I’ve had my XT500 for about 28 years. Useless front brake but super reliable, Have had 90mph out of it, 60mpg. I love it. Also got an SR500 too.

Great video. I think yamaha could sell a load of XTs as a modern retro.

Still got my 79 XL500s, which I've owned since new. While there are much better bikes out there, it's still my favourite bike to ride. So many memories on it.

After giving up moto cross, I still missed off-roading, so bought an XT500. When I and my pal with his 410 AJS motocrosser met up with two other friends of ours with their road bikes on our little practice circuit, they were gobsmacked that I could beat the AJ's lap time with my XT whilst appearing to be just out for a gentle Sunday afternoon plod. I let one of them have a go on the XT, and the following week they both turned up with brand new ones. For a lark, I entered a scramble with the XT in 1978, and it blitzed everything going up the very steep hill at Nancemellin, but going down the hill was a very different kettle of fish as the thing bounced about, only vaguely staying straight.😅However, I still managed to finish mid-field, much to the surprise of many. In 1981 I traded it in against an XT550, which was undoubtedly the most fun bike that I have ever owned.

Very nice video. I had a 78 XL 250 Honda for many years as a local commuter and it served well. Sold it off to a collector in south East GA I’m mid 90s. Now days I have an XR650L and a DR 650 both are great but The XR gets the most attention. Life is short so Get out and ride!

I really do miss the polished gas tank aesthetic from back then. Such a solid nostalgia boost whenever I catch a glimpse of one!

Unquestionably my new favorite KZfaq channel, as a teen during the 70s you're bringing back wonderful memories

Yep; here in South Africa the XT was a bit of a legend. I loved my TS400 though; it was my daily ride for work in Johannesburg during the week and hit the bush every weekend. Great days.

Really enjoyed that, thanks. I'm an ex Suzuki TS 250 owner -- much fun was had on a ten-year-old bike in the early 90s. I sold it to an Irish contractor I worked with for £250 -- he took it home on the back of his pick-up and used it on his farm. Might be still there for all I know ;-)

I remember that both the XT500 and the SR500 from Yamaha, were very well regarded at the time stayed in production for a long time. Great Video.

I lost my lower left leg off a TS 250 in 88 , mind you the Ford fiesta that pull out in front of me helped ,, 😁, great fun bike up to that point,,

My first bike in late 1978 was a new Yamaha DT175MX, two weeks before Christmas - I still remember the excitement of getting on it in the morning when it was new, but a year later I’d passed my test and just had to have an XT500, and what a bike that was, it really was unique at the time, and I absolutely loved it … still laugh at the memory of seeing it launch my friend over the saddle when he tried to start it one time, he never asked to ride it again!

I still have my 1970 BSA Victor Special. Lots of fun.

Proud owner of a 1980 XL 500. Took it to Moab, UT. Rode it around Watkins Glen International Speedway and everywhere else you could imagine.

Owned an XT 500 for 30 years. Never done anything but change the oil. Still runs great.

Why did this video make me cry? Maybe because all these bikes were my dream ones when I was a kid!! Specifically the Yamaha. Bellissime 🤩

From South Africa 500 Yammie locally called the. Thumper... I once owned a Suzbox TS 250 Savage, Somewhere around the mid 1970's

Great video man! I was 3yrs.old in 1974 when I started riding a Honda Z50 and it was old when I started riding it ..The bike saved my life really, but that's another story lol I remember riding a bunch of 185/175cc bikes that were kinda awesome really! Just a couple of ideas since you asked!

The XL500 with a lot of weight saver parts, modern flat slide carb, 21 inch front wheel from a late drum motocrosser and longer shocks and forks makes for a hell of a trail bike with a vintage 4S MX vibe. Worth about 5 times more than stock too.

Never seen the BSA before. Good-looking bike. Yamaha XT500: I had the E model.1981, bought secondhand in 1983. Over the ensuing six years, I rode to Portugal return three times from England, and Greece and back once. Brilliant bike. And now, one of my bikes is the Yamaha SCR950. It feels like an XT with a Harley Sportster engine in it. Fascinating video.

Great video! Thanks. That Suzuki 400 ring ding is awesome! Best 400 single ever made! Powerful and bulletproof😄 TM = motocross version, Cyclone. With knobbies. That thing would eat your lunch! TS = enduro version with dual sport tires, Apache (Universal Tyres if you are a Brit.)

The early 70's I had a Triumph Trailblazer 250 I loved that bike and it was my last one, now I'm 71 but having daft thoughts of wanting another bike,, the missus said I'd be better off with a trike as I'd fall off 2 wheels...loving the videos keep them coming

I had a 1978 XT500, great bike! I had a lot of fun on it.

Awesome ! I had a 1976 Yamaha TT 500 with a white Bros pipe complete exhaust system. It was a fun thumper !

I had an early XT500 & could start it first time hot or cold no problem & my friend who later had an XL500 could do the same but neither of us could start each other's bikes easily strangely.

I grew up on mini bikes, and my first motorcycle was a Harley dual sport, with a ~90cc engine. At twelve my Dad brought me a Yamaha YZ 400. That bike was a beast, that loved to scream! I kept that bike a long time, and only had to replace fork oil seals. I wish I still had it. After that I got a Honda XR 350, and instead screaming it like putting around in the woods, but also could go like hell smoothly, and quietly.

Excellent selection of the Best Machines that really stamped there ground. 👍

Very nice and interested Vid of 70s Legend Bikes,thanks 👍🏻.

Very enjoyable trip down memory lane and another reminder of all those bikes I should've bought but never did!

Another superbly apt selection

I bought a Yammy DT360! Great bike, wish I still had it, learnt to ride driving from Brissy to Mission Beach in the early seventies, still muss it 😳

I would like to see the Honda xl250 motorsport granddaddy of all Japanese single 4-stroke trail bikes one of the nicest looking trail bikes ever built

You know how to bring back memories. I had a XT500 back in the early '80's. Great bike. A few years later, I bought a XT600 Tenere ( not mentioned here ). It was a beast. I'm 6 foot ( 1.82m ) & could only just touch my toes on each side, so had to be careful when parking up. Yep, dropped it a couple of times when not "thinking"

I bought a 77 tt500. Never had so much fun with it. Sadly it got stolen a year later. About that time i bought a condo in hawaii so gave up bike riding. Later on i moved to calif and within a few years i found an 80 sr500 at a yard sale. I still have it to this day. I still wished i had also bought the xt 500. The sr500 is a true classic.

XT 500 # 4 is in my shop and I started on the old 441 Victor and had several of them and the big bores are easy to start if you learn about them right, a 12 year old boy I taught to start the xt and he rode the heck out of it, he is of slight build and the envy of his dirt biking friends at school.

Currently two BSA B50s reside in my garage. I can vouch that they can be awkward to start, but once going they are a blast. The only thing that stops my B50T from climbing the steepest of slopes is loss of traction. Riding into a foot of liquid mud under six inches of water will stop it too, but that is another story!

Nice glimpse back to the '70s. I worked as a mechanic for a Suzuki/Kawasaki dealership in NY state and the TS 400 was felt to not be worthwhile as a trail bike. It was heavy, the engine acted constipated. Balance was off front to rear so steered heavy. I owned several TS250s, competed in enduros and it was a true workhorse if set up correctly. Later on, I owned an XT500 which was overall a fine motorcycle with excellent geometry to handle backroad riding. Also owned a XL500 to rebuild, it had a 23" front wheel. Kawasaki had a 350cc off-road machine called the "Big Horn" starting as the F5 in 1969 but was never refined to meet it's potential as a larger bore trail bike, generally in about the same league as the big Suzuki and not a pleasurable ride off road. We sold several early 70s BSAs and they had the footrest bolt carry both footrests and a misadventure with a rock could break the threaded bar and both footrests would fail.

One bike to consider is the 1970 Yamaha RT1 360cc Enduro. I had one in black and red pinstriping when I was teen in the mid seventies. It was advertised as the first stock bike to complete the Baja 500. Excellent bike then and now!

My TS400 was a beast on the street, punishing on a rough trail.

Another excellent review. Thank you.

I had a TT500. It was an awesome wheelie machine!

I love these 1970's trail/enduro bikes. Had an SP 600 Suzuki thumper & a DT 400 Yammi. I stay off bikes now because I've almost been killed twice. Who wants to live forever right?

The Yamaha XT was a bike I always wanted. but they were quite difficult to find. but maybe it worked out for the best. because waiting a while proved that there was an even better big bore bike to choose from. and that's the Suzuki DR 650, it's really the ultimate big bore dual sport bike.

Great video ! All the best big Trailies……..except the ‘Elephant in the Room’………BMW’s. GS 80. This is a bike with real ‘mystique’ and exotic engineering……horizontally opposed cylinders and Dakar Rally cred. A comprehensive history of this model would be a real treat !

Did a trip on my 1979 xl500s last week. 280km gravel roads, did not skip a beat. Cut short when the 23inch front wheel slid out underneath me.

I had three 1978 Yammy 500's. Two XT's and a SR.. Love those bikes. The SR was the rare F/R disc model..most had a rear drum.

very nice video.....the Duke would be my fave....cheers, Roy

I had a 1979 XL500, that was great to ride on and off road.

I had the XT500. Good bike. Went well. Great for our Cornish back-country roads come sun or cold snot.

I use to have a 2000 Honda XE650R uncorked with stage 2 HRC motor kit >> anything on that monster 63 HP ...Thumpers owned 2000 XR650R ... !999 Honda XR650L with L.A. Sleave 720cc kit w/ white bros pipe also bike had HRC XR650R upgrade in 2000, ... 1976 Yamaha XT500C W/ Pro Tech 560 cc Kit all bells and whistles ... Yamaha 1977 XT500 stock ... 1982 Yamaha Red XT550 stock ... 1982 Yamaha white XT550 stock ... 1987 Honda XR600R w/pipe ... Those are my thumpers had others under 350cc range. I love my 4 strokes ,,List not included is all 2 strokes and street bikes

I had an XR 500 for a few years, great bike, bullet proof engine, super reliable and easy to start with the automatic decompressor. Mine was slightly geared up for the road and would do just over 100MPH at which speed the air would get under that big front mudguard and make for a very entertaining ride. Most agreed that the XR 500A was more powerful than the bike that came after it (XR500B?).

To put this into perspective my bike is a CCM 604e Sport made in 1999 with a tuned Rotax 604 engine (an engine which dates back to the early eighties), the bike weighs 140Kg wet and makes about 70 rear wheel hp on Dynotech's (Basingstoke) rolling road or about 80 bhp at the crank, this engine is 680cc and in road tune, it starts on the button and idles smoothly, max power is at 7.2k rpm and the max torque of 70 Nm is at 5.3k rpm although the torque remains above 60Nm from 2k to 8k rpm, the rev limiter is set to 7.8k revs but the engine is safe to 9k with little reduction in power past the peak at that rpm. This self tuned Rotax engine is a SOHC single cylinder 4 valve unit with 5 gears and has an oversize bore of 103.25mm bore and an 81mm (std) stroke, it has a balancer shaft which really works well and the engine is as smooth as silk at all speeds and is fitted with a big VM44 Mikuni carb, drivability is fantastic with perfect throttle response at all speeds and the ability to drop down to 2.5K in top gear without transmission snatch. A tuned CCM Rotax engined bike like this makes all those 70's, 80's and 90's era big singles whether 2 stroke or 4 stroke with their 30 something hp look pretty pathetic, the legendary Kawasaki H1 500 triple of that era makes less power FFS and it's big brother the 750 H2 only about the same but with less torque and a narrower power band! Roland, HT Racing Ltd

I bought the XT new and over the next few years did lots of mods. Back then White Bros. was the place to go. First I did the high compression piston and replaced the troublesome carb with a Mikuni, and oil line kit. Replace header pipe and added a Supretrapp muffler, K& N air filter and re-jetted. I also added White Bros. aluminum swingarm and shocks. Changed gearing and a few other mods this things rode great. This thing loved twisty dirt roads here in NC to hang the back out. One Saturday I had rode it to the nearest Bike shop which was a Honda dealership. The guy inspecting it like the bike and called his buddy over to look at it. He said I have something you might be interested in. We went upstairs to their storage room, he had a practically new XT motor in a wooden crate and wanted to know if I was interested in it. He was going to build a flat track bike around it but didnt have the time. He said he would let me have it for what he paid for it, $40 if I remember right. I could hardly believe this. A few years later, my next top end job I ported and used this head which ran even better. By design, these bikes respond very well to mods. Some bike do not. I Had this bike for about 20 years and sold it, still in excellent shape. I bought a New Honda XR 600 so the XT had to go.

Great video, If possible I would like to see the Z1 and subsequent KZs... I love the early air cooled Zs... Need a lottery win to buy one now though

sold my xt 500 for 300 quid all those 3 years ago, ffs, SP 370 was a good thumper as well,thanks for the video,

Alrighty. Very well done. Thanks so much. We're ready for a vid on the SR 500.

I still own a 1971 Yamaha RT1 360 I bought it new in 1971. I am in the process of restoring it at the moment. I am from New Zealand.

I bought the original Yamaha TT500C (2/76 build) to do enduro's. We needed to get concessional licensing for these as some events included sealed road sections. When I went to licensing the examiner (who believed he knew it all) declared that it was an XT500 that was old stock as it had no compliance plate (Pre 1975 they didn't need them). He promptly fully road licensed the Motocross version (TT) which I'd added the lights, indicators and speedo to. So it had a dry weight of 120Kg's with the unbreakable plastic bits on it. Compared to the milder tuned XT's 155Kg's. I had also put on a much lighter exhaust than the huge monstrosity it came with, an 11.5:1 Piston and 480 flat-track cam from Powroll. Replaced the 34mm Mikuni Carb with a 42mm and a K&N air filter to help it breathe! It was a great street sleeper as the big plastic tank and muddy condition suggested just a trail hack but had mobs of power and would still wheelie in top gear, as well as break traction on gravel at will up to 150+Km/h (rand out of straight road to try for top speed). And if you think the TT500 could kick like a mule, just try it with the 11.5:1 Piston in it. An ankle smasher if you got it wrong! I mainly used it to race enduro's and it would go through a rear tyre in 2 days and a chain in three. Damn near tried to pull my arms out of their sockets. When I sold it they put the original tank back on it as a Commuter in Melbourne, and it surprised many a Honda 750 and occasionally a Kwaka 900 (if you could keep the front wheel down!). In hindsight I wish I had kept the beast but I couldn't justify it when buying a house. Oh, the memories!

I still have a sl sl125 a kl250 and a dt175mx still going strong those early trail bikes were brilliant

My buddy's dad had that XT500, what a beast to start, but she ripped up to 90mph!

I had a 70s model ( can't remember the exact year ) 2 stroke Honda Mr 125 when I lived in the Mojave. Man I loved that bike , I could sling it around as if it were a bicycle . I found a big jump out in the desert and tried my luck at it progressively . 1st run 10 mph , not bad . 2nd run 20 mph , yaaaay . 3rd run 30 mph , both front and back shocks bottomed out and it hurt my wrists , butt , and ankles . I had to take a break after that lol . I remember riding it back home gingerly with a newfound respect for its limitations. Good times . I don't know how I never crashed that bike ? I definitely pushed it to many limits .

I would like to see a collection of 70s two stroke street machines. Perhaps a bit about the RD350/400s being giant killers or a story on suzukis triples along with Kawasakis triples and their fearsome reputation. Anyway, you asked what we might like to see so...keep the fun stuff coming🍺😃

Thank you, a great video and lovely bikes. An unusual feature of the XT500 is that magnesium castings were used in the engine in place of aluminium to reduce weight though I do not know how many castings were magnesium. The XT500 had a more off-road brother the TT500. The TT had a lighter and simpler silencer, lighter plastic rear mudguard, smaller front brake and no lighting though an optional kit could be fitted, I believe it had a larger carburetor and there may have been other less obvious tweaks.

I had the Honda S L 125 in 1978 about 2 weeks ago i found an old photo taken back in the day of me sitting on the bike i payed £ 150 for it in 78..

I remember someone giving me a shot of an XT500 offroad when i was 14 years old and i thought it was great 👍

I have a 441 Victor Special and a Triumph Tr5 mx (B 50 mx). Both have such nice quirks to start and ride , it's what makes them so fun. The '70's B 50 mx and Triumph frame and suspension were such a vast improvement over the older Victor Special, just no comparison but both have their charms .

Had a 75 xl350 and 76 xt 500 both great rides.

I'm 68 years old and the best bike and most fun was in 1975 I bought a new Honda MT 250 Elsinore. Would not trade those years of fun for anything.

Nice video. I had the XT 250. Great fun. Years later when I passed my test & jumped on a Suzuki SV 650 V twin I thought that was fast. Then a couple of years later got my GSXR1000 K8 with twin Arrows now that was fast. But now I can’t ride & everything is fast. 🤣🤣👍

Ah, the bikes of my youth. In that vein, would like to see a mid-seventies Norton commando review. Wanted one badly, never happened.

Great list. Saw several of them in Palins in Derby where I bought my only new bike, a very classic blue CD175 - the first retro bike. But Surely the Triumph Adventurer as used by the Royal Signals White Helmets Display Team deserves at least an honourable mention here. It was rather better than the BSA I believe. Have got a CCM 604 frame that looks remarkably similar to the BSA frame. Thank you for sharing.

I owned a Honda XL500, a little big and heavy for dicing and slicing through the woods, but everywhere else was a tractor, so much bottom end torque, it was a great deep woods charger.

Scrouged a knackered road version Suzuki 185 as a kid run for a while over the local fields but it gave up the ghost so i swapped it for a running honda step through. I have just been given a fully restored Honda XL350 from a good friend just got to pick it up.

I had a Yamaha TT 500 back in the day. I think it was a 1978 model. I also had a 1980 YZ465, Honda CR250 and a Yamaha XS500, all at the same time. They occupied my garage and my Chevy El Camino was relegated to the driveway. Good times indeed!

Don’t forget the big bore Yamaha TT500 thumper. That bike was a beast.

Well, I've ridden the Japanese bikes in this video, at least, and in the 1970s too. I learned to ride on the farm at age12, on a pair of rotary value Kawasaki G4TR 100's. Pretty mean for 100cc and would keep up with most of the 175s and 185s. Dad later got TS185, TC185 (dual range and electric start), then TF185 "Mud Bug". One of our farm workers has a TS400, which he let me use -- yeah, it was fast and scary for a 13 or 14 year old! A friend had a silver XL250 which he brought out to the farm sometimes. I loved that thing! Once I had my license and some cash I bought a six year old silver 1974 XL350 as my first motorcycle. I late had an XR250, then XR600, and then (after a 20 year gap) got back into trail riding during COVID with a CRF250 Rally. I feel that here in NZ you saw more TTs and XRs than XTs and XLs. They were lighter, more powerful, maybe cheaper (?), and you could easily add a mirror and turn signals and use them on the road.

I owned 2 of the 441 Victors, great fun offroad but 30 min. of street ridin and your hands no longer worked. Great videos

My first street bike was a 73' Kawasaki 350 bighorn enduro,a bit heavy but fun.

Had XT 500 when I was young teen nothing but good things to say about it. In its time a very capable trail bike and climbed some large hills on it

I had the 79 Honda XR 500. Yep goofy 23" front wheel. The frame sn swingarm I believe was made of electrical conduit pipe, both cracked regularly. The 79 XR was a light purpose trail bike, meant to use to find your favorite fishing hole.

I owned both a Yamaha XT500 and a 1981 Honda XL 500. I took the Honda on a 3,300 mile trip from Northern Ca to the Canadian border in 1986, way before the term Adventure Bike came to be. I currently own a Norden 901 Expedition. It's like comparing a Model T car to a Tesla.

Many years ago, I had a KX125 with an XL500 jammed into it, that thing went hard, but did not stop, many a mate took it for a squirt and came back with a look of fear on their face, all exclaiming, "you can keep that, it tried to kill me, never again"

My 1976 XT500 enjoyed this video.

What I wouldn't give for that orange TS400!! 😍

I still have my XT500 from the year 1981…and it Runs and Runs, ….without any Problems…Almost every biker nows the XT500😊

Still ride my 1979 Honda XL500s when I can. Great condition (except for several hill climbing bumps and bruises). Wouldn't trade it for any of the newer bikes.

I love the XL 500, great bike

That was awesome. I got 1977 YZ 400D it would be more awesome to learn more about it

Ossa, Montessa,Bultaco, Husqvarna,CZ also had big bore street trail bikes very rare.

You overlooked the Honda SL350. I had the privilege to ride one to the top of Pikes Peak back in the day. It wasn’t a big thumper, but rather the venerable Honda 350 twin which loved to rev.

I love your streams . Thanks

And my MT125 ( with a CR125 barrel and expansion chamber ) left them all choking in my smoke.

All those Trail bikes are very handsome machines, all the big singles could be challenging to start for the novice, I watched a guy kick a (new) XT500 until he looked like he was about to have a heart attack, he just didn’t have the knack 😂 Love the TS400 looks, aptly named Apache, it does look like it could scalp you 😅

I had an XT 500 in the late 80s , lots of grunt, but what a bastard to kick, seriously if it didnt start in the first three kicks , you gave up on it for a half hour. And it would kick back also, throw you over the handle bars or put a massive bruise on your calf. Was a great flat track bike , just loved to be sideways, but didnt really appreciate bumps.

Great selection of scoots.ive owned many japenese enduros and every one was a hoot to drive.on and off road.the bsa,s and Ducati look nice but never rode one

In the day, I owned a Victor Special: gorgeous to admire, sounded wonderful, but a ghastly thing to actually ride. I never really had much trouble starting it (yes, even when hot), but the oil tank filler cap was perfectly positioned to bite you in the back of your knee if you weren't careful...and it was only marginally faster than a DT250, which was also handsome and much better mannered. When you consider what we had to endure back then to be a daily rider, it's amazing any of us still enjoy motorcycles. Mediocrity must build devotion?

The XT 500 and SR 500 was some of Yamaha's icons! The engine, more on the rustic side, needed love to start and could kick back badly if the driver didn't exactly know what to do. While the Honda XL 500 had a much more refined engine. I am a Honda guy but liked them all.

More good stuff! I rode a friends RM 400 Suzuki. Wheel spin or wheelie at will, depending on the traction. Fast but Scary! He switched to a Elsinore 250 when it came out. good move.

How very big they seemed, even in the early 80s. It is amusing how British bikes (apart from Norton and Triumph twins) were as good as invisible by then. I recall riding an XL250, which I believe had a 23" (!!) front. The market was much more clearly divided back then. Non-knobblie tyres didn't exist for those tall, narrow wheels. The whole notion of "dual sport" or "adventure" bikes was thankfully several horizons away. Back then, lardy middle-aged men drove Hillmans. One aspect that amazes me now, looking back, is how underbraked these things were. Happily, a big four-stroke single had excellent engine braking, but even on a (fast for its day) XT550, a tiny, narrow, cable TLS drum was not going to do much more than compress the forks. They seemed so huge at the time.... but we were only a few years away from the Ténéré and the early R80 G/S. I will not mention the KLR600 or Dr Big.... Oops. I did! I certainly won't mention the Elefant in the room.

I had a TS100 then a TS250 both great bikes, the 250 especially as it didn't have the rotary induction but I had a go on a TS400 and it ran great, it was the road version with indictaors big seat and softer suspension, it ran very well, no powerband surges, it had a CDI conversion made in Germany and a flat slide carb and together they made the bike much better, so for about £200 (at the time) he turned a bike that was leathal into a passive machine that didn't surge like a firework rocket, lost count of the XL's TL's XLR's, Ive got a Japaneses rockhopper import now and cant fault the engine,