I’ve gone and bought another old bike.
This time it’s a 1977 Yamaha XT500. Well, mostly a 1977 XT500. The frame and bike are 1977, but it’s running an 1983 engine, so it’s not exactly matching-numbers stuff. And to be honest, I quite like that.
This isn’t a bike I’ve bought to sit in the garage looking pretty.
I want to ride it.
The XT500 is one of those bikes that has always had a bit of a reputation. A proper old-school trail bike. Big single. Big thumper. Kickstart. Minimal fuss.
And a fair bit of racing history behind it. So let’s touch on that first before I get onto the details of my own XT500.
Yamaha XT500 : Paris Dakar Success
The XT500 became famous for its toughness and off-road ability, and Yamaha’s XT500 went on to become closely associated with the early days of the Paris-Dakar. In 1979, Cyril Neveu won the very first Paris-Dakar Rally on a modified XT500. Then repeated the feat again the year after. That’s quite a CV for what looks, by today’s standards, like a very simple old trail bike.
The XT500’s success in desert rallying helped convince Yamaha that there was a market for a motorcycle built specifically for long-distance adventure riding. That eventually led to the XT600 Ténéré in 1983, which carried the Dakar-inspired adventure-bike idea much further.
Let’s get it started: The leg breaker
When I look at the thing sitting in the garage I thought. Right. How hard can it be to start?
Pretty hard, apparently.
At least it was for me at first.
It’s been a while since I had to kickstart a bike, and to be honest the only bikes I’ve had with kickstarters have been two-strokes. Not a big single that you can’t just jump on, kick it ten times and hope for the best.
There’s a knack to it. You have to find that sweet spot, get everything lined up and then give it a proper kick. And when I say proper, I mean it.
The first few attempts were a bit of a comedy routine. Me kicking. The bike refusing. Me wondering whether I’d bought a motorcycle or a very expensive exercise machine.
But I’m getting the hang of it. Slowly.
However, when that big 500 finally fires, it makes you grin.
There’s something about the sound and feel of an old air-cooled single that modern bikes just don’t replicate. You can feel every pulse of the engine. You know you’re sitting on something mechanical rather than something that’s been designed to hide all the mechanical bits from you.
That’s what I like about the XT. It’s honest.
It’s also got its little nuances, as you’d expect from a bike that’s pushing 50 years old. Things aren’t quite as slick as they would be on a modern bike, and I’m still figuring out exactly what it likes and doesn’t like.
But that’s part of owning an old motorcycle. You learn the bike. You learn its starting routine. You learn its noises. You learn which noises you probably shouldn’t ignore.
And eventually, hopefully, you stop treating it like a machine you’re operating and start riding it like a bike you actually understand. That’s where I’m heading with this one.
My 1977 XT500 with its 1983 engine, and kickstarter is certainly getting me reacquainted with and a fair bit of old school motorcycle riding. That’s the fun of it.
Final thoughts
My XT500 is an old-school trail bike with proper enduro heritage and a cracking bit of history behind it. And I’m looking forward to putting some miles on it. I will be adding a few upgrades but the more I look at it the more I want to keep the authentic patina.
This is just the start of this story….
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