XR500 (and similar) legends and lies thread

[dino3310]

and while they were fecking around racing each other i was up and down the east coast

[10bikekid]

you musta been drinking down at the royal hotel again john? that drunken fisherman has a collection of tt/xt eh! get your brother down there to bolster the arguement of epic wheelies on xr500A's !

Funny that i dont recall them being fast or even saying they were fast, plus the thread title says:
"XR500 (and similar) legends and lies thread" and not a "mines bigger than yours twosmoke choker thread"

and yes Mxnut the DR500 was a slow pos but not all of us can ride your speed so it kept me happy
my first KB ride was on one too

ha ha looks like the short comings of the inferior 'legends' have upset Dino the defender.......sorry for not adding 'lies' as thread mentions however they are ok for what they are...........jst teasing!

RE: XR v TT (Two strokes don't count as weren't road registered or if they were wouldn't last more than a 100miles at a time before become a grenade or shaking your teeth out) road tested a PE400 from a bike shop once, it was wickedly fast but unbearable after only several miles

Upset, Upset we're not upset more like livid,

Ok enough joking around now, Having Ridden Both TT's and XR500Z's (Z=1979 First model) in the day when they were new there is no doubt the XR was far superior in all ways, Drag races, comfort, wheelie ability and racing on and off-road, period

Will admit that today in coolness a TT is a Match for an XR though

[Kickaha]

(Two strokes don't count as weren't road registered or if they were wouldn't last more than a 100miles at a time before become a grenade or shaking your teeth out) road tested a PE400 from a bike shop once, it was wickedly fast but unbearable after only several miles

A friend of mine left Christchurch on his PE400 heading to Amberley, by the time he got to Waikuku he had to stop to regain some feeling in his hands and arms as they'd gone numb from vibration

[MXNUT]

The comparison that i was trying to make was that the DR500 when compared with the other 4 strokes of the time ( TT500 & XR 500 ) was a poor cousin.

I knew that that statement would upset Dino and a few others but there you go.....

As for the 2 smokers of the the time, the same mate who owned the DR500 was do dissapointed with it that he sold it and brought and IT465.

That thing never spent any time with its front wheel on the ground. Off road the PE400 was a far better bike that the IT, but when back on the seal the IT had
power to burn and a fairly agressive power band and would leave black rubber marks for the PE to follow.

I did 20,000 + trouble free kms on the PE400 and ( rose tinted glasses here again ) it was probably one of the best bikes i ever owned.

I finally traded it for the IT490 when that came out, but in going from 465 to 490cc yamaha had tamed the beast a little and it was not as much fun to ride.
Off road the 490 was just to slow in the steering, but 170 kmh on gravel forestry roads was fun

[dino3310]

like waving a carrot in fron of a donkey
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-688623947.htm

[10bikekid]

like waving a carrot in fron of a donkey
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-688623947.htm

How annoying, the fact that its in Omaru is about all that could save me from buying it (don't trust TM pictures any more and you can't hear the motor run)

PS, told you there was a Z (though this one has the wrong pipe if it is a Z)

[fridayflash]

ive had the 'Z' arguement before.... a mate who bought two xr500a's new (1st and second shipments into nz) laughed when i mentioned the 500z
had never heard of it, or perhaps assumed the 79 was an 'A' i guess

[10bikekid]

ive had the 'Z' arguement before.... a mate who bought two xr500a's new (1st and second shipments into nz) laughed when i mentioned the 500z
had never heard of it, or perhaps assumed the 79 was an 'A' i guess

Yer its a fun argument, I owned 2x Z's so always win . Picked up my mates low miliage one (about 5000ks (miles?) after I sold mine to buy some silver , pipes and decals are different which I'm sure you know

Its weird I thought mine was old after a year out of the show room and time to trade after only 12.000ks (miles?) how wrong could I have been

Some of my best Riding memories come from those two XRZ's

[fridayflash]

now, was the first xr250 a z also? i assume it was..weird thing i remember a mates dad having one from new which had white guards...hmmm, dead
certain it was like that from new

[10bikekid]

now, was the first xr250 a z also? i assume it was..weird thing i remember a mates dad having one from new which had white guards...hmmm, dead
certain it was like that from new

Have pictures in an old Album but cant copy onto digital at night

Didn't care much about 250's at the time but 2 of the guys had them so could be fairly sure of the facts though

Will post later

[Muzz67]

1979 XR500'79




1979 XR500
It came in Tahitian Red
The "HONDA" tank decal was red
The top of the tank, side cover panels, and headlight cowl were black
The "XR500" side cover graphic was red and white
The front wheel was 23" while the rear was 18"
The engine was a 498cc OHC 4-valve single cylinder with two head pipes
The transmission was a 5-speed
The serial number began PE01-5000001



1980 XR500'80




1980 XR500
It came in Tahitian Red
The gas tank had a wing decal
The control levers and kickstarter arm were black
This year it had a smaller muffler
The front wheel was 23" while the rear was 18"
The engine was a 498cc OHC 4-valve single cylinder with two head pipes
The transmission was a 5-speed
The serial number began PE01-5100001

[dino3310]

MMmmmmm tasty project to sink your teeth into http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-689902196.htm

[Slorider]

what makes the husky frames desirable in these applications,no oil in frame so you'd need to make n mount an oil tank-more problems to sort

[dino3310]

pod filter and put a oil tank in the air box maybe?

[XRJohnny]

Hey 10bikekid, your quote " we didn't care much about 250's at the time " is so true.
Also didn't care much about anything else either, as we had the best bike you could get at the time.
I would like to hear some of your stories from back in the day on XR500's.
I also did not keep mine for long, which is such a shame, as I would dearly love to have more memories riding
what is arguably one of the best motorcycles of all time.