Topic: '76 Yamaha XT500C .... Finally found a thumper....

[morethrottle]

I've been looking for a vintage Yamaha thumper for some time now. I wanted a TT but this XT500 came up on CL for a good price and I had to jump on it. It was a barn find and had been sitting for over 20 years. The motor turns freely but no spark (yet). I definitely intend to make this a street only machine, now the only question is: Street Tracker? or Vintage Supermoto? All I know for sure is that my YZ250F race bike was stolen a while back, and it's nice to have another Yami thumper in the stall. Even if it's almost as old as I am!! I plan to start a thread for this build with lots of pics, but I need to make a decision first. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I know I'm gonna need help with two things no matter which style of bike I choose to build: swapping the front end for larger forks and disc brakes, and fitting the wheels. 18" and 19" mags for a street tracker or modern Supermoto spokes for the motard... Anywho, here she is....

[cb650]

Vintage motard 

[morethrottle]

I know. I've been checking out www.yamaha-xt500.com for inspiration, and those vintage motards are just too cool! There's just something about mags on a dirt bike though.....

[whyze426]

vintage motard hands down,  a vintage supermoto  with a good set-up   and a couple touches to make it keep up with these new bike is probably my number 1 fav. bike.    Might want to check out supermotojunkie.com  for some of the builds that others have done,  i believe i've seen 1 or 2 xt500's over there.   Good luck with the build

[cb650]

You can use wire wheels.