My bike:
I have a 1976 Yamaha XS500 I just purchased at the end of summer. I love the styling and look of the bike and should make a great cafe racer. One problem I am running into though is that the bike is pretty rare now and because of which parts such as air filters and oil filters are hard to find. Not to mention most other parts I may need for repair or modification. But more on that later.
WHen I got the bike I went through and rebled the brakes, adjusted this and that on the engine and generally cleaned it up. It had been sitting unused for two years so I thought I better take it for a quick spin in my parking ramp before taking it out onto the street. When going into the first corner of the ramp I fethered the front brake to scrub some speed and nothing - no brake at all. But no matter, I was going slow enough that I could lean into the turn and be fine. But then the bike just accelerated on its own. I had no time to react and slammed into the wall. I endoed over the bike and would have fell two stories down the ramp if my shoulder did not hit a load bearing support pilar and throw me back into the ramp. I landed on my head and split my helmet open (thank god I randomly decided to put it on for my test ride). Physically I was fine except for a brused ego, but my bike suffered some damage.
I bent the forks in about 2 inches, bent the handlebars, and bent both the foot brake and foot shifter into the engine casing (luckly it did not puncture it). After that little mishap the bike has sat unused due to lack of funds to fix it.
Since then I have bought new fork tubes, a great set of clip-on handlebars, new headlight brackets, levers, fork boots, and rearsets. I'm excited to put my bike back together this spring and ride again. I still have many more parts to buy to complete my cafe racer, but I have all winter for that.
A side note concerning the rear sets: I bought them from Old Bike Barn in September and still have not recieved them. My credit card was charged. I have tried calling and emailing the company concering this issue and have not been given a reply yet. Moral of the story: Beware of OBB, their customer service sucks!!!!
I have a 1976 Yamaha XS500 I just purchased at the end of summer. I love the styling and look of the bike and should make a great cafe racer. One problem I am running into though is that the bike is pretty rare now and because of which parts such as air filters and oil filters are hard to find. Not to mention most other parts I may need for repair or modification. But more on that later.
WHen I got the bike I went through and rebled the brakes, adjusted this and that on the engine and generally cleaned it up. It had been sitting unused for two years so I thought I better take it for a quick spin in my parking ramp before taking it out onto the street. When going into the first corner of the ramp I fethered the front brake to scrub some speed and nothing - no brake at all. But no matter, I was going slow enough that I could lean into the turn and be fine. But then the bike just accelerated on its own. I had no time to react and slammed into the wall. I endoed over the bike and would have fell two stories down the ramp if my shoulder did not hit a load bearing support pilar and throw me back into the ramp. I landed on my head and split my helmet open (thank god I randomly decided to put it on for my test ride). Physically I was fine except for a brused ego, but my bike suffered some damage.
I bent the forks in about 2 inches, bent the handlebars, and bent both the foot brake and foot shifter into the engine casing (luckly it did not puncture it). After that little mishap the bike has sat unused due to lack of funds to fix it.
Since then I have bought new fork tubes, a great set of clip-on handlebars, new headlight brackets, levers, fork boots, and rearsets. I'm excited to put my bike back together this spring and ride again. I still have many more parts to buy to complete my cafe racer, but I have all winter for that.
A side note concerning the rear sets: I bought them from Old Bike Barn in September and still have not recieved them. My credit card was charged. I have tried calling and emailing the company concering this issue and have not been given a reply yet. Moral of the story: Beware of OBB, their customer service sucks!!!!
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
We're going to need a lot of good quality photos of your bike...
I kept you on hold a long time, and I'm sorry for that, but I like to get a feel for how people are before I accept them for the group.
feel free to reapply later.