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Wingedwheel

If it wasn’t broke before, let me try it…
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I will No longer refer to this site as “The forum” from now on it will be referred to as “The support group” I now officially have 3 projects that I need to spread some love to. This one popped up today so guess who owns it now. 33DA945F-3706-4026-8A9E-290DD8512704.jpegFF377F1A-6D0A-4280-8376-68EA5E03904B.jpegFC13582E-2AE6-4CC1-8F65-2F92CBCCB9F4.jpeg
 
I've stripped 3 of them for useful 650 parts so far, scrapped the leftovers, lol. First two were free, last one I paid $25 for, lol .....

XS500.jpg


I've adapted the BS38 carbs from this one for 650 use and they work fine. Basically, they're the same as the '76-'77 650 set, just jetted all differnt and spaced differently. I had a junk set of 650 carbs to scrounge the needed parts from.

The spoke rear wheel on yours is pretty easy to adapt for 650 use. The benefit is it has a cush drive sprocket mount. I finally finished mine and am running it now. A "before" and "after" shot .....

TX500Rear.jpg


TX500RearFinished.jpg


It got the whole nine yards - new rim, spokes, and bearings.
 
I guess I should be asking is it worth it? Anything with this bike will be a learning experience but then again everything I attempt is a learning experience. One thing for sure, I’m. It sure if this tank is salvageable. Sounds like it’s full of chunky rust lol. Tomorrow is key day. I checked and all three lock cylinders match. I looked at the ones on the 75 and they all match too. I’ll be able to get into that tank also.58A9915A-FF60-4EAE-9952-F9A272DB0B42.jpeg
 
I don't think they're worth fixing up (why I scrapped three, lol). It's a somewhat obscure model, parts will be expensive (not much aftermarket stuff or repop parts). But, there's quite a lot of useful 650 parts on it. You discovered the locks, there's also turn signals, handlebar controls, brake parts, and some electrical parts. And you can get a small coffee can full of metric nuts and bolts off it. That hardware has come in handy for me many times.

And if you do fix it up, when all is said and done, you still only have a 500 on your hands. That's barely big enough for highway cruising. The 650 is a little bigger and a little more powerful, and still, it barely makes a decent highway cruiser, lol.
 
Not really wanting it for a highway cruiser(got one of those) I just like the fact that everything is there. I do this for fun and the frustration that could come along it’s this bike might make it worth it all. In any case I’m going to see what I can determine about this bike. I am actually the 3rd owner. #2 got this from a friends, Uncles estate sale. The Uncle was the OO and the guy I got it from had it a month. No history other than that.
 
Looks like a Bates fairing and bags
 
I've got a factory manual for the early TX500 somewhere, IIRC you need a hydraulic press to remove the balencer shaft.
Problematic engine apparently, partially curable by building a hybrid engine using last model parts, but probably not worth the effort.
Yamaha seemed to shoot themselves in the foot with the TX range, ending up with three twins with different characters, but the same level of performance
 
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