Ever since I was a kid and saw my first Yamaha XT 500, back in 1981, I have always wanted one. I wanted the one with the gold rims.
At the same time I wanted to get a dirt bike again.
The XT500s go for silly money on ebay, where as the 550s are about 1/3 the price.
So, having watched about for a while I picked this one up for £460.03.
It was accurately described as “cosmetically challenged, but mechanically sound”.
So, the plan is to ride it around for a while, then it will have a complete strip down and a respray, etc.
The first job will be to find an industrial steamer to get all the grease off it. It seems like an oil cluster bomb has gone off near it.
Currently, I’m just riding it as a “shake down” so I know what I am up against.
I intend to blog the progress.