Yamaha SR500

I have had a couple of vfr riders comment to me about my Yamaha SR500 in a thread about fitting a license plate to a vfr800.

I have been a fan of the SR500 since they were new. I was road racing when they came out and didn't get around to getting one until 1994, trading used kitchen cabinets for it. I rode it for a while parked it for years and bought a second one in 2007. Both are 78's I also have a stock 79 XT500.

I have kept my first bike stock and set up my second SR into a cafe/chopper style.

Here is a copy of the original brochure I picked up at a dealer in 1978. 1978 Yamaha SR-500 brochure and specifications

Some of our bikes:

My Black SR:




There is something honest about these bikes. Very simple single cylinder. Kick start.

 

Very cool man! Thanks for sharing.

BZ

 

Nice! Both the XT and the SR, (poor mans DB32) are great bikes, and the SR really lends itself to the cafe racer look. I'm currently trying to pry a BSA 441 Victor (poorer mans DB32), out of the hands of an aquaintance of mine so that I can give it the cafe look.

Gotta love that single cylinder cafe look. I'm thinking gloss black, big headlight, Tomaselli bars and VERY shiny chromework. Yeah Baby!

 

There are more than significant differences between a 441 Victor and a Gold Star. The Gold star gets one and the 441 doesn't..

Bought a brand new 78 SR-500 for $1425.00 out the door. Still have it.

Ported/flowed head
36mm Mikuni
White Bros. header and can
Mild cam.. Fuzzy on from whom..
90mm piston
Koni shocks
Progressive fork springs
Gunner Gasser throttle
Seat by Rich's
Honda 400 bars
Billet cam chain adjuster cap. by Denny Berg.. a nifty farkle
Hand formed chainguard
Complete set of tank, seat and cowl and side covers in contrasting colors in red
Custom paint in yellow
K&N air filter
Triumph/BSA style tail light/brake light/ license plate assembly.

Fun to ride. Plug clean and gap, valve adjustment, chain adjustment and lube, a cosmetic changeover and a wash job in 30 minutes..

Almost complete parts bike too.

These did not sell well in the US.

You might want to inspect your center stand. The welds are not great and if a weld fails, the bike will pitch over.

 

BadBilly
How about a pic of your bike? Sounds like some nice upgrades to your engine. Mine is a stock bore.

My center stand is gone and my side stand is made from the same 4130 tubing as the handlebar, my handlebar and kick stand are over a pound lighter than the stock thick wall stock bar and solid butter quality side stand. I have bicycle bar end mirrors. I made the headlight mount from some generic half inch tubing. I hated those chrome ears. It weighs 319 pounds and could be a bunch lighter with modern wheels and brakes and frame

One of the reasons that I got my vfr was to have an electric start.

I remember the old BSAs always liked them but these were available more easily.

 

Thumpers do have some appeal, but I would stick with the Yamaha or... anything Japanese, probably. All the old British vehicles I owned and/or wrenched on were great when they were running well, but my best guesstimate is that 2 hours of running equaled 2 hours of repair and/or maintenance. Regardless, nice bike!

 

Never shot the bike with digital. Most is on KC 25, or Tri-X. All carefully stored and filed away in a pile somewhere..

Painted mine 3-4 times. First was a Mercedes silver. Mag wheels are available but bring your checkbook, best deal IMO is the later spoke wheels. Tons and tons and tons of aftermarket stuff for the SRs. Friend of mine Bill White (RIP) built one he called, the Nipton.. Looked like a Manx Norton.. Popular bike for vintage class road racing around my hood.

Main reasons for the VFRs is reliability except for the "dreaded" R/R on the 750&800 models.

Any 5/8" bars should work.


Electric starters were around awhile in the 70's I have a R100RS with an electric starter. Works just fine unless the temp drops to below 40 or so F. Krauser heads and too much messing with the engine taxes the poor thing. This bike has a name too. "The Moneypit." A pic of that one is on the website for Rich's Seats in Seattle under "Vintage BMW."

I think you are going to find that a 441 Victor is gonna be fewer bucks than a Gold Star. The Gold Stars are collectable and there are serious vintage guys out there on the hunt as we speak. Lots of differences in the bikes.

 

It's taken me 10 years to make the transition from film to digital. Makes me sick to see what my "good" cameras and darkroom stuff are now worth. I used to buy 100 ft spools of surplus bw film and roll my own.

My budget for bikes has dwindled in the last number of years. It is either old crap and DIY for repairs and customization or do without. No money for some nice wheels for a bike I ride 100 miles a year.

I am trying to convince myself that I "need" a Yamaha WR450, I really don't like kicking the big thumpers anymore. I am sure that it will be way more money than my vfr, which is the main reason I ride a small play bike in the dirt.

I don't dread repairs, I was an electronics tech 40 years ago and am familiar with diagnosis and have the tools that I need.

Guess what sold me on the VFR was that my wife got a 89 VTR250 in 2007 and even with hard running by previous owners, it still spins up like a top. It has better overall performance than my SR500. They must both be about 30-35 hp machines. The SR is done reving at 7,000 and the VTR goes to 14,000 At 77mph the VTR is taching 10,000 with plenty left. Both get 60 mpg.

 

Somewhere in one of the many piles I still have a couple of Nikon film carts. They were good for 40 frames. 100' rolls of Tri-X I could buy wholesale. Still doing a mix.. I shoot Nikon and all but a few exotics fit the Nikon DSLRs and my trusty Fuji Finepix S3 Pro. Too much glass over the years and a drawer full of bodies.

The fun thing about an SR and thumpers in general is grabbing a whole handfull of throttle coming out of a corner and not getting busted by the local LEOs for any number of violations. I had a Goldstar flattracker.

My 750 VFR is a 91 and I have a 1200. Several improvements on the 91. Suspension mostly.

I agree on the wheels even unlaced mag/aluminums are pricy and the uberlight mags are just targets for thieves or sort of like some cars that are worth half a yard with wheels worth ten times as much. Go figure.


Off this AM for a long test ride on a FJR 1200. Mild lowside and the maintenance is not great but for an 89 really low miles. 16k. Oh Shit! Another project..

 

In mint conditon a 441 rolls in at about about $10,000 cheaper than a Gold Star. I'ts the basic look not the actual performance that's attaractive. And unlike some of the other classic BSA's the Gold Stars are notoriouly cranky runners. The 441's have their moments, but a LOT less hassle to keep running. As far as money goes, anyone who's thrown money at an old Brit bike should know that you're never likely to realise any kind of monetary gain from bringing one back to riding life. My 1971 T100 has cost me more money than I'll ever admit to SWMBO, but it's still in the shed and get's ridden regularly - when the motor isn't stripped for yet another rebuild. The 441 I have my eye on hasn't seen road life in at least 20 yrs that I know of, and the guy that owns it hasn't a clue about how to wrench on a toaster let alone a bike, so my hopes are fairly high I might get it for a grand or less. BTW, his cousin has a Gold star that hasn't seen the road for a similar amount of time. He likely doesn't realise that it's going to cost him an arm and a leg to get it up and running agian - C'est la vie.

 

Better IMO, to toss bucks at an old Britbike than a Knucklehead.

 

So sez the Mrs when she's denying me my next "must have" bauble, and I'm not a Britbke

 

Maybe a KH, a KR, a Fatboy, or an EVO? Maybe even a V Rod..

 

Skinny Ass MoFo is more like it. At 155lbs soaking wet, I don't think I could get one of those tractors off the sidestand. :wink:

 

Could you do it underwater employing the Archimedes Principle? HD's aka, Milwaukee Boat Anchors..

 

I guess I like bikes more than some here, dissing HD? If you embrace motorcycles of all flavors you will get a more well rounded appreciation of what the sport is all about. If someone gives you a chance to ride their road bike dirt bike race bike, by all means do it.

I personally have never owned one. The fork tubes were something like 2". They couldn't flex appreciably. Torque galore, throttle response just dwarfs the vfr for a second or two. Once our bikes get revved then game is over. The instant feel is quite satisfying however.

In some ways the SR is like the HD. All of it's power is an immediate, no shifting type of power.

With a seat ht of 4" lower than the sport bikes the milwaukee bikes are manageable by a lot of smaller riders There are a number of women that ride them not all of them are big dykes on bikes.

I wear black leathers and don't ride with any group that all rides the same bike, I am not wanting the inbred type of motorcycle scene.

 

I agree 100%. I had the chance to take a HD for a test ride last year and while I wouldn't pay the money they want for them I was very pleasantly surprised. It took the rest of the day for the smile to go from my face, and surely that's the reason we ride bikes in the first place.

 

I don't care what you say. I ain't group huggin no Harley or a mini- dyke on a Harley, and none of that Kumbiya shit is gonna change my mind!

 

Oh Girls, Get a Grip! How can you possibly get all teary about bikes that that can't get out of second gear:flypig:, are so big they cause eclipses of the sun and starvation in India, carry mostly guys who dress up as if they were women, (I've heard that there's a new line of HD makeup for men - comes w/ stick on, partially grown facial hair and Bad Breath lozenges), cost more money per pound than most of make in a year, and deafen small children and animals.

Sure, they also make attractive women take their clothes off :boobies4:, but slutty sex ain't everything!

 

I love my Harley-Davidson
I love it like my life
I even love it better than I even love my wife
I love to lubricate it
And grease it down real good
I'd really like to fuck it
Subjunctively dood
Oh would that I could.