Yamaha XT500 first test run after rebuild and tuning

[Caferacingrocks]

Some aftermarket performance carbs can actually make similar noises..

[MrBertramCooper]

Did the XT350 fork and Wilbers increase the seat height? Thanks for posting!

[speedphreax]

@MrBertramCooper Yes it did... quite a lot actually. I think at least 10cm

[thumper444]

well done on the rebuild.

[199cr125199]

nice lawn mower

[danielchilds1]

Nice

[ridinhonda4life]

sounds like the timing chain is slapin

[deejayzak]

Well done mate, Its always a great feeling to rebuid an engine and fire it up, Ive done lots of them and Ive never lost that ooohh what if I didnt tighten something up feeling

[CoolArhoni]

Beautifull machine, i'm planning to buy one. Is it easy to get parts?

[speedphreax]

@CoolArhoni Yes, very easy. Allmost every part is still available. Most original but there are also parts that are being remanufactured by other companies.

[doktorlindblood]

very nice one

[DekkerJort]

Beste SpeedPhreax,

Waar heeft u alle tuningsonderdelen vandaan? En dat tikkende geluid, is dat wel goed? Zijn dat niet de kleppen die tegen het deksel tikken oid?

Verder een hele mooie XT 500, erg netjes!

Gr.

[Bastiaanoskam]

Poor XT, it hurts me to hear that aweful sound of the valves..

[sdobbs20]

@Bastiaanoskam older XTs got really loud valves. i adjusted valves on my 81 two years ago for the first time ever on it. putting them in spec actually made them LOUDER! yes, louder!

[sdobbs20]

@Bastiaanoskam of the 2 XTs i own, i would say that's normal. i adjusted valves a year ago, about 2000 miles ago (12k on the bike) and valves actually got louder.

[eoinmcgowan]

nice bike

[gutedrummer1]

Ok I should read the side info and previous comments. Do you know the clearance specs for the intake and exhaust vavles?? I would be much appreciateive to get any help on this beast. Thanks!

[gutedrummer1]

@gutedrummer1 Valve clearance (cold), Intake,mm 0.10. Exhaust,mm 0.15. ... This info is for the XT 500??? I know I must sound like a bug but this old school stuff is exciting! Sorry :P

[gutedrummer1]

Ok, so I completely rebuilt a carbureater on a 1978 Yamaha xt500, replaced all filters, replaced oil, put in new battery, has fresh fuel, replaced spark plug, and I got the beast running. I've never heard one of these bikes run before so I didn't know what to expect at all as far as anything like motor noise, etc. I was wondering if that ticking ratta tat noise is normal on the head?? The bike sounds like yours especially when you zoom in to the motor!

[gutedrummer1]

I just noticed that you have a few engine mods but didn't know if that made your motor tick or what? The bike has like 7,500 original miles on it and has been sitting for over 10 years. It seems like it runs fine but that ticking noise buy the head/cam scares me! Am I just being too paranoid?

[dud2005]

Are those still the stock front forks on there? What all did you have to do get the front disk brakes on there? I love the bike it looks great!

[speedphreax]

Thanks! It's a XT350 fork. The brake is also from a XT350. All you have to do to fit these parts to your XT500 is two 5mm spacers on each side of the wheel and two 5mm spacers at the caliper bolts. The fork legs are the same diameter as the standard XT500 legs.

Rear shocks are Wilbers, btw

[dud2005]

Are there any certain years of the XT350 that work?  Also I have to ask how nice does it ride after all that?

[xsellsbrod]

Yes, thats rigtht, since 1978 i am at my XT 500 and it has a metal housing, there were so cold "grey imports" who had plastics on. Greetings G.

[xsellsbrod]

the plastic lamp housing could be changed too.

Otherwise, well done.

[speedphreax]

Why? It's standard on a 1980 model bike but my bike is far from original anyway. I also don't like the metal ones

[simplicity63]

The sound, the sound, the sound ....

Real winner bro, bless

[lol3048]

what was that flishing light thing on 25 seconds into the video

[speedphreax]

That's the kickstart indicator. It's not a light but a small metal bracket on the camshaft that is visible thru a small glass window. The kick indicator shows you whether the piston is in the right posistion to start. It's a standard feature of the XT500

[Suikerland]

It's a beauty

[2shy10]

Either that sound is something ratteling or the engine might be predetonating. Might need to run the engine on a higher octane fuel but that is a sick bike. love the old trail bikes.

[speedphreax]

No, the exhaust valve was way loose. The cam specsheet said .25mm but it is now set to .15 and that makes it sound a lot healthier

[coshyno]

why change the exhaust

[speedphreax]

Because it's no fun when you've added lots of expensive parts, only to ruin it with an exhaust that robs half the power gain

[libertydenied]

the tires look at least capable of driving on a well build road. is this still a 21" front wheel?

[speedphreax]

Yep it's a 21" rim (1.85" wide)

[libertydenied]

and what tires are on it? i seem to have the original ones with the squares on it and i'm searching for good new ones you can use for driving on the road, too

[speedphreax]

Those are Metzeler Enduro 2 tires. They've been making those for years and years

[tukkerterror22]

Hey,

Wij hebben ook nog een Yamaha XT500 uit 1978.

Blokje is helaas kapot, maar wij kopen nu een nieuw blok.

Als je er verstand van hebt zou je ons dan kunnen helpen? over dingen wat je goed na moet kijken?

[gvman3670]

Sweet bike. What year is it? It looks like a '78, but it also appears to have an aluminum TT swingarm.....nice touch! Very rugged, powerful bikes. Great fun to ride.

[speedphreax]

Thanks... It's a 1980 bike with an aluminium tank. Swingarm is a Profab swingarm and it indeed looks like a standard TT swingarm

[gvman3670]

Where are you at? The ones sold in the states didn't have points after '79. I see a points cover on the side of the crankcase. Perhaps a different version was sold there?

Anyway, I really, really like your thumper. Sweet. I am thinking about putting new signals, speedometer and such on mine and riding it on the roads with these gas prices.

[speedphreax]

I knew that in the USA the XT500 had an electronic ignition from 80 on. In Europe they never had an electronic ignition. I don't know about other countries

[gvman3670]

Yes, y 1980 has CDI....which currently needs replaced. I am thinking about a programmable racing unit with all the mods it already has. The original ignition mapping just isn't "righ" for it anymore, so the race unit is what it really needs and costs about the same as the OEM Yamaha unit. See the vid I have of mine on my channel? I use it to trail ride, hill climb and just plain ol' scare the neighbors. LOL You should hear it roar.

[TerryToon17]

My 12th month of 1980 build, Australian model has points(the original ones) I bought some spares 10 years ago but have not had to replace them, 26K and it still starts first kick, if you ride it often enough.

[oseloth]

nice sound

[symaeys]

waar koop je die nieuwe xt's in Nederland ? ;-)

[speedphreax]

Die koop je overal in Nederland alleen wel nogal gefragmenteerd. De onderdeeltjes moeten alleen elkaar nog even vinden.

[MaartendeJager]

mooi hoor