I was at a local welding shop making arrangements to have repairs done on one of our trucks. There was a dirty old Yamaha XT-500 sitting in the corner. I inquired about and was told that the apprentice owned it and wanted to get it running so he could sell it. It had 14,388 kilometres on it and had not ran since 1982. I made a deal with him and hauled it home for $850.00. I stripped it down and gave it a good cleaning replaced the clutch, brake, and throttle cables. Replaced the fork seals and oil. Lubed the wheel bearings. set the valve clearance. Replaced the rusted chain. Replaced both tires. Had the seat reupholstered. Replaced the carb jets. A battery and oil and filter. I had to make a new baffle and outlet for the muffler that was rusted away. It was a fun project. Things have come a long way since 1980 as far as suspension horse power and brakes are concerned. The old drum brakes were scary. Did I mention vibration.
Very nice! I rode a 79 SR500 from New York to New Mexico. It vibrated but hey, I arrived. There's other paint shakers I think are a lot worse.
