VOL. 51 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 P39
BY JASON ABBOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM RILES
I
f you were around motorcycles in the
1970s there's a good chance that ei-
ther you or someone you knew owned
a Yamaha SR500. First released in
1978, the lightweight, single-cylinder
SR500 was Yamaha's street version
of the popular XT500 but with the flag-
ship XS650 styling. Unfortunately, the
SR500 only saw a four-year production
run (1978-'81) in the U.S., but it thrived
elsewhere around the world.
In Japan, the bulletproof SR has en-
joyed a long and fruitful life, having been
manufactured there for the past 35
years as the SR400. The 400 is for all
intents and purposes a 500, but with a
different crankshaft and shorter piston
stroke. In 2010, the Japanese model re-
ceived fuel injection and a new catalyst
muffler, replacing the "dirty" carburetor
and old-style muffler in order to pass in-
creasingly tighter emission restrictions.
For 2015, the Yamaha SR400 returns
to the U.S. as the only true "classic" en-
try in the American market, as it's almost
unchanged from the original SR400.
"Purist" enthusiasts will love its single
"thumper" engine, mechanical beauty
and epic reputation. The simplicity in
design offers up one of the best plat-
forms for customization.
I speak from experience when I say
that searching for and finding old bikes
or finding stock Yamaha SRs from the
'70s and early '80s or any other good-
condition vintage motorcycle has been
getting harder and harder these days.
Even if you are lucky enough to find
one, they're usually in pretty rough
shape and in need of a ton of work to
get them back on the road. The 2015
