I bought one of these "Thumper" XT500 Yamahas in the mid 70s when they first came out.A 500cc single,very simple,just an engine with a wheel at each end.I used it for roaming around the country lanes and the blat of the big single cylinder engine doing its stuff was always a pleasure,the speed quite adequate for any type of road.The only fly in the ointment was the too small a tank so one was perpetually looking for petrol stations. I ran it for a year or two then changed it for an SR 500.Same engine but in road bike form.Big mistake ,the SR was without character and not a patch on the XT and as a road bike not as good as the old Velocette Venom I used to own in the sixties,neither one thing or the other.I sold it and went over to rather boring multis. Many years later I again got the urge for a bit of single riding and bought a 500cc Indian Enfield Bullet...Least said the better.
SR500
I went to Slocombes in Neasden N. London to buy a secondhand Ariel Square four 'Squariel' 1,000cc. to haul a sidecar giving a BSA C11 250cc it's freedom. For advice I went with an Art Student friend 'Grampa' who knew about motorbikes. It wouldn't start so Grampa said forget it, I pleaded but it still wouldn't start so, gutted, I left on the tired Beeza. Never mind, I ended up with a great Norton Dominator . . . solo "Say no more".
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember biker's slang for the 'Royal Enfield' was the "Royal Oilfield" can only guess why. Hi Ged . . . brocol.
I seem to remember