Custom 1982 Yamaha SR500 Still Looks Like It Comes from Racing

Back in the late 1970s, Yamaha was already a force in the enduro segment with the XT500, a twin-valve single cylinder adventure bike that worked its magic on circuits across the world. The XT500 spawned street versions of course, two of them, called SR400 and SR500.

Both were born at about the same time in 1978 to meet various market restrictions across the globe, and proved successful enough to be kept in production well until the late 1990s. Yet never in the production life of the two did a vehicle like the one in the gallery above get made by Yamaha.

What you see in the photos once was a SR500, assembled for the first time in 1982, and more recently given a more modern look by an Austrian shop that goes by the name Vagabund.

Listed on the garage’s site as “Not for Sale” the bike - which has been renamed V06 - is a creation in the usual Vagabund style, as you’ve already seen on some of their other builds we already talked about.

This one, street legal at least in its home country, packs a number of visual changes that sets it apart from its former self. These changes include a new fuel tank, taken from a Yamaha RT360 and modified to incorporate a mini speedometer, a new rear frame, and some 3D printed elements, like the switch housing.

We are not told what modifications have been made to the engine fitted inside the frame, but as stock the motorcycle was offered with a variant of the XT500 499cc single cylinder engine that allowed it to reach a top speed of 146 km/h (91 mph).

As said, this particular build is not for sale, and there’s alo no info on how much it cost to be remade. That means we have no idea how much it could be worth, but for reference unmodified SR500s rarely exceed $5,000.

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