1973 Yamaha Tx500 on 2040-motos

1973 Yamaha TX500.  Rare bike.  It was Yamaha's first 4 valve per cylinder Motorcycle.  Has a balance shaft as well, so it is very smooth.  Twin CV carbs, Front Disk with dual piston caliper.   Electric and kick start. In its day, it was very expensive, which was a problem for Yamaha, as the RD350 was almost as powerful, but much cheaper.

I was just at Mid Ohio, and this was the only one there this year, which should give you an idea as to its rarity.  After all, there were two NSU's there....

I got this bike from a friend, who had it in his garage for years, but hadn't run since the early 1980's.  He lost the key, which was on an "ET" keychain.  I fixed up the bike as follows:

Removed the old period accessories that were nasty, and found the proper replacement parts, i.e., grab rail, rear turn signals, gas cap

New tubes and tires

Rebuilt front caliper and installed new brake disc pads

Rebuilt master cylinder

Obtained two new keys

Rebuilt carbs, all new gaskets and jets

Rebuilt petcocks, including new petcock to gas tank gaskets

Cleaned gas tank

New Plugs

New Battery

Unifilter foam wrapped around the original air filter core (the paper was solid, crusty and old, NOS is hard to find, so this is the way to go).

Has most of the original tool kit, including the plug wrench (the plugs are rather deep in the engine!)

The bike runs great, but I have noticed three problems: I think I need a new bulb in one of the signals, as it has stopped flashing on that side, it runs a little rich, and it has recently developed an air leak.  I believe it's at the manifold or manifold gasket, so I'm going to be replacing that gasket when I get a chance.

It isn't a perfect bike, but it's an honest bike, and you can't go wrong deciding to modify it, caf it out, restore it, or ride it "as is", as a vintage bike that can keep up with today's traffic.

I have registered and ridden this bike over the past year, so the mileage will be higher than what is on the picture.