1978 Yamaha TT500, Engine no. 2178

1978 Yamaha TT500
Engine no. 2178
Introduced for 1976 and sold only in the US market at first, the Yamaha XT500 single-handedly made singles cool again thanks to its smart, functional styling and bullet-proof engine. An 'adventure bike' before the term was coined, the XT was soon proving its reliability and speed in desert races in North America and the grueling 1979 Rallye Paris Dakar, the first of which started on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) 1978 and ended on January 14, 1979. And of the 90 motorcycles entered, the most common weapon of choice was the Yamaha XT500. Already proven in the Abidjan-Nice Rally, 38 of the 90 riders that departed Paris were astride a 500XT. Fourteen of those riders would cross the finish line at Lac Rose in Dakar and included in that 14 would be the winner and the runner-up of the first Dakar Rally, Frenchmen Cyril Neveu and Gilles Comte.

This flat tracker – its frame builder is strictly-speaking unknown although the bike's builder, the late Bart Otti of Wichita, Kansas, maintained it was an early Kenny Roberts production, he referenced the way it was welded, clearly it is very similar to both a Trackmaster or a Champion – is powered by a lightly modified XT500 motor. The frame what secrets are held inside the motor are just that, secrets, for the there is no paperwork that came with it. It appears never to have been raced, perhaps even broken in.

It clearly provides great potential for an enthusiastic rider. Offered on a Bill of Sale.