Topic: new project......worth it?

[fuzzybutt]

on another forum i belong to (caferacer.net) one of the members has a 72 yamaha tx500 for sale. it's a roller and a bad motor, it diesnt LOOK all that bad and i'm thinking this might make a great cafe project. he wants 50 for it.

[okie]

But it's a Yama, Yaha, Yomama; heck, I just can't even say that word.   

 am still working to learn the MOST IMPORTANT RULE.  Always start with the very best bike you can get.  Decide how much money you plan to have invested in the final product.  Then go shopping to see what you can get for that much money. You may be surprised.  I have two bikes in my garage now that I didn't follow THE RULE with, and I am wishing they were in somebody else's garage.  And to make things worse, I saved the eBay ad for the really nice one I could have bought for less money than I will have invested (Invested???  Doesn't that kind of imply that you are planning to make a profit?) when I'm finished with the piles of junk in the garage.  Just my opinion.

[bryanj]

Those motors are orrible with a capital O, if you want a permanent,expensive, project buy it----If you want to ride find something else!

[nickjtc]

What okie said, ditto. Don't do it....unless you plan on parting it out on e...y.

[bill440cars]

          fuzzy, I haven't had any experience with that model or the 750 twin, but I don't remember ever hearing anyone bragging on either one. For $50, you might be able to part it out on ebay and make some off of it cause some of the parts well fit other models. I know, with a $50 price on it and the fact that it doesn't look bad and all, it IS tempting. Like the others though, I wouldn't buy it to try to build on it.

                                 Take care, Bill

[fuzzybutt]

i appreciate the info folks, i think i'll pass on this one.

[RRRToolSolutions]

I strongly suggest passing. Oh that would be a 1973 model by the way - all of the 73's had that tank design.

In all of my collecting, VJMC meetings, discussion boards, and EBay exchanges, I have never known anyone that wanted one of the 500's. I don't like the 750's - the twin or triple any better. The 650's aren't fabulous, but everybody knows someone that had one, so there are always welcomed. I've had 3 and I really like them. They are dinosaurs in terms of technology, much like Harleys - except they don't leak and cost a whole lot less.

Gordon

[kirkn]

Oh, I dunno...

I've read a couple articles on the 750 and the 500 twins in Motorcycle Classics.  They gave conditional positive reviews to both.  The early 500s earned a bad rep early on for genuine issues - balancer chains that stretched out of sync, making vibration worse than no balancer at all.  They (early 500s) also overheated the heads, leading to cracking exhaust valve seats.  Then, too, they weren't exactly powerhouses ever.

By the end of the run (late 70s), the problems were pretty much fixed, but, give a dog a bad name and you might as well shoot him.

The 750s never really suffered like the 500s, but, they never really were very popular either.  Gotta remember the market dynamics of the time: twins were on the way out, and the UJM (an air-cooled inline four) was on the way in.  The 650 was the exception as it soldiered on...

Here's a guy who wants a '78 XS500:  http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/709199746.html

I had a 750 triple.  It had the "famous" Yamaha problem of jumping out of 2nd gear, but it had 35K miles on it, so SOMEone must've liked riding it...


But then, I'm a real sucker for the fringe, or Weird-Alice machines!  I can't EVER see myself owning a Yammie 650 twin for that very reason.  Too common.

 

[DarkRider]

If the motor didnt look like it came out of the bottom of the lake i might have considered taking a chance on it..the rest of the bike looks pretty clean to start with...

[kirkn]

Hmmm.......  I just re-read your original note.  Fifty bucks??  Ohhh, man.  I didn't realize it was so cheap.  With title?  Nearby?  Ohhhh, man, I'd have a hard time passing that up.

That engine don't look TOO bad, if you blow up the picture for a good look at it.  Just a little oil-weepy.  Not too much in the hard rust or gaping-holes-in-the-case department....

[fuzzybutt]

it's about a 2 hour drive for me, about halfway between columbia and atlanta. there is a title.

[misterpunch]

just remember you may get twice as much for it if you sell the sidecovers on eBay.  I'd buy it if I had another one that looked more promising, using this one for cosmetic parts.  but $50 is a great deal for the rolling chassis, I'd consider it that and only that at this point.