Thanks to a combination of light weight and a torquey, simple motor, Yamaha SR500s are popular fodder for custom builders. The 499cc single is a call back to the legendary thumpers from BSA, Matchless, Velocette, Norton, and Triumph, and the bike’s svelte curb weight makes for big fun factor despite its humble top speed. (We’ve actually featured quite a few of them here, in everything from cafe racer to chopper guise.)
The Yamaha you see before you (VIN: 3H1001358) was customized by MISSIONMoto.org, a Seattle-based nonprofit that builds and auctions custom bikes to support missions and youth programs. Beyond knowing that you’d be supporting a charitable cause, you’d also get a pretty trick street tracker with the sale. In their efforts to transform the SR500, they’ve shod it in a coat of Dupont Chroma Premiere, rebuilt the top-end with an over-sized piston kit and freshened up the engine covers, swapped out the swingarm for a polished piece from an SP400, re-wired the bike front to back, and ditched the stock front end in favor of the setup from a MZ Skorpion. You’ll also find a custom upholstered seat, a headlight-integrated numberplate, and a tail section that skews heavily towards 60s Camaro (if you ask me).
How do you think they did? Regardless of whether or not you gel with certain parts of the build – like the exhaust or the license plate mount – it’s nice to see someone supporting a good cause as part of their custom build.
Find this Yamaha for sale in Seattle, Washington with an unmet opening bid of $3,500 here on eBay.