I had an 81 when I was a kid it was a rock solid bike plenty of power I only weighed 115 lbs lol it was lots of fun! It was the best bike in the snow I ever rode!
Thank you! And yeah I am fortunate to live in a spot that still has chunks of woods here and there that I can get to close to home and ride these bikes.
Thank you Josh. Yeah it’s got a ton of grunt and I’ll be taking it to Mid Ohio this year to ride around the fairgrounds and trails. Super comfortable bike too.
Great work sounds sweet and looks fun in the woods as well, I remember the good old 23' front wheels could never get decent tyres for it was always stuck with original yokohama in UK !! But nice looking bike you now have 👍
Thank you! I had this thing back in the woods last night and got caught in a pop up downpour thunderstorm. My buddy was on his 74 XL350 and both bikes made it out no problem. We were down in the valley and had many hills to climb and creeks to ride though. It was a blast
they came out with road trail tyres not nobbies. these old bikes are bullet proof. the head light and indicators were very poor. i wish i still had mine. thanks for the video mate.
Are these xl500 still viable bikes? I want a bike to run to town in colorado mountains, half dirt pavement roads. These 80s xl 500 fully working go $1500-2000 in my area. Newer used bikes like 2019 yamaha xt250, kawasaki klr250 are $3000.
Yeah, if you can find one that was well maintained for those prices I’d jump on it. While I had this bike, it was very reliable and was able to get up speed on the roads very easily. It was able to handle my trails no problem too within limitation of the dual shock that mine had. These also came later on with a more modern mono shock.
@@Garage2Trail fair enough lol. That's why I ask these questions. My wr250r was uncomfortable cruising at that speed. Maybe I should slap a windshield on a Dr650 instead. Or find an old cb550
@@beardedrancher the one thing that may help vs the WR250 is the XL500 wouldn’t need to be revved as high to maintain those speeds and if it had dual sport 50/50 tires it might be comfortable aside from the wind to deal with. I never had a chance to take the 500 on the highway when I had it…just back roads and it did well.
Everytime You started that bike Iwamted to punch ur bike lol mine wants to Start so bad its so clae but not yet damnit I Got 20 acres of farm land that needs this bike
I am Pouring sweat right now trying to get an 82 xl500r that has sat for ten years i know this is obvious but tip dont wear temu shoes while trying to kick this over man my Feet hurt
Not a better feeling you got her alive again. Woods indeed!
Lovely..those days honda made bike with a living sull
best bike ever made had 2 of them wish i still had one
Stop telling lies lad
@@billybarr7443 are you a sheep Billy barrrr
I bought one from brand new, best bike I ever owned. Great fun to ride. The sound of that thumper is something you don't forget lol
It is a great bike. Gets up to speed quick for the road but has enough grunt and manageable power for the woods.
I had an 81 when I was a kid it was a rock solid bike plenty of power I only weighed 115 lbs lol it was lots of fun! It was the best bike in the snow I ever rode!
Nice ride out .Lucky to have a nice trail near looks perfect for the xl
Thank you! And yeah I am fortunate to live in a spot that still has chunks of woods here and there that I can get to close to home and ride these bikes.
Bike is coming along nicely man. Seems like a good strong runner with power to spare 👍🏻
Thank you Josh. Yeah it’s got a ton of grunt and I’ll be taking it to Mid Ohio this year to ride around the fairgrounds and trails. Super comfortable bike too.
Great work sounds sweet and looks fun in the woods as well, I remember the good old 23' front wheels could never get decent tyres for it was always stuck with original yokohama in UK !! But nice looking bike you now have 👍
Thank you! I had this thing back in the woods last night and got caught in a pop up downpour thunderstorm. My buddy was on his 74 XL350 and both bikes made it out no problem. We were down in the valley and had many hills to climb and creeks to ride though. It was a blast
The bigger front wheel was a try-out from Honda but failed, in sand and mud it was more unstable then the smaller wheel.
Loved the sound!
Side note- my mt03 beats the pants off of this thing even in dirt!
they came out with road trail tyres not nobbies. these old bikes are bullet proof. the head light and indicators were very poor. i wish i still had mine. thanks for the video mate.
Thanks for watching! 70s and 80s had so many cool innovative bikes
From brand new they came out with "trailing" tyres........ semi knobby ............
Yeah buddy!!
Nice I’m in the market for one off these in uk .but not having a great deal off luck also xt 500 but hens teeth ,
Hope you find one! They are great bikes
Nice bike bro
Thank you Cory!
Ya had some shmegma on yer bike! 😂
This xl500r is better climber than xt225?
Can’t say for sure…I’ve never ridden an XT225.
Are these xl500 still viable bikes? I want a bike to run to town in colorado mountains, half dirt pavement roads. These 80s xl 500 fully working go $1500-2000 in my area. Newer used bikes like 2019 yamaha xt250, kawasaki klr250 are $3000.
Yeah, if you can find one that was well maintained for those prices I’d jump on it. While I had this bike, it was very reliable and was able to get up speed on the roads very easily. It was able to handle my trails no problem too within limitation of the dual shock that mine had. These also came later on with a more modern mono shock.
Are your woods spooky at night? 👻
Lol they can be! There’s an abandoned stone cabin back there that’s probably been there since the early 1900s. It’s gotta be haunted! Lol
Skid plate for the bottom of the engine!
Yup, I’m hoping to find one later this month at the Mid Ohio swap meet!
@Garage2Trail I have one for a 1981 if interested
@@coltonwalker9616 what are you looking to get for it?
@@Garage2Trail are you selling this bike
I sold it at Mid Ohio a few weeks ago.
Nice old thumper
Thanks! It was a great bike while I had it
Does this have the 23 inch front wheel
Yea it does
How would it do cruising on the highway
It actually did pretty well. Gets up to 60 quickly. 2nd and 3rd gear are tall so that helps!
@@Garage2Trail Texas has 75 mph speed limits so its always a big consideration for me.
@@beardedrancher gotcha. It would probably do it but would be scary with knobbies and no wind protection lol
@@Garage2Trail fair enough lol. That's why I ask these questions. My wr250r was uncomfortable cruising at that speed. Maybe I should slap a windshield on a Dr650 instead. Or find an old cb550
@@beardedrancher the one thing that may help vs the WR250 is the XL500 wouldn’t need to be revved as high to maintain those speeds and if it had dual sport 50/50 tires it might be comfortable aside from the wind to deal with. I never had a chance to take the 500 on the highway when I had it…just back roads and it did well.
Everytime
You started that bike
Iwamted to punch ur bike lol mine wants to
Start so bad its so clae but not yet damnit
I
Got 20 acres of farm land that needs this bike
😆 have you gone through the carb and fresh fuel? The valves might need adjusted too. That is the perfect farm bike!
I am
Pouring sweat right now trying to get an 82 xl500r that has sat for ten years i know this is obvious but tip dont wear temu shoes while trying to kick this over man my
Feet hurt
They sure don’t like to wake up after sitting that long! Fresh fuel and cleaned carb usually does the trick.