Yamaha TX500a Fix or Sell

JBytof

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I have this tx500a I'm thinking about selling. It's currently not running, needs some ignition/electrical work. The engine is free and sounds good when attempting to kick start it. The throttle is stuck so may need some carb work. Complete bike with matching numbers comes with title. Front brake lever is also frozen.

Serial Number : 371-116996

Any details on this bike will be very helpful. Is it rare? Should I spend the money to get it going again? Any collectors out there that want this as is?

Thanks
 

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The TX/XS500 is hands down one of the best performing motors @ 500cc and known for cheap speed. First 4 valve/cylinder Japan motor.

Sold my first 500 build kept the 2nd. VM carbs and aluminum intakes, some exhaust porting, and one-off 2 into 1 exhaust. Fast, smooth with the counter balancer, perfect tranny ratios, race sound.

They seep oil from the two layer head and oil filters are unobtanium. Small price to pay...
 

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Honestly, nobody really wants those things. It's a rather obscure model and doesn't have much of a following. Parts would most likely be hard to find and expensive if you did. For an ace mechanic and fabricator like barncat, it might be a viable starting point for a custom build but for the normal guy, not so much. Personally, I've stripped and scrapped 3 of them over the years. Lots of the external parts are the same as, or can be adapted for use on a 650. To give you an idea of their value, the 1st two I had were given to me for nothing and I paid $25 for the 3rd one, lol.
 
You came by 3 of these basically free 5twins? Better luck than me as they set me back 300-400 ea, but titled...

Seriously it's one of my favorite bikes, at least as built. If the top end ever blows up i might change my tune. Only 4K on motor when i got it. So far so good.
 
+1 Jim, the TX500 motor is much more advanced than the XS650 mill. The TX500 was in the first generation of Yamaha in-house 4-stroke designs. If you look at the TX500, TX750, and XS triple motors, the family resemblance shows, inside and out. The basic XS 650 engine shows mid-1950's design features and bits of "alien technology:" manual cam chain adjuster, sprung primary gear instead of cush hub, brass screens and no real oil filter, etc.

"Mama Yama, why don't I look like the other kids?"
"You were adopted, XS650, but we love you like our own."
 
My 1976 XS500C......................Bought new and I enjoyed it for 13 years.
I must admit, there is a part from an XS650 on this bike. Anyone that knows the 1976 XS500C would recognize what is different. Any guesses?

XS500C mod 4.JPG
 
My 1976 XS500C......................Bought new and I enjoyed it for 13 years.
I must admit, there is a part from an XS650 on this bike. Anyone that knows the 1976 XS500C would recognize what is different. Any guesses?

View attachment 106860

Mufflers?

I very nearly bought that very same chocolate brown XS500 when it was new. I opted for the XT500 instead because I grew up on dirt bikes and it just seemed more familiar. But I still like it.
 
I'd fix that puppy. There is a thread on ADVRider where a bunch of young guys take their old Japanese motos cross country. One was an XS500 that got it's valves lapped enroute with toothpaste.

I think these are interesting bikes. I'd like one, plus a TX750, a KZ400 and 750 twin, a GS400, GR650 and a CB500T to complete probably the least valuable motorcycle collection on Earth.

Isn't there an adapter kit available from Yamaha to fit an FZR600 oil filter? At any rate, it surely wouldn't be too hard to fab up an adapter plate for an external filter.

There is currently a non-runner for sale near me for $325. It is quite tempting, no pun intended, but I don't have the space for another bike.
 
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I love it! I had the dealer brochure from the '73 model year on my wall when I was a kid. This one is a '74. I understand a late model cylinder head can be swapped on.
 
Skull.....................now that is interesting. I had no idea that Google has made the picture, of me and my XS500C, a part of Google search results. Its hard to be humble, when your picture is all over the internet:D

As you can see from pictures on google, the XS500C had a brown plastic front fender. I never liked it. I bought a steel XS650 front fender, as it was a direct bolt on, and looked much, much better. I guess word got around what I had done, and Yamaha copied me by making the steel fender, a factory install item, on the 1978 XS500E.

If Yamaha had used the XS500 engine design, and increased displacement to 650 or
700 cc size, ........................that would have been a real nice bike. The design problem with the head was solved by 1976. The engine was so smooth, and it would rev up so easily.
 
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I thought it might be the seat - which sure looks like an XS650C seat to me.
 
Skull.....................now that is interesting. I had no idea that Google has made the picture, of me and my XS500C, a part of Google search results. Its hard to be humble, when your picture is all over the internet:D

I'm in aww...........i don't know any other famous people:bow2:...........:)
 
My first real street bike was a 73 TX500 the day I brought it home I cuaght up to my nieghbor and friend on his XS650 and just blew him away with the little 500. He thought i had gotten a 750 I passed him so fast. My father also had a 73 tx500 he put 161,000 miles on with no real problems, then traded it for a new XS750. I personally would fix it. I like differnet hard to come by machines.
 
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