1980 Yamaha XT500 - NOOB!

kingkelly

kingkelly

New Member
Just picked up my FIRST bike last night, a 1980 Yamaha XT500.

Shes a bit finicky to start, but when she does shes pretty damn fun to ride.
Bare with me since Ive caught the bug and im totally new to all this, so I'll be posting a ton of questions here.
Open to suggestions and helpful bits, so far Ive just ordered the service manual.

First things first, I need to get a new battery for it (only 6V!), new high beam bulb, and a horn. Everything else seems to work A-OK.

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Hi thats a nice bike you dont wont to know what I would do with that looking forward to your build this is a great place with the nicest of people.
 
HA thanks!
This place has already got me behind at work..

I want to go the full 9 with this thing, just not sure what parts to start with. Was thinking a new shiny 7 inch headlight would be fairly easy to install?
Would love to replace them handlebars, but that seems a bit trickier.
 
that thing looks like its in beautiful shape, always wanted an xt500 or tt500, I have an sr500 but who wants to a bigger lightbulb? the 7 inch are bulky and ugly, just get a better bulb put in there. I downsized mine from a 7 inch to a 5 3/4
 
So i kept the 5 1/4" light since the tiny battery already has enough to deal with as is.

Got the points adjusted and carb cleaned at a local shop here. now she really purs!
Popped a fuel filter in there too, already collectin some rusty lookin bits.

The seat is going to be a bit of a whore since the back of the frame angles up like that. Any suggestions welcome.

Also, im going to clean the rusty exchaust this weekend. Its all black with some orange rust here and there. Anybody know the best way to hit that? Ive read mostly ways to clean chrome exhausts so far, not black ones. Just scrub?

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Lets talk seats!

Do you guys think ill have problems with putting in a seat like this? Ive had some concerns that the wheel will come up through the left of the white fender. Cant really picture the wheel bouncing up that high ???

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Fuck it, decided not to force it into something it wasnt.

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So I embraced its dirt and grime and cleaned er up a good bit.
This thing was a whore to start when i got her in the summer, but I've gotten to know how to start her every time now.
One of the first things was to replace that petcock since the original would hardly budge. Turning that thing on and off every time is key since theres no vacuum suction, just good old gravity.

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Added a fuel filter in there to catch a good bit of rusty bits coming down from the tank too.
Removed, sanded and sprayed the exhaust and heat shields. Adios rust!
Was feeling the sky blue and brown seat that the Yamaha team used to use in the Paris Dakar. Real men drive sky blue ;)
Even made a brown suede seat cover for it! Busted out the staple gun and away i went.

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Ordered me some side panels from Kedo to replace the old cracked ones, and got some off road mirrors from Kedo as well. Nice and compact but they dont have a wide angle of view. Going to pop the stock ones back on.
Put some new biltwell natural grips on there too.

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Other than that, she runs allllright. Fun as hell to drive, have to drive her around for a good 5 minutes otherwise she ends up dying on me. Had a few problems with the carburator overflowing with gas, so i had to open it up and play with the needle and seat.
 
Bike looks great. I struggle with going super moto with mine. They certainly can be a bear to start.

Mine has been converted to 12v and has no battery but is stripped down with a simple wiring harness.

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Looks cool man!
I wanted to convert mine to a 12v. Getting lights or anything 6v was a pain in the arse.
 
Nice bike and glad to read that you are just riding the thing and having fun. Much better than sinking every available hour and dollar into something that may never emerge from the shed. Making some sound decisions there. Good on ya.
 
Rad bike man i want one btw if there is a extra gas tank rollen around i would be intressed i need one for a friend
 
kingkelly said:
Excellent signature sir!
Click to expand...

Fun facts : "Fart" is Swedish for "Speed" (As in "hög fart" = "high speed")
 
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