1980 Yamaha SR500G – $7,500 (Sold)

1980 Yamaha SR500 for sale

SELLER SAYS: This 1980-built SR500 is in very good original condition. It has never been restored and does have some minor scratches etc from 45 years of life. It is in good running condition and has had all servicing and maintenance as required. I am open to reasonable offers. Contact Richard on 0400 xxx xxx SOLD (Glen Forrest – Perth, Western Australia)

EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: I suspect even the people at Yamaha were surprised at the degree to which the bike world embraced the XT500 when it was launched late in 1975. After all, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. Single-cylinder four-stroke 500s were the bedrock of the motorcycle industry for eons. Harley-Davidson built one as early as 1905, and by the 1930s pretty much every manufacturer on the planet had one. BSA’s Gold Star was arguably the most famous of them all, and it regularly saw action as a dirt bike, road bike and racer, depending on the owner’s whim-of-the-day. But when Triumph launched the Speed Twin in 1937 – lighter, smoother and faster than the singles of the time – the world was twisted on its head. All of a sudden, twins were all the go. Singles were so, you know, yesterday. But by the time 1975 rolled around, big singles were remembered with fondness and nostalgia. Stump-pulling torque, friendly vibrations and a way-cool exhaust note, combined with unmistakeable styling, had carved a universal soft spot. Yamaha initially took two-bob each way with the XT, launching it as a big dual purpose on-road/off road in Gold Star-style. It overshadowed Honda’s XL350 in every way and certainly caught Honda napping. The dirt bike crowd were especially enamoured by the XT so, within a matter of months, Yamaha quickly launched the off-road-only TT500. And people loved it. It took Yamaha a couple more years to launch it’s road bike version of the XT – the SR500. While the TT was quite literally nothing more than an XT with the lights removed, the SR was a dedicated road bike. The frame was beefed up to handle on-road stresses, suspension travel was reduced to get your bum nearer the ground, and the engine had a workover, adding several horsepower. The final result was a marvellous mid-size road bike – perfect around town and even capable of modest highway duties. This bike of Richard’s is quite rare in that it’s not been restored or molested. So many of these marvellous machines have been chopped up for cafe racer duties, making it increasingly difficult to find a true original.