Author Topic: Bought a 78 Yamaha XS500...Yeah BryanJ I know they suck... (Read 19592 times)

ColinMc · « **on:** July 10, 2009, 06:22:09 am »

Hehe, I picked up a 1978 Yamaha XS500 for 300 bucks on ebay in Vermont. Picked it up Wednesday night. Needs a new key switch, gas cap, helmet lock, and seat cover but that's about it. NO oil leaks...yet. It sat for a few years because the current owner couldn't figure out what to do after losing the keys and the key switch being discontinued by yamaha. I brought a flathead screwdriver with me and showed him how to start it without it a key lol.

Won a gas cap with key, and matching ignition switch and helmet lock on ebay. Got a new seat cover coming from england and some tune up stuff from some other ebay guy in North Dakota I think lol. Will be repainting the tank and side covers and just giving the rest of the bike a good cleaning.

I'll get some pics up, gonna throw some slightly lower bars on it, and run it until something goes wrong. I have the ORIGINAL title which I won't need so I can hang onto that and all the other paperwork I need to title and register it. NY will take a signed registration from states that don't require a title after a certain age, VT falls into that category. So it's kinda cool I can keep the original title.

I figure this is a nice side project to take a break from the CB750k6. Plus then I have a beater bike again since I sold my 250 Ninja.

EDIT: Here's come pics...not great quality since the bike is still in my truck sitting outside work right now. I took them with my cellphone a little while ago lol. That's my transport vehicle, an ex-NAPA delivery truck dropped 4 inches to make loading bikes in and out much easier...oh and suicide door to fix the sagging chevy hinge problem heh.

mcpuffett · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2009, 07:54:17 am »

Nice find Colin, they weren't the most popular bikes over here in their day probably had a lot of competition ( i can't remember what else was about at the time) but they have there fans now and a lot are turning up at the classic shows etc,

cheers Mick.

ColinMc · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:00:23 am »

Yeah i'm not planning much for this one but I am gonna snag a spare motor to possibly rebuild. The only major mod i'm gonna do is convert it to dual front disc. The left fork leg already has the bosses right on it for the caliper and the wheel has the threaded holes for the rotor bolts with plugs in them! Now to find a left caliper...lol. Must be some other yamaha from that era that has the same calipers. They look identical to the GL1000 calipers on my dual front setup for the CB.

hoodellyhoo · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:44:56 am »

Sweet find! And for $300 I don't think you can go wrong. I thought somebody wrote on here that by the later years of the 500 and 750 twins, yamaha had fixed most of their problems but their image was too damaged to recover from?

bryanj · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2009, 10:40:40 am »

Hey whatever floats your boat mate, i just always hated working on the few i saw and try to tell it like my brain remembers.

No point looking through rosy specs and being dissappointed is there!!

ColinMc · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2009, 04:31:05 pm »

Lol, I figured you'd get a kick out of the topic title...when I searched XS500 on here I found a bunch of posts of yours saying how god awful they are. But I had already won the bike on ebay and paid the deposit...so I figured worst case scenario I part it out. But I think i'll just ride it until it breaks...which might be soon heh.

Green550F · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:03:31 pm »

in 73 they were tthe TX500! I had one in high school. Then in '88 I high-sided it as a result of a nasty tank slapper!

I really miss that bike. It was my first major bike project.

for the money, I can't reccomend enough - New steering bearings! Much cheaper than the hospital stay!

bryanj · « **Reply #7 on:** July 11, 2009, 12:07:13 am »

Best thing is get it going and if it keeps oil in and charges ride it till it breaks too expensively to fix!!

ColinMc · « **Reply #8 on:** July 11, 2009, 07:45:00 am »

Quote from: bryanj on July 11, 2009, 12:07:13 am

Best thing is get it going and if it keeps oil in and charges ride it till it breaks too expensively to fix!!

Yup, that's the plan the only money i'm investing is small stuff here and there to make it less ratty looking. I got a brand new voltage regulator on ebay for 10 bucks too so that's getting swapped in as a preventative thing. But my budget on this bike is 500 total. Once I hit that mark i'm not sinking anything else into it. I'll just ride it until it breaks and as long as I get 100 miles out of it i'll be paying 5 bucks per mile and i'm good lol.

Steering bearings are on their way, i'm doing the fork seals so with the front end off I might as well replace the steering bearings with some nice tapered ones.

EDIT: So Bryan, i'm assuming oil leaks and charging problems are the two big ones for this bike...among other small stuff? Other than the voltage regulator which i've read can go bad on these puppies i'm assuming the stator is next? Or is it a rats nest of other problems that can mess up the charging system?

bryanj · « **Reply #9 on:** July 11, 2009, 09:36:41 am »

Problems were mostly reg/rec and head gaskets, which cost a fortune way back then and were a swine to fit for a short term fix!!. Also usual Yamaha caliper siezings and ate chain/sprokets. Even cam cover gasket to do tappets cost a packet DO NOT try and re-use the old one unless you like oil covered everything.

They simply died a death due to expensive servicing and not as quick as the fours plus along came the 550 four (XJ I think) with the trick induction

HavocTurbo · « **Reply #10 on:** July 11, 2009, 10:23:59 am »

Wheels and calipers off of an xs750 or xs850 should match it just fine.

Green550F · « **Reply #11 on:** July 11, 2009, 09:04:36 pm »

My TX500 had an oil like leak by the left exhaust port. I'd seen another the same way...
It was a hard one to get parts for back in 87. I'd hate to try and find parts now! GOOD LUCK!

At the time, My best freind had a CB550/4. He'd beat me stoplight to stoplight every time. But he didn't have the top-end speed of my TX500 twin!

Still missing that bike...

ColinMc · « **Reply #12 on:** July 14, 2009, 07:14:22 am »

Got a nice pile of parts here for this puppy on friday and yesterday. Just waiting on that new seat cover from england and the new ignition switch, gas cap, seat lock. Bike runs great. Not taking it out on the road until I get the fork seals replaced and the ignition switch and whatnot put on though. I'm hoping that stuff will be waiting for me tonight. I'm working until 9:30 but hopefully I can get to work on it right after that.

ColinMc · « **Reply #13 on:** July 15, 2009, 06:26:41 am »

Wooh! Got the new/used ignition switch installed, the seat latch/lock installed, clubmans on, gas tank flushed and refilled with fresh fuel (no rust in the tank at all!!!). Drove it up and down the driveway...then realized the rear caliper is hanging up lol. So...time to find a caliper rebuild it. For now I just popped the caliper off and plugged the hose. So I can move it around the garage without having to use superhuman force. Degreased the engine and gave her a good solid washing so I can spy any oil leaks or problem areas.

Engine runs nice and smooth, clutch is great, all the gears work fantastic. I might switch to some "old man" style clubmans since I don't have rearsets the riding position is a little odd right now heh. I have a few sets of bars i'm gonna try.

Next week i'll be doing an oil change, recovering the seat (if i get that new cover in), rebuilding the rear caliper, replacing the fork seals and steering bearings, then putting her on the road!

bryanj · « **Reply #14 on:** July 15, 2009, 07:27:22 am »

Connect the caliper back up and bleed it through then put it back over the disc without pads and pump till the pistons touch the disc or you will have hells own job getting the pistons out, Kits were raely necessary, specialy for a rear, just a damn good clean up

ColinMc · « **Reply #15 on:** July 15, 2009, 07:31:30 am »

Excellent good to hear...I know with the GL1000 calipers I used on my CB front end I put a regular bolt in the banjo hole then used compressed air to pop the pistons out through the bleeder hole...good fun shooting those things across the garage. I'll try your trick and also see if I can rebuild it without a kit.

Thanks for the info Bryan, I have a feeling i'll be in touch with you fairly often about this beast lol.

ColinMc · « **Reply #16 on:** July 16, 2009, 09:06:35 am »

Here we go some pics after the handlebar swap, a good degreasing of the motor, highway/crash bars removed, and black duct tape instead of grey on the seat lol.

HavocTurbo · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2009, 09:17:38 am »

Not a bad little beater!!

ColinMc · « **Reply #18 on:** July 20, 2009, 04:34:43 pm »

So I got all the goodies I need to get this puppy cleaned up and on the road...tore the old seat cover off removed the old foam and VOILA rot. The seat pan is pretty much shot. So looks like i'll be getting a scrap piece of steel and making a seat pan unless I find a donor for dirt cheap. Shoulda known this would turn into a real project lol. I got the dent in the tank filled the tank primed, plastics sanded and primed. Now to mix my leftover paint from other projects together to make something weird. Engine is completely degreased and doesn't seem to be leaking oil. Changed the filter and oil. Cleaned up the rear caliper so it works properly now. Just waiting on a set of tubes to mount some new tires. When I take the front wheel off i'll do the fork seals and steering bearings. I'm going out of town next weekend, but i'm hoping the following week I can sort everything else out.

Plan on cutting the front and rear fenders much shorter to removed the dents and rot lol. Painting them just plain gloss black. Other than that...making progress.

bryanj · « **Reply #19 on:** July 20, 2009, 09:58:46 pm »

Dont cut the front fender too much as they need it to brace the forks, just like the Hondas

manjisann · « **Reply #20 on:** July 25, 2009, 07:04:28 pm »

Nice bike for a decent price. I don't know why but I'm diggin the fuel tank, very blocky looking.

Brandon

ColinMc · « **Reply #21 on:** July 27, 2009, 04:59:33 am »

Brandon,

Yeah me too! Kind of a factory Cafe boxy tank...i'm attempting to make a seat pan and wrap the new seat cover/foam around it today...we'll see how that works out.

ColinMc · « **Reply #22 on:** July 30, 2009, 06:23:10 am »

Garrrr...I pressed the new lower bearing on the steering stem at work yesterday...got home and popped out the races in the frame put the bearing cups in. Realized that the place I got the bearings from labeled the lower bearing wrong...so the upper was pressed onto the stem and it's gonna get destroyed in order to get it back off again. So I guess i'm getting one new bearing now and progress is halted.

Forks are rebuilt and nicely polished anyways lol. The left fork had almost no fluid left in it and the right fork had what was probably the original fluid in it...black and like water heh. Nothing a good cleaning, new seals, nice stiff springs from Sonic Springs and some 15w weight fork oil couldn't solve....now to decide on rear shocks...

ColinMc · « **Reply #23 on:** August 06, 2009, 12:11:20 pm »

Still waiting on the one new bearing set...Bead blasted and will be painting the wheels. Got a spare motor sitting in the garage now too lol.

In the mean time here's a couple pics of the fork legs when I was polishing them. The one on the left is what they both look like now, the one on the right is what they both looked like before. The forks are all back together again already just gotta get the steering bearings sorted out so I can bolt the front end back on.

ColinMc · « **Reply #24 on:** August 11, 2009, 09:56:59 am »

Well finally got the new wheels bearings, seals, and a new lower steering stem bearing to replace the one i messed up removing lol. Gonna hopefully get the front end back on the bike tonight.

Anyone have any ideas for reasonably priced shocks I can use on this thing...eye to eye style.

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Author Topic: Bought a 78 Yamaha XS500...Yeah BryanJ I know they suck... (Read 19592 times)