Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126318
Yamaha SR500E impression A modern singI with cIa ic tin] By Da le Brown The single-cylinder, big-bore , four-stroke street machine was surving only because of the hardy souls wh o refu sed to give up their BSA Go ld Star, Matchless or Norton Manx -when Yamaha revived the concept by taking their 499cc single overhead cam four-stroke sing le from the TT/ XT series dirt bi kes and and putting it in a street bike chassis. ' 24 T he result was th e SR 500E which , sim p ly put , is a mach ine for tight a n d twisty mountain ro a ds, one or two day trips riding on e·up and if you prefer , going to work . The SR500 does not offer commuter bike convenien ces like elect ric starting, does not go we ll over 100 mph like the big su pe rb ikes, and is not jet-smooth and sui te d for long dist ance riding like th e touring bik es. But neither do es it scra pe off its a ltern a tor ' cover go ing through tight turns at high rat es of speed , wob ble du rin g a ny kin d of twisty maneuverin g, and it d oes not req uire a tow truck to pick it back up sho u ld it fall. • The heart of th e Ii\' beastie is the 499cc engine. which for street work has been fitt ed with a 34mm (2mm bigger th an dirt configuration) Mikuni ca rb uretor with accelera tor pump and slightly more exterior finning . Torque is in abundance. The rider can a lmost feel each power stroke as the bik e pu lls from a bout two grand . Rid ing around town . you will find yourself shifting u p a gear as soon as the engine reaches 3 ,000 -4,000 rpm . Around town , third gear works for just about everything if you don 't feel like shifting a lot. Coming out of corners it's a lmost im possible to be in the wrong gear. The SR500 did a roll on in fifth gear from 30 mph without any sig ni fica nt blubbering , choking or coughing. - . - - - •• _ •. ... • _ . •. ' While there's plenty of power down low, the thumper is not the horsepower king of the 500cc class. In fifth gear , throttle to the max and rid er tucked in as tight as he can be , the SR500 will not go any faster than 85 mph . At 85 mph, the tachometer reads 6 ,200 rpm with an indicated redline of 7,000. The bike won 't pull redline 'rpm in fifth gear. Bu t the bik e does cruise in relative comfort at 65-75 mph. The limiti ng factor in comfort is vibration . While th e Yamaha people did as much as they could for rider co mfort by fitting the handlebars and footpegs with rubber inserts at the mou nting locations to isola te them from the throbbing engine. Bu t some vibration makes its way through to the rider and a full day in the saddle will leave its mark on hands and derriere. The vibration will leave its mark on the bike as well. With slightly over 400 miles on the odometer, the mirror glass disappeared pa st the rider's elbow as he went to shift to fourth . Near the 600 ·mile mark , the bolts securing the ignition /fork lock switc h went south, so now th e switch sort of floats and jiggles b etween tach and speedo and the fork lock is inoperative. W e suggest a heavy Loctite or Vibra-tite treatment when th e bik e is new and a careful eye on the nuts and bolts for ever after. Handling was superb. The bike seems to be happier when it's negotiating a twisty back road then when it's flying down the freewa y. The SR500 can be leaned over to incredible angles without touching anything including the sid esta nd . But watch your inside foot. It 'll get very close to the ground . Of course, the singlecylinder format means the bike is extremely narrow. The thumper was a neutral steerer and never was any frame flex d etected in the course of the test. The suspension went unnoticed wh ile we were riding, which meant it was doing its job in a perfectly adeq uate manner. Both forks and shocks were u p to the challenge of obstacles like dips , potholes and ra ilroa d tracks we encountered . The brakes were very - good. T he front disc is powerfu l and progressive , requ ir ing only two fingers to do the job . The rear brake - a lso a disc worked very well , too . It stoppe d the bike in a hurry but didn't lock the wheel up. But then again. it's difficult to stop that big single. To get on the road and enjoy the nice handling, you 've got to get that big single started. To the uninitiated . that can be a handful. While we never had to extract sorneone's kneecap from the right handlebar. starting the thumper was difficult at times until we learned the proper drill . For a cold engine start. depress the choke lever all the way. Use the decompression lever, depress the kickstarter and watch the stroke indicator window until the silver indicator comes into view. When it does, return th e kickstarter and make sure it engages at the very top of its stroke. Think about the IRS for a couple of moments, then give the kicks tarter on e healthy boot. It should light right up . For starting a hot engine. Yamaha has incorporated a little push button which opens the throttle a crack . It's loca ted on the lef t side of the ca rb o and the button is made of white plastic. Push it up. crank 'er over and th e engine starts and id les at 3,000 rpm . To reduce th e id le back to normal and disconnect the warm starter butto"':'firmly push the throttle to the fully closed position . Detailing on th e SR500 was very good . Levers were the dog-type with " . b lack'aplastic, .coveri ng .. :rhe. clutch