Thanks to the end of the WWII and the development of a globalized motorcycle market, more and more British motorcycles started to cross the Atlantic and reach the US. One type of motorcycle in particular was quite successful, the big single-cylinder bike. This is something the American market didn’t really have, but Americans started to like it. So, we started seeing single-cylinder 500cc Brits like the BSA Gold Star or the Norton Manx. While this kind of motorcycle was a success in the 40s, 50s and early 60s, development of multi-cylinder bikes slowly made them obsolete, so that in the mid 60s, we would barely see any single-cylinder road bikes. Being kind of abandoned since then, the 500cc single cylinder underwent a nice rebirth with one of the best bikes Yamaha created, the SR500.
The first important thing to point out on the SR is that there is no electric start – like in the good old days, you will have to know how to kickstart it. Without knowing how to do this and without the will to learn, you will be facing some really annoying moments and every restart will be stressful before and frustrating and sweaty after. The process is not that hard however. A well-maintained bike will start at the first kick if well done, so take time to learn it. The SR inherits the same 499cc engine as the XT500 with the same compression ratios. Despite this, the SR engine remains very different from the XT one especially with 34mm Mikuni carbs instead of 32mm options. Developing only 32 bhp, the bike is still very aggressive, responsive, and agile thanks to a weight of only 348 lbs and the narrow shape of the bike.
When released, the bike was not marketed as a revival of old monos, but definitely acted like one with slight improvements. The bike is not fast – and not made for this – the pleasure zone is located between 45 mph and 75 mph where you will be able to take corner after corner without having to tap dance on the shifter and just concentrate on your lines. Take time to check out this 1978 Cycle magazine review hosted on Motorcyclespecs.
The SR presented here is claimed to be fully restored. Indeed the seller indicates that the paint, seat, tires, battery, carb and chain are new. The seller says that the bike runs great, and with only 9,744 miles and being well maintained, this should be true. The only part that doesn’t look original is the exhaust, which is a mid-pipe here instead of the long original one.
Find this Yamaha SR 500 in Porter Ranch, California here on Craigslist for $3,000.