XT225 Ride Report

7 Sept 2006

After 3 months (to the day) and 1606km (nearly 1000 miles) of travelling that has included commuting to and from work on a regular basis and a couple of long trips over various road surfaces, I figure it is time to write a report on how the XT225 performs and how it measures up to my personal criteria.

First, I feel I must clarify what my personal criteria are, as everyone's needs differ.

When I bought the bike, my desire was for something that was reliable and economical for commuting to and from work yet was capable of reaching and maintaining 100km/h on the open road for longer journeys and was light and nimble enough for a little off-road fun and adventure riding.

Most of my riding is commuting through a fairly busy city (50km/h zone) over a hill and through some sharp corners but occasionally, when time permits, I like to go on longer rides or tours on the open road. On the longer rides, the critical word is "touring". I have no need nor desire to "fang it" or attain warp-speed; I like to cruise at around 100km/h and enjoy the ride. It is, after all, the ride that is important, not the destination.

"Adventure Riding", in my view, requires a bike capable of going anywhere - up hill and down dale from wide, smooth motorways to twisting gravel "goat tracks".

You can tour the World on anything, as many on Horizons Unlimited can attest, but some bikes would find certain "roads" extremely difficult or possibly even impassable. I could conceivably tour the World on my friend's Suzuki VZ800 "Marauder" but the extremely low ground clearance, the weight and the comparatively poor handling would seriously limit the roads I could use.

In order to explore the off-the-beaten-track roads, a bike with a degree of off-road capability is desirable. In my particular case (being fairly short) I also desired something small and light.

Now that my requirements have been established, let's see how the XT stacks up:

Commuting

Right from the start, I have been impressed with how nimble and manoeuvrable the bike is. It handles the corners around town with no problems and I am constantly reminded as to why I love Enduro bikes. The upright seating posture affords great visibility in traffic and the light weight of the bike makes parking and low speed manoeuvring a breeze.

One thing I noticed is that you have to shift up through the gears fairly swiftly when pulling away from the lights and it's a trifle slow in first gear. Crawling along in slow or stop-start traffic in first is also problematic as the bike tends to lurch forwards when you release the clutch and the front dives dramatically when you throttle off.

I have resolved those issues by starting off in second gear and find I get gentler and faster take-offs and I don't have to shift up as rapidly.

The XT225 has a reputation for being very reliable and "bullet-proof" and mine seems to be living up to that reputation so far. It starts without problems even in sub-zero temperatures and runs fine.

The fuel economy around town is good and I can commute for quite a while on a full tank of petrol.

Touring

I have to admit that prior to getting the XT, I had a certain preconception that a 250 or smaller would not be up to the rigours of long distance tours for a long time and that I would be pushing its limits too much. If I had been buying it 100% for myself, I would have probably bought a larger capacity bike - 400cc to 650cc - in as small a frame size and as low weight as possible.

My first decent, long trip was by myself through the Hakarimata Range and the bike ran well. I spent a lot of the trip travelling fairly slowly on unfamiliar or wet roads and the Hakarimata Range is not particularly challenging so I did not get a chance to fully test the bike's capabilities.

Therefore, prior to the run to the Cold Kiwi and back over roads that I have travelled on a variety of other bikes, I still had at the back of my head the idea that I would have to get a larger capacity bike and I was beginning to wonder how I was going to find one that would have the other physical characteristics I had grown to love in the XT - the weight, size, the way it cornered and handled etc - to the point I was wondering if it were possible to somehow shoe-horn a larger engine into the XT225 frame.

The trip to the Cold Kiwi on familiar but challenging roads - steep hills far higher than the Hakarimata Range - changed my mind about the XT225 by convincing me that it was up to the rigours after all - more so than my LS400, in fact.

I had expected that the little 225 would be lagging behind my friends' more powerful bikes (750cc and 800cc) on the steep hills, especially around the central plateau.

To my great surprise, the XT managed to keep up with Roj's Honda CB750K going up all the hills. The XT225 climbed the steep roads around the central plateau at 100km/h in sixth gear and nothing seemed to slow it down, including hilly stretches of road that our 1500cc family car has difficulty climbing.

The agility I had noticed at lower speeds when commuting was still there at 100km/h on the winding mountain roads and there always seemed to be enough left in the throttle to power around the corners.

It certainly has a lot more left in the throttle at 100km/h than the LS400 had - I had always felt I was caning the crap out of the LS400 at 100km/h and pushing its limits too far (ironic, considering I had bought the LS400 to commute daily between Hamilton and Te Awamutu at 100km/h and I had chosen a 400cc because I did not think a 250cc would be up to the task.)

The LS400 did not handle the ride though National Park anywhere near as well as the XT225 did.

We covered long stretches, took fairly short breaks and continued on and the XT maintained speeds up to 100km/h (slowing only to pass through towns or for dangerous corners) with no difficulty. The limiting factor was the rider rather than the bike.

In my assessment, the XT is more than adequate to climb steep hills and maintain the open road limit for extended periods and its performance (not its top speed) is favourably comparable with far larger bikes.

The XT225 is not capable of much more than 120km/h - making it unsuitable for riding on the Autobahn or similar but that just means you ride the slower, and probably more picturesque, roads at a pace more conducive to enjoying the scenery.

For my style of open road touring (not desiring to exceed the legal limit) the XT is a great choice.

Adventure Riding.

The "go anywhere" factor. As an Enduro, the XT is designed to handle conditions far more rugged than any road designed to accommodate cars, no matter how rutted and gravel-strewn. I have taken the XT over Otorohaea Trig Road in the Hakarimata Range - hilly, twisty, rutted hard earth covered in fine gravel - and along the 2km gravel track from the road to the Cold Kiwi camping site - likewise hilly, twisty and rutted but with coarser gravel and occasional fist-sized rocks. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an experienced off-road rider and I found the XT's light weight and excellent manoeuvrability advantageous in traversing what was, for me, extremely difficult terrain.

Roj, being a far better trail rider than I, took the XT (laden with my pack, tent and bed roll) down the track to the road and back again at 60km/h and I know of many people on the XT225 forum that take their XTs over far more rugged terrain including logs, large boulders and river crossings. The XT is more capable than I am of "going anywhere".

Fuel consumption

We started with full tanks in Hamilton, rode at speeds up to a little over 100km/h to Taumarunui and filled up again. The 800 and 750 required nearly $17 worth of petrol each; I paid a little over $10.

The best economy I've recorded was 29.35 kilometres per litre (US: 69.03mpg, UK: 82.9mpg, BMW: 3.41 litres per 100km) on the Hakarimata Range trip. The worst fuel consumption I recorded was for the following 16 days, mainly commuting to and from work: 21.66km/litre (US: 50.95mpg, UK: 61.19mpg, BMW: 4.62 litres/100km). Average fuel consumption since I have been recording it has been 24.78km/litre (US: 58.28mpg, UK: 69.99mpg, BMW: 4.04 litres/100km).

Comfort

A frequent complaint about the XT225 on the forum is that the seat is not particularly comfortable on long journeys and this is true. On my Hakarimata ride, I was in quite a bit of discomfort by the time I reached Rotongaro and I still had a fair way to go to get home.

The long ride to the Cold Kiwi and the riding around over the course of the weekend was not as arduous as my ride through the Hakarimata Range had led me to expect. On the first leg of the journey down I began to get uncomfortable and I was standing on my pegs occasionally by the time we reached Otorohanga. I was quite relieved when we had a rest stop at Te Kuiti (mind you, I was also hankering for a cigarette and something to drink by then, anyway, and would have wanted a rest break even if I had the most comfortable seat in the world).

Over the rest of the journey I found that if we only had a short rest I became accustomed to the seat and it did not seem as uncomfortable as before. The longer I rode, the more inured to the discomfort I became. If we stopped for too long, I found I became unaccustomed to the seat quite quickly and it became uncomfortable again.

A more comfortable seat would be good in many respects but it could also be argued that the pain in the posterior is a good cue to stop, look around, take in the scenery and pause to reflect on where you've been. Personally, I would get work done on the seat to make it more comfortable (as a smoker, I have sufficient reasons to take regular breaks from riding).

General Thoughts

I'm human, I love the feeling of ripping open the throttle as much as the next guy. When I do that on the XT, unless I'm in the midst of a 50km/h zone, I don't have to worry about possibly losing my licence. If I ripped open the throttle on a Super Sport bike like I do on the XT, I'd shortly be at "instant 28-day loss of licence, walk home" speed without even realising it.

I have loads of fun riding the XT around town and out on the open road. On the ride down to the Cold Kiwi my face was aching and I was beginning to think I'd need extensive plastic surgery to get the grin off my face. I can jump on the bike, open the throttle without worrying how much it's going to cost me and generally have a great time.

Load carrying.

For the Cold Kiwi I made do with a 45-litre pack, single person tent and bed roll bungee-strapped to the rear of the seat and the tail light assembly and managed to carry almost everything I required for the weekend (Roj carried the gas cooker on his bike and I purchased my food and drink supplies in Ohakune after I had unloaded my gear from the bike at the site).

A proper tail rack and pannier frames to allow the mounting of saddle bags would allow a bit more gear to be carried for longer tours. The fact that the XT lacks the room for large panniers ensures that only necessities are carried and the kitchen sink remains in the bench at home where it belongs.

Negatives

The only thing that disappoints me about the XT225 (and it also applies to most other Enduro-style bikes) is the lack of a centre stand - either as a standard fixture or an after-market part. A centre stand would greatly facilitate maintenance when on the road.

Summary

Commuting: Reliable, economical and an absolute "weapon" in the confines of town - especially if you ignore first gear entirely.

Touring and Adventure Riding: I feel quite confident I could tour anywhere on the XT225 and take any road that I fancy.

I have often described the XT225 as "one of the best bikes I've ever ridden on the road" - with a more comfortable seat it would be "the best bike I've ever ridden on the road". Fitted with a centre stand and proper racks to secure a slightly bigger load, it would be perfect for the uses to which I hope to put it.

After my experiences with the XT225, I am glad that I did not buy a bike with a higher engine capacity. Such a bike would still be bigger and heavier than the XT225 and so may not have been quite as suitable to my needs in some areas and, because I bought a bike "with a capacity of less than 250cc" as per the legal requirements for strayjuliet to learn on, I accidentally fulfilled a criterion of which I wasn't consciously aware until I had a chance to get to know the bike: "as much fun as my old TS125".

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