The Yamaha XT500 is one of those motorcycles that came before its time – it was an ‘adventure bike’ before there really was such a thing and it quickly found a home in races like the Paris–Abidjan-Nice, the Paris-Dakar and races across the Mojave in the US.
At its heart the XT500 has a twin valve 498cc single cylinder, SOHC engine and 5-speed transmission – this same engine was used in the legendary SR500 and the TT500. The relatively light weight of 140kgs made the Yamaha XT500 a bike that could almost float over rough terrain when driven at speed – it was listed as having a top speed of 90mph and some early desert racers are said to have hit 90 whilst on dirt. Not a feat for the faint of heart.
If you’ve been looking for an early model year Yamaha XT500 you might want to take a closer look at this restored example due to roll across the auction block with Bonhams on the 7th of September 2013 at the National Motor Museum Collectors’ Motorcycles Auction.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
This is the real-life Mach 5 from the 2008 Wachowski film Speed Racer, based on the manga and anime series that was created by Tatsuo Yoshida back in the mid-1960s. The Mach 5 needs no introduction to anyone who grew up in the ’60s, ’70s, or ’80s. Speed Racer was dubbed into English and countless…
The Honda Monkey Z50R was released in 1979 as the new and improved Honda Monkey bike – so named because people looked like monkeys when riding them, with their knees up, arms out, and shoulders raised. The Honda Monkey Z-Series The truth of the matter is that the Honda Monkey came about almost by accident,…
The Mazda RX-7 is an immensely popular Japanese sports car that’s entirely unique among its contemporaries due to one key fact – it was only ever offered with a rotary engine. Rotaries have fallen out of favor in more recent years due to tightening emissions regulations, the Wankel rotary needs a small amount of oil…
The story of the Datsun 240Z begins on the race track, and it dates back to 1964 when the Prince Motoring Club was established by Dr. Sakuri of Prince Motors in the wake of defeat by a privately entered Porsche in the Japanese Grand Prix of that year.
Datsun is a Japanese automobile manufacturer with a fascinating history, they officially dropped the Datsun name in 1986 in favor of Nissan, but the Datsun badge was brought back in 2013 to sell inexpensive cars in developing countries without the risk of diluting the perceived brand value of the parent company. A Brief History of…
The Feldon Shelter Co. is a New Zealand based company that designs and builds some of the best rooftop tents in the world. The Crow’s Nest is their most affordable offering, it’s a two-person rooftop tent designed to be exceedingly tough, and exceptionally user-friendly. Each Crow’s Nest tent can sleep two adults up to 7…
