My first big bore thumper, '77 Yamaha XT 500

[OneLeggedRider]

Now I know alot of the younger generation will look at the pic and figure this bike was pretty tame compared to today's standards, but trust me it was not. This thing was dangerous to kickstart and would stand up in all 5 gears. And even the "oldschool" suspension handled remarkably well.

The bike came with a compression release lever, but it very rarely would start if you kept it pulled in. The secret was to kick it over once with the lever pulled in and release it midway in the second kick. 80% of the time the bike would rumble to life which you were very thankful for. The other 20% involved you getting your ankle broken as it launched you 5 feet in the air and you landed 3 feet to the left side of the bike. Because of this I tried to always park it on a hill so I could bump start it in 4th or 5th gear.

Now once you managed to get the beast started without injury the rewards were simply amazing. Drop it in 3rd gear even when cold and it would dig a 6 inch trench from a standing start. And it was the wheelie king. You could dump the clutch at idle standing still and it would just stand straight up and carry you on the back wheel until you shifted your weight forward or grabbed the clutch (my wife found this out the hard way on her initial ride and it carried her into a thick briar patch).

The same for 5th gear wheelies at an abandoned air strip across the highway. And when we took it to the sand dunes for climbing hills it was amazing, more than enough power to keep the rear wheel churning and still accelerating. One of my favorite bikes over the years.

This bike also won the first Paris to Dakar Rally so yeah.. it was mean and very capable.

[Its_not_a_honda]

A friend of mine had one of these. I would do the up-keep on it for him. And of course I had to test it after working on it. Wow at the torque! You could actually put it in 5th, dump the clutch and dig a trench for as long as you wanted. I had a suzuki DR370. The most perfect power for trail riding that I've ever been on. The TT500 was just as docile until you moved you right wrist more than an 1/8th of a turn. Then the beast was set loose. That thing would climb any hill and turn around and laugh at it. Wish they still made that engine.

[cheesy]

I never had one but that ad put a smile on my face remembering the one guy I knew that did.

[paulsstag]

My best friend bought a brand new XT500 in 1980, it had the silver/black fuel tank, it took him a while to figure out how to start that beast , I had to get it started for him on many occasions when it was new, but eventually he got the hang of it

That being said, a pair of stout soled boots were necessary to keep from breaking your foot when it kicked back which happened often even when you knew the correct technique to starting them.

My friend had his XT for years as it was his primary means of transport to work and to college in down town Johannesburg ( South Africa ) i even remember him showing up at my house in the snow ( a very rare occurrence in the johannesburg area ( every 20 years or so ) ).

I think he put on over 100k km on it ( 60k plus miles ) and never had any problems. He gifted it to his younger brother who just rode the crap out of it for a few years which is impressive as that poor bike never got maintenance since he gave it to his brother.

It was such a good bike that when they released the new TT600 in late 83 as an 84 model i went out and bought one of the first TT600's in South Africa.

After breaking in my bike i challenged my friend to a drag race and that old XT actually beat me. So back to the dealership i went with my complaint that my bike was not fast enough ??

Turns out the new 600's were restricted from the factory. First off they had sort of 2 carbs feeding the single cylinder with probably two 30mm inlet ports but the factory put little flat metal plates after the carbs with holes about the size of a dime , not a nickle but a dime . then there was a second restrictor plate in the exhaust at the head where the exhaust bolted on.

OMG i nearly killed myself after the mods as when i gave her a handful of throttle in second and third gear it tried to just wheelie , i finally had the bike i wanted and one that would handily out run the XT . Also this 600cc did not try to kick your foot into submission or throw you back over to the left

Long live the XT 500 as it left a good impression on me.

[JerryHawk250]

Good example on how to not start a XT 500. They will hurt you. Ask me how I know. lol

Wait for it!

[OneLeggedRider]

Mine looked identical to the one in the top video with the silver tank. That wasn't even a really bad kick back. Most days it did it to me I just said screw it, I'm not riding today lol.

I'm not sure what the top speed was with stock sprocket sizes, mine was geared lower for the sand. But a great bike and thanks to the low seat height and center of gravity I had no trouble trail riding with my wife on the back. One day she decided she was gonna wear booty shorts and a tank top, which I advised against, but it was August in Florida so..

We proceed to climb this steep hill and about 3/4 of the way up is a short piece of barbed wire sticking up out of the ground. The chain and rear sprocket grabbed the wire and it wrapped around the axle dead stopping us. The bike flips over backwards and we go tumbling back down the hill and I end up on top of the bike which is on top of my wife, and her inner thigh is pinned between the ground and the extremely hot exhaust.

I gotta say she was a trooper and didn't shed many tears, but to this day she still has a scar on her leg. After that she wore pants when riding the XT.

[OneLeggedRider]

[paulsstag]

Top speed of my buddies XT500 was between 150-155 km/h this was at 6000ft above sea
level he did tell me he had seen 160km/h (just under 100mph)every now and then but usually around 150ish in normal riding ,ie not tucked down.

[OneLeggedRider]

If I remember correctly mine topped out at around 90mph, but I did go 1 tooth down on the front sprocket. That's been 20yrs ago though.

[pete]

My XT will top out somewhere around 115mph...
only done it once... not really made for those speeds
just did not feel safe...



.

[Megadan]

The kickback on any big single can bust your ankle. Honda was at least nice enough to actually put a detent mechanism on the kick starter of the XR650R to give an audible CLICK when you reached TDC so you could push just a hair past it and then kick it over. They tend to start easy, but they also love to flood if you are not careful.

I wouldn't mind an XT500 though. Always liked the styling. My problem is the unicorn factor. The last one I saw for sale was almost 3 grand.

[pete]

the old Yamaha DT360 got a few people..
if they kicked back and started.... you turned them off
and started them again....
there was a chance the motor was running backwards.
funniest thing is to see a motorbike take off backwards...


..

[peacefullyslow]

One of the guys in our group had the new XT500 while the rest of us were riding DT400s. He was a wild guy and a top notch rider and modder. The "superTrap" muffler was the first mod, an oil line tap directly to the valve cover was needed if you rarely set the front wheel down. It will always be true that it is the rider and not the machine that will conquer the rough, none of us could keep up with him when he was on that machine. I remember being so impressed that years later I bought the XT650. Despite the larger displacement, that XT500 would probably have walked all over me given the chance. Truly one of the wild rides of the past. Your fortunate to have had the opportunity.