1978 Yamaha SR500 – $8,500 (Sold)

Yamaha SR500 for sale

SELLER SAYS: 1978 Yamaha SR500 in beautiful condition. Very reliable usable classic. Contact Jason on 0431 xxx xxx SOLD (Perth,WA).

EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: How often do we say out loud: “They don’t make bikes like that any more”? All the time, right? Well, I reckon someone deep in the bowels of the Yamaha organisation, sometime in the mid-1970s, uttered those words within earshot of a marketing guy. A conversation ensued, with mentions of BSA, AJS, Matchless and the glory days of the British motorcycle empire. And then, before you could say jitsugen, Yamaha had recreated the 500 single. The marketing department reckoned the dirt bike crowd would take to a big single more readily than the roadies, so the new-old engine first found a home in the big trailie XT500, followed closely by the off-road-only TT500. But it was the third child, the SR500, that truly captured those glorious old Brits. And what a great job they did too. Yamaha retained the look. They retained a simple, low-tech kickstart-only motor. It vibrated, just like the old ones, and it sounded just like the old ones. But it started every time (once you got the knack), it ran forever with little or no maintenance, and it did not leak oil. A hoot to ride, with plenty of room for two, the SR swam against the bigger-is-better tide of the late ’70s and reminded us all how much fun can be had on a lightweight motorcycle. This bike of Jason’s looks like an outstanding example of the SR, and has the added bonus of that oh-so-British black-and-chrome colour scheme.  Great stuff.