I had two 1978 XT500s 40 plus years ago. The two mechanical issues I had was oil starvation to the top end causing the cam and rockers to be eaten away. It still ran, but sounded like a diesel. There used to be a high volume oil line kit to address that issue as well as an upgraded oil pump. The other issue was the spring on the shifter pawl broke causing me to not be able to shift at all. This happened on the XT as well as a DT400. It was just a brittle spring. On the DT400 I was out in the country and I went to a gas station and found a carburetor butterfly spring, cleaned the rust off of it & installed it on the shifter mechanism. Never had the mess with it again. Great bikes! I owned three 1978s, two XT's and a SR with the rare rear disc brake. Would love to have another. Always had a thumper in my life. Currently I have a thumpette, a Honda XR150 here in the Philippines as well as a HD back in the US.
My experience with 14 years of ownership and 1000's of miles ridden on and off road is that these bikes are absolutely bullet proof ! providing you are doing a full service and check over once a year. the only breakdown i had was when i drowned it in a ford, it was deeper than i thought ! i still run points ignition and check ad adjust every year if needed. my bike always starts 2nd kick from cold and 1st kick all day long after that...
Bought mine with a very dubious 17,000km on the clocks. It had been treated badly but there was limited corrosion. Rebuilt it over lockdown and took it on a 4000km trip year before last without any issues!
My dad had the white tank dirt bike model. Nothing ever broke but it was new. The exhaust on your video, I've never seen this before. Usually we used an uppipe with a super trapp muffler. I had the black and silver enduro and the orange tank dirt bike model. The front brake is small and doesn't do much. Its a heavy bike and if you catch some air it lands with a mighty thud. Its a wheelie riding machine, I could go through all the gears. So much fun.
You’re down right! From the factory it was a super reliable bike. It’s just because these bikes are used how they are supposed to for 45 years you’ll find flaws. This exhaust type was only the ‘76 model. Now a days the exhaust only already costs 1,5-2,5k
Hi! Valves clearance adjustment: I did, engine cold ,by book. I turned 360 degrees flywheel ,rockers were pushing valves, appear open,turning again 360 degrees lash how I did in beginning. Thank bye
@@TH3_T3RM1N4T0R I've got a 1978 SR500 I've had it for about ten years and done around 80,000 kilometres on it In the early 1980's through to the mid 80's I had another one exactly the same as this one, soon after I got the first one an older wiser SR owner showed me the trick to starting one and since then I've never had a problem or looked at the kick indicator window again unless I was showing someone that it has such a thing My bike will usually start first or second kick hot or cold, admittedly I've fitted a simpler VM36 Mikuni carburettor to it So you've learnt the trick ? Step 1: Don't mess around with the throttle keep it closed and while pulling the decompression lever roll the engine over a few times to prime it then release the lever and find compression (TDC) then pull the decompression lever and carefully move the piston just very slightly past TDC, allow the kickstart to come back up and kick it Step 2: If it doesn't start it could be flooded so making sure the chock (fuel enricher) is not on hold the throttle fully open and pulling the decompression lever roll it over a few times to clear the cylinder and than release the throttle and repeat Step 1 I'm not sure about the XTs TTs and later SRs but the standard carburettors on the early SRs have a hot start button beneath the throttle linkage infront of the carburettor that can be pushed up to help hot starts this button opens the throttle very slightly and releases automatically once you use the throttle
@@TH3_T3RM1N4T0R I've got a 1978 SR500 I've had it for about ten years and done around 80,000 kilometres on it In the early 1980's through to the mid 80's I had another one exactly the same as this one, soon after I got the first one an older wiser SR owner showed me the trick to starting one and since then I've never had a problem or looked at the kick indicator window again unless I was showing someone that it has such a thing My bike will usually start first or second kick hot or cold, admittedly I've fitted a simpler VM36 Mikuni carburettor to it So you've learnt the trick ? Step 1: Don't mess around with the throttle keep it closed and while pulling the decompression lever roll the engine over a few times to prime it then release the lever and find compression (TDC) then pull the decompression lever and carefully move the piston just very slightly past TDC, allow the kickstart to come back up and kick it Step 2: If it doesn't start it could be flooded so making sure the chock (fuel enricher) is not on hold the throttle fully open and pulling the decompression lever roll it over a few times to clear the cylinder and then release the throttle and repeat Step 1 I'm not sure about the XTs TTs and later SRs but the standard carburettors on the early SRs have a hot start button beneath the throttle linkage infront of the carburettor that can be pushed up to help hot starts this button opens the throttle very slightly and releases automatically once you use the throttle
I have a Yamaha SR400 from 2016, bought it with 7300kms and it already has cam wear and fcked up cam bearings. After fixing it i'm selling the bike... I thought it would be reliable but after 3000kms started to make a clacking noise and well..apparently its a rare problem from a defective cam from factory that lost some kind of metal treatment and became "smaller"...the weirdest engine problem i've ever heard on a motorcycle. 😭😭😭
Dieser krumme Seitenständer: Kommt durch Bequemlichkeit und Angst. Ist kein Konstruktionsfehler. Ik trapp mijn motoren "dynamisch" niet "statisch". Veel SR's gezien, waar op middenstandaard het achterwiel de grond raakt.
@@hodaka1000 just watch your channel, Sir. Side-cases on your nice looking SR are sort of type what i want to mount on my XS. Can't find this type. Is this an universal set? Sorry about my bad languages: Not quality but quantity😁
@@klausl.2212 Okay side-cases panniers (saddle bags) luggage I understand now Yeah they do look good don't they 🤗 They are made in China, I got them off eBay they are "22 litre hard panniers" they can be hard to find at a reasonable price but not impossible I put a lot of time into making nice mounting brackets for them
@@klausl.2212 Okay side-cases panniers (saddle bags) luggage Yeah they do look good don't they 🤗 They are made in China, I got them off e bay they are "22 litre hard panniers" they can be hard to find at a reasonable price but not impossible I put a lot of time into making nice mounting brackets for them
I had two 1978 XT500s 40 plus years ago. The two mechanical issues I had was oil starvation to the top end causing the cam and rockers to be eaten away. It still ran, but sounded like a diesel. There used to be a high volume oil line kit to address that issue as well as an upgraded oil pump. The other issue was the spring on the shifter pawl broke causing me to not be able to shift at all. This happened on the XT as well as a DT400. It was just a brittle spring. On the DT400 I was out in the country and I went to a gas station and found a carburetor butterfly spring, cleaned the rust off of it & installed it on the shifter mechanism. Never had the mess with it again.
Great bikes! I owned three 1978s, two XT's and a SR with the rare rear disc brake. Would love to have another. Always had a thumper in my life. Currently I have a thumpette, a Honda XR150 here in the Philippines as well as a HD back in the US.
My experience with 14 years of ownership and 1000's of miles ridden on and off road is that these bikes are absolutely bullet proof ! providing you are doing a full service and check over once a year. the only breakdown i had was when i drowned it in a ford, it was deeper than i thought ! i still run points ignition and check ad adjust every year if needed. my bike always starts 2nd kick from cold and 1st kick all day long after that...
You are completely right. When serviced properly it is indestructible. I had bought poorly serviced in the past though.
it was nice to learn more about my tx 500
You really made a great video.
Keep up the great work
Thanks you sir! There’s two more XT500 video’s incoming
Bought mine with a very dubious 17,000km on the clocks. It had been treated badly but there was limited corrosion. Rebuilt it over lockdown and took it on a 4000km trip year before last without any issues!
Great! Yeah when they’re setup right they’re very reliavle
My dad had the white tank dirt bike model. Nothing ever broke but it was new. The exhaust on your video, I've never seen this before. Usually we used an uppipe with a super trapp muffler. I had the black and silver enduro and the orange tank dirt bike model. The front brake is small and doesn't do much. Its a heavy bike and if you catch some air it lands with a mighty thud. Its a wheelie riding machine, I could go through all the gears. So much fun.
You’re down right! From the factory it was a super reliable bike. It’s just because these bikes are used how they are supposed to for 45 years you’ll find flaws.
This exhaust type was only the ‘76 model. Now a days the exhaust only already costs 1,5-2,5k
I had a Super Trapp on my XT and my SR back in the day.
Great videos. You know the XT500 well
Thanks a lot 🤙 one more incoming
Awesome videos Wes! If only school was like this, I would have been a nerd haha.
Cheers buddy 🤙
Hi! Valves clearance adjustment:
I did, engine cold ,by book.
I turned 360 degrees flywheel ,rockers were pushing valves, appear open,turning again 360 degrees lash how I did in beginning.
Thank bye
Nice review, dude! 👍
Thanks mate 🫠
They're easy to start if you know how 🤗
Definitely 🤙 and when tuned properly
@@bringthekickback
When running right
Yeah, but learning how to do it first hand without someone telling you the correct way, can be a painful experience.
Hence it's reputation...
@@TH3_T3RM1N4T0R
I've got a 1978 SR500 I've had it for about ten years and done around 80,000 kilometres on it
In the early 1980's through to the mid 80's I had another one exactly the same as this one, soon after I got the first one an older wiser SR owner showed me the trick to starting one and since then I've never had a problem or looked at the kick indicator window again unless I was showing someone that it has such a thing
My bike will usually start first or second kick hot or cold, admittedly I've fitted a simpler VM36 Mikuni carburettor to it
So you've learnt the trick ?
Step 1: Don't mess around with the throttle keep it closed and while pulling the decompression lever roll the engine over a few times to prime it then release the lever and find compression (TDC) then pull the decompression lever and carefully move the piston just very slightly past TDC, allow the kickstart to come back up and kick it
Step 2: If it doesn't start it could be flooded so making sure the chock (fuel enricher) is not on hold the throttle fully open and pulling the decompression lever roll it over a few times to clear the cylinder and than release the throttle and repeat Step 1
I'm not sure about the XTs TTs and later SRs but the standard carburettors on the early SRs have a hot start button beneath the throttle linkage infront of the carburettor that can be pushed up to help hot starts this button opens the throttle very slightly and releases automatically once you use the throttle
@@TH3_T3RM1N4T0R
I've got a 1978 SR500 I've had it for about ten years and done around 80,000 kilometres on it
In the early 1980's through to the mid 80's I had another one exactly the same as this one, soon after I got the first one an older wiser SR owner showed me the trick to starting one and since then I've never had a problem or looked at the kick indicator window again unless I was showing someone that it has such a thing
My bike will usually start first or second kick hot or cold, admittedly I've fitted a simpler VM36 Mikuni carburettor to it
So you've learnt the trick ?
Step 1: Don't mess around with the throttle keep it closed and while pulling the decompression lever roll the engine over a few times to prime it then release the lever and find compression (TDC) then pull the decompression lever and carefully move the piston just very slightly past TDC, allow the kickstart to come back up and kick it
Step 2: If it doesn't start it could be flooded so making sure the chock (fuel enricher) is not on hold the throttle fully open and pulling the decompression lever roll it over a few times to clear the cylinder and then release the throttle and repeat Step 1
I'm not sure about the XTs TTs and later SRs but the standard carburettors on the early SRs have a hot start button beneath the throttle linkage infront of the carburettor that can be pushed up to help hot starts this button opens the throttle very slightly and releases automatically once you use the throttle
What a cool machine ! Also, the green T3 in the back looks pretty good too... 👀
Cheers buddy! 🤟
Think there is an editing mistake at 2.53, where u wanted to talk about kickback fashion... Love the video! Cool location too
Yeah shit, just noticed it too😤
I have a Yamaha SR400 from 2016, bought it with 7300kms and it already has cam wear and fcked up cam bearings. After fixing it i'm selling the bike... I thought it would be reliable but after 3000kms started to make a clacking noise and well..apparently its a rare problem from a defective cam from factory that lost some kind of metal treatment and became "smaller"...the weirdest engine problem i've ever heard on a motorcycle. 😭😭😭
👍 Durban, South Africa.
Cheers from the Netherlands! Go Bokke
Dieser krumme Seitenständer:
Kommt durch Bequemlichkeit und Angst.
Ist kein Konstruktionsfehler.
Ik trapp mijn motoren "dynamisch" niet "statisch".
Veel SR's gezien, waar op middenstandaard het achterwiel de grond raakt.
If an SR's rear wheel is touching the ground when it's on it's center stand maybe it's rear shock absorbers are too long
@@hodaka1000 just watch your channel, Sir. Side-cases on your nice looking SR are sort of type what i want to mount on my XS. Can't find this type. Is this an universal set?
Sorry about my bad languages:
Not quality but quantity😁
@@klausl.2212
Okay side-cases panniers (saddle bags) luggage
I understand now
Yeah they do look good don't they 🤗
They are made in China, I got them off eBay they are "22 litre hard panniers" they can be hard to find at a reasonable price but not impossible
I put a lot of time into making nice mounting brackets for them
@@klausl.2212
Okay side-cases panniers (saddle bags) luggage
Yeah they do look good don't they 🤗
They are made in China, I got them off e bay they are "22 litre hard panniers" they can be hard to find at a reasonable price but not impossible
I put a lot of time into making nice mounting brackets for them
@@klausl.2212
Search : X2 Universal Motorcycle Side Trunk Hard Case 22L Saddlebags