At the Handbuilt Show in Austin, there was a cool cutaway of a Yamaha XS500 in the corner that I thought you’d appreciate. I considered making this a Guess That Bike, but I figured we should just get right into the good stuff…so here you go!
Built between ’73 and ’78, the TX500 was Yamaha’s first medium-displacement four stroke motorcycle and the little brother to the TX750.
The 500 was well-equipped with an electric starter, front disc brake, and a 5-speed transmission – all improvements over what was offered by competition like Triumph’s Daytona 500.
Unfortunately, little issues meant that journalists never fell in love with it, and the average consumer didn’t either. Yamaha ended up renaming it the XS500 in 1975 and then restyling it a more rectangular tank in 1976 – and that’s what we have here in front of us.
Basic specs included 48 horsepower, a top speed of 98 miles per hour, and wet weight of 456 pounds.
For more on the TX/XS and why it’s now an “under the radar” classic, check out this article on Motorcycle Classics.
This was definitely one of the better cutaways I’ve ever seen – what do you think? Know of any better ones? Feel free to leave them in the comments!
