyway. So it made sense. The oil is primed by a spring loaded plunger, and then gravity fed onto the rear sprocket via a couple of cable ties mounted in a bespoke holder. It was also relatively easy to fit and easy to use... for the first few thousand kms. It then started to get its feeder holder bogged down with a mix of oil and road dust/sand which prevented the oil feeding correctly onto the sprocket. This required more fiddly cleaning to keep the oil feeder clean and operational... which got to me after a while. By the time I arrived in Lima, Peru (where I was changing out the chain and spocket) I had decided to dump the thing, and revert to a can of chain oiler, as it was easier to spray the chain than have to keep adjusting and cleaning the feeder cable ties. To be fair most riding in the UK and rest of the EU (where the product was designed) would not see the level of dust and sand I encountered - and for UK style riding I would seriously consider it again. But for overlanding, I would look around for a similar product using engine oil, but depositing it through a simpler feeder direct onto the inside of the chain. Not Recommended (for overland use).
12v Dash Mounted Power Supply - A cheap marine unit bought on e-bay and installed on the inside of the side plastics (where the front indicator is mounted). Fits well there, and worked a treat. Essential to power the air compressor and GPS. Very Highly Recommended.
Symtec Heated Grips - This type are the heating elements which are stuck onto the handlebars under the original hand grips. Fitted with a black plastic rocker switch (high, off, low) on the bike´s black dash they look like they were factory fitted. Also, to power them I tapped into the 'spare' power supply to be found behind the bike dash, so they switch off when the key is removed. Heated grips are a must for this type of trip, and these worked very well, and at a good price. The fitting instructions were also clear and easy to follow. Highly Recommended.
Power Supply for Heated Jacket - Hard to say whether this is a clothing or bike modification (as the cables came with the Reis heated waistcoat), but I have included the write up here, as the cables are permanently fitted to the bike. Directly wired to the underseat battery, the cable sat there when nit in use, and when in colder climes, juts out the left hand side of the bike ready to connect to the jacket. Well made, and with no operational issues. Highly Recommended.
HD Inner Tubes - I used the rear tues for the whole trip - in fact it is still in there. The front got holed by something major in Argentina and swapped out for my spare when I couldn´t get the patch to sit. Recommended.
Mefo Explorer Tyres - Hmmm... tricky one this. A good price, and a tread pattern that worked well on gravel and dirt. They also delivered some 15,000 kms before I changed them out - and I could have got considerably more, particularly from the front. However, that very same tread pattern tracked badly on the poor quality tarmac roads in the south, giving me a few (uneccessary) moments, when I seemed to loose control of the bike. By the time I got to Peru and the chance of some very cheap Pirellis, I had lost confidence in them and had had enough. Switching to the Pirellis proved the point, and immeadiately inspired greater confidence. I might get more if I was riding good tarmac and gravel (say, in Spain), but I would not use these Mefos again on an overland trip. Not Recommended (for overland use).
Hein Gerike Tuareg Bar Bag - A cheap black plastic zipped bag that sits neatly across the handlebar support rail. It housed my sunglasses, rubber gloves, rag, fuel and milage notebook, rubber bands, pen and GPS power cable (when not in use). It also helps break up the air flow rising up the forks. Very Highly Recommended.
Metal Mule Suspension Lowering Kit - 30 minutes to fit, a cheap and easy way of shaving a bit off the bike´s height. I wasn´t planning on doing this mod until one day just before heading off on the big trip, I had been out on the mountain for most of the day and was pretty tired. Returning home in Wales, I very nearly dropped the bike pulling onto the drive. My legs were tired and feet not well planted. Given that I could expect to get tired on the trip, I decided to lower the bike. And I was glad I did (though I am now thinking of raising it back up again). A well made product. Recommended.
