Had one of the originals for a couple of years after I rebuilt it for a friend, but he wouldn't sell it to me so I gave it back to him (didn't want to spend out on a bike which wasn't going to be mine!). Since then it has sat in a barn for 20 years - wonder if it's still there?
I enjoyed it, but it needed to be treated with respect and was not a particularly fun motorway cruiser or much good off-road due to the weight and lack of brakes!
I had one for four yrs and rode it too and fro work every day (honiton -sidmouth) only let me down once then i went to cms and had a thread re tapped and at work for 11 am
Not good on the lanes but fun and yes the brakes were ****e along with 6v leccys
But that awesome thumper low down grunt was loverly and put a smile on my face everytime i zoomed up out of honiton to the lovely flat top and the same the other way round going up sidbury hill (before the 40mph)
Must find some pics
did you know
XT 500 entered desert Rallies in 1976 in the second edition of the first rally of this type organised, the "Paris-Abidjan-Nice" also called "Côte d'Ivoire-Côte d'Azur". Four official XTs were at the start on December 29, 1976. They were completely standard with the exception of a 25 liter fuel tank and a sturdy luggage carrier supporting tools and two 5 litre jerry cans. Aside those machines, engaged by the French importer, were 14 other XTs. It was a fantastic success, a total of 10 XTs finished the hard endurance desert race where Gilles Comte took the victory. For years XT and Paris-Dakar Rally were words that belonged together. In 1979 and 1980, Cyril Neveu won on an XT 500
