The following pages are dedicated to the restoration of a classic Yamaha XT500 motorcycle from 1980. It began in May 2020 as a Covid-19 lock down project. Most of it has been written in hindsight, I made several mistakes and assumptions which have been ironed out to save on my embarrassment. These are documented elsewhere however, should you wish to rub my nose in it 🙂
If you’d like to ask me any questions related to any of the posts, please do so using the comments form at the foot of each page. Comments are only published once I have read them, if you don’t want them published let me know.
By way of introduction…
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- Yamaha XT500 G 1980 Australian market (imported to UK in 1990 then to Italy in 2004)
- Mileage at the start of the project: 76908 km
- Standard engine with one-off custom tank and seat.
- Engine/Frame number: 3H7-001310
- Manufactured Nov 1979
Bought a 1977 Yamaha XT500 from Yamaha City, Melbourne in 1989.
Ancient history – the short version:
It already had lots of after-market parts including a butt-ugly no-brand plastic tank. I bought another model 1980 privately as a non-runner intended for donor parts.
In fact this was reversed. In the end it turns out from all my recently discovered documents, that it was the frame and engine from the second one that I kept.
In those days I shot only transparency film, so I will have to dig through my archived boxes of slides and add them here as and when I find a way to scan them.
Bought another Yamaha XT500 privately for spares, also in Melbourne.
I combined the two bikes and managed to keep the engine and frame numbers the same through luck rather than design. I chose the better condition parts where possible. Ended up with a steed for traveling in the outback and bush. Must have sold, given away or left forgotten all the rest of the parts. Guilt sets in.
The hideous bulbous sickly-yellow plastic tank, 15 litres if my memory serves me, soon developed a very slow leak around the (after-market) petcock seal. No matter how many times I repaired it, the leak would come back after hours or days.
Much fun was had, many kilometres made in dirt and dust, mountains, forests, deserts, on beaches, the Blue Light Rally and of course bitumen. Many falls and repairs made along the way, then my visa was up and it was time to leave.
I contemplated selling it to pay for my flight home at the end of my visitor/work visa, but instead crated it and shipped it to the UK from Port Melbourne. It arrived in Tilbury docks some months later and I then registered it on a Q plate. I think that was because I didn’t have a bill of sale with the frame number on but at the time I didn’t care as I just wanted to ride it.
At some point I chucked the plastic tank, why oh why I didn’t search for an original tank back then will remain a mystery. It would have been a breeze compared to today and a fraction of the cost.
I borrowed an aluminium long range (custom) tank from a mate for a while. I also had an Eric Cheney XT500 which had an even smaller tank than the original.
Eventually I commissioned a new tank with the intention to make more long road trip adventures, that never really happened. It is stainless steel not aluminium, mainly because of the price but also the guy didn’t do aluminium. Yes it is very heavy. Almost bullet-proof.
Recent(ish) history:
Rode from Cornwall to Italy in 2004 (according to the last UK tax disc) during a very very hot summer, and somewhere around Stuttgart the engine died, thought I’d ran out of fuel but no. Finding TDC again to restart it felt kind of stiff but felt OK after a few turns. Overheated, seized? I hoped not, I prayed. I waited in my self-inflicted leather sauna for perhaps 20 minutes or so on the side of the autobahn. Checked oil level and got her going again after a few kicks. Tentatively I completed the journey as far as Austria. It stayed garaged with family until later in the year when I returned to make the final leg to Italy with my wife.
Approaching the Reschen Pass it started snowing, thick fast and sticky. The first snow of the season kept my visor wiper finger very busy for the next 60 minutes or so. Arrived in Val Venosta very wet and cold with a very cold and unimpressed wife.
It has been garaged since then, turned over and ran up the lane (as I failed in getting an Italian plate – at the time I was told that it was not possible to import a vehicle from the UK because they drive on the other side of the road. I am not kidding!). Fired up last time in 2015 after two kicks, full choke. Idled at 1150 with no choke. A bit smokey. The following photo was taken in 2010, from the odometer in another photo (not shown) I see it has done precisely 3 km since then.
Last tried to start it in 2016 and failed but there was a spark.
Removed all petrol from tank and carb, loosened spark plug and left stored. Since then only turned over very occasionally.
Over the previous years I picked up lots of spares and other XTs and probably kept swapping parts around, especially since I had the Cheney. I was even given a non-runner by someone once who just wanted it out of their Mum’s back yard (that would be an impossible dream today). I sold the last of my spare engines and other spares in about 2006/2007. Another regrettable impulse, as they would be useful to me now.
