Monday, June 28, 2010

1980 Yamaha XT 500

I have wanted one of these bikes since I first saw them in the 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only.  The one pictured above is listed on eBay and will end in 2 days time.  Do you think my wife would notice, if I parked it in the corner?  Currently the price is $1200 and the reserve has not been met, so luckily if it sells it will be more than I would be willing to pay.  If all the parts were there and it was just a little better condition...

Some of the evil henchmen rode XT500's of this very color scheme but they had one inch studs in the tires and the turn signals would flip around to become machine guns.  You can see the XT in the upper right of the movie poster.

See you on the road.
GAW

UPDATE 7/2/10:

The final bid was for $1274.  The seller lowered the reserve price on the last day.  $1274 is probably not a bad price, still more than enough to put me in the dog house for the rest of the year.
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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Gordon:

my friend used to have an XT500, I had it parked in my carport for a couple of years, never used it. At the time I had a Suzuki GS1100. It was interesting to get it started being a single cylinder with a compression release lever but I did get it going a few times

bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin

June 29, 2010 at 8:57 PM
682202 said...

Bob,

I would relish in the opportunity to try and start an old kick start XT. I can only imagine both the complexity and simplicity of such a machine as I have never been in the presence of a early eighties XT. You are a lucky man to have had one in your carport.

GAW

June 29, 2010 at 9:48 PM
Unknown said...

Gordon:

Not many would know how to start a single cylinder. There is so much compression, so there is a compression release. You can only start on the 1st downstroke. There is a sight glass on the top of the engine with a white marker to indicate TDC.

You pull the compression release lever so you can use the kick starter to rotate the motor until the white mark appears. You cannot do this without releasing the compression.

then you make sure the key is on, the fuel tap is on, release the lever and quickly push down on the lever with all your weight. Watch for the kickback if you don't get it started. of course I forgot to pull out the choke, so you have to do it all again. and just imagine if you stall in the middle of an intersection. better to push to the side of the road and don't ask how I know.

I believe the same procedure with all the SR and SRX 500 and 600's which I would love to have

bob
Wet Coast Scootin

June 30, 2010 at 11:26 AM

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