Mate i envy you finding these beutiful bikes people in the uk still cling to the old English bikes that were trully crap you pushed them more times than you rode them
KILLER barn find man!! I've been working on the 1982 model of this bike on my channel actually and it has a super similar story to your bike. I met up with a guy from FB marketplace who bought the bike from the original owner. The original owner bought the bike hurt his knee and then sat the bike in the corner of his shop for 20 years and the next guy pretty much did the same! I found it with 6200 miles on and missing no parts. Those bug nests are so common though! I found that by working thru the electrical system and cleaning all contact points from dirt and bug remains, I was able to get rid of all the electrical problems I had. Keep up the awesome videos man!
Thank you! I’ll have to check yours out as well. Proves gems like these can still be found with low miles bug nests and all lol. The funny thing about the electrics on mine is when I took it out for its shake down, one of the rides I got caught in the rain. I mean a full on downpour. I was soaked. After the the turn signals started working lol. I only have the fronts hooked up and the flasher relay needs replaced but I thought it was funny. Once I find the rear signals I’ll go back through the electrics and clean ‘‘em up.
@@Garage2Trail for sure! too many people are under the assumption that you gotta have 10k to spend on a new bike to have fun. Lol I guess nature knows best right? hahahahaha
My mates brother had one with an XR piston, cam and carb fitted. I remember him overtaking me doing 50 on the back wheel. The 500 thumper era was fun. Great bike worthy of repair.
Got mine from very similar circumstances, from a Mennonite farm in Colorado. Rotten to the gills and rebuilt it. Miss that bike, couldn't take it with me when I moved and gave it to my buddys kid. Sweet.
It will be coming but I got slowed down waiting for parts and dealing with this fuel tank that had some rot in it. The carb is back together and ready to go back on the bike so hopefully it will be at least running soon! How far did you have to go with yours?
Looks like a fun project...similar to one I'm finishing up. I acquired a 1982 XL500R that now has been sitting in pieces for 18 years. I'm finally going to try and start it this week. I'll be posting a video on my channel....but not as detailed as yours. Good luck with it!
Thank you and same to you! I ended up getting this bike running really good and sold it at this years Vintage Motorcycle Days at mid Ohio. The tank was the hardest part of the entire process! Great bike, and I would have kept it if I had more room and wasn’t looking for more projects.
@@Garage2Trail Yeah, restoring my tank was also the longest process...mainly because I wanted the tank to look good...it's sort of a focus point. I'm curious...how much did it sell for? (I'm not restoring it for sale.)
@@SDTriathlete I got $1500 for it but it wasn’t fully done yet. I wanted to clean up the wiring a bit, install the rear signals and make it prettier but I wanted to move it so I could pick up another project while at VMD. Mechanically though she was sound and rand great!
An easy way to loosen seized up cables is squirt your penetrating oil up at the handlebars and work the throttle back and forth. It'll make its way down to the carb eventually and give ya some much needed movement. I've got an 85 xl600r I've been restoring. Good video I Subbed!!
New to your channel, love how you resurrect old Hondas, my first bike was a Honda XL-185s , all these old Hondas are awesome bikes, keep up the great work sir, will check in to see how this XL-500 is coming along,HAGD
Ive got an 81 XL500s i got with 9k miles and complete. Title and original paperwork. Im having a problem with the bike leaking oil and smoking. Thing runs fine but smokes after 15 mins. Looks like its coming from the exhaust seal maybe but it looks wet near one of the head bolts. I heard the threads like to come out and need helicoil. Lmk
Is it exhaust smoke or oil leaking hitting the manifold? I know they are prone to leaking up on the rocker pins. I didn’t have my 500 for more than a couple months so I can’t say for sure what the main quirks were. Are the valve clearances good?
@@johnpascall yup I know you can get it off eBay. www.ebay.com/itm/332469005425?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=CBt0gXy9SoK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1QWenE7CT8u&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
That should make a killer old trail bike for you. Are you just putting it back into service or doing anything cosmetics to it as well? Frustrating with the tank. My xl250 tank is seeping around the back bracket as well. Ill be curious to see what you end up doing since im not sure how im going to repair mine either.
I’ll most likely get it back to running good and do some cosmetic stuff to make it look nicer and end up selling it. I need the room for more projects and I already have my 400 and 650 for bigger woods bikes and my XL350 is a solid road cruiser. This has a title which will help it sell easy hopefully…first though I want to cruise this thing around Mid-Ohio this year at Vintage Days and enjoy it a bit.
I’ve gotten most from eBay. The best thing to do is look up the parts diagram off partzilla or Rocky Mountain and get the part number to use to search on eBay. You get more results that way and can weed through the ridiculously priced stuff.
Very useful step by step tutorial, thanks
Thanks for watching! Part 2 will hopefully be up this weekend depending how far along I get with the carb and a few other things
Nice find - looking forward to future videos
Thank you for tuning in and for the support!
Mate i envy you finding these beutiful bikes people in the uk still cling to the old English bikes that were trully crap you pushed them more times than you rode them
I am very fortunate to have found these bikes for sure. Tough to get them in complete conditions for decent prices anymore
@@Garage2Trail yeah i like the old school trail bikes they are solid
Can only agree, the if it's not english it's not a proper bike bs lingers on still!
KILLER barn find man!! I've been working on the 1982 model of this bike on my channel actually and it has a super similar story to your bike. I met up with a guy from FB marketplace who bought the bike from the original owner. The original owner bought the bike hurt his knee and then sat the bike in the corner of his shop for 20 years and the next guy pretty much did the same! I found it with 6200 miles on and missing no parts. Those bug nests are so common though! I found that by working thru the electrical system and cleaning all contact points from dirt and bug remains, I was able to get rid of all the electrical problems I had. Keep up the awesome videos man!
Thank you! I’ll have to check yours out as well. Proves gems like these can still be found with low miles bug nests and all lol. The funny thing about the electrics on mine is when I took it out for its shake down, one of the rides I got caught in the rain. I mean a full on downpour. I was soaked. After the the turn signals started working lol. I only have the fronts hooked up and the flasher relay needs replaced but I thought it was funny. Once I find the rear signals I’ll go back through the electrics and clean ‘‘em up.
@@Garage2Trail for sure! too many people are under the assumption that you gotta have 10k to spend on a new bike to have fun. Lol I guess nature knows best right? hahahahaha
My mates brother had one with an XR piston, cam and carb fitted. I remember him overtaking me doing 50 on the back wheel. The 500 thumper era was fun. Great bike worthy of repair.
This bike ran great while I had it. Would love to find another one to rehab and ride around again!
Got mine from very similar circumstances, from a Mennonite farm in Colorado. Rotten to the gills and rebuilt it. Miss that bike, couldn't take it with me when I moved and gave it to my buddys kid. Sweet.
Does he still have it? Hopefully it still lives!
Great find ,looking forward to this project love the old XL s good luck with it , and it's got the makings of a great bike.
Thank you! Make sure you check out parts 2 and 3. 3 was just released today. Won’t be long before I can ride it!
Restoring the exact same bike at the moment this helps me a lot! Can’t wait for part 2
It will be coming but I got slowed down waiting for parts and dealing with this fuel tank that had some rot in it. The carb is back together and ready to go back on the bike so hopefully it will be at least running soon! How far did you have to go with yours?
Looks like a fun project...similar to one I'm finishing up. I acquired a 1982 XL500R that now has been sitting in pieces for 18 years. I'm finally going to try and start it this week. I'll be posting a video on my channel....but not as detailed as yours. Good luck with it!
Thank you and same to you! I ended up getting this bike running really good and sold it at this years Vintage Motorcycle Days at mid Ohio. The tank was the hardest part of the entire process! Great bike, and I would have kept it if I had more room and wasn’t looking for more projects.
@@Garage2Trail Yeah, restoring my tank was also the longest process...mainly because I wanted the tank to look good...it's sort of a focus point. I'm curious...how much did it sell for? (I'm not restoring it for sale.)
@@SDTriathlete I got $1500 for it but it wasn’t fully done yet. I wanted to clean up the wiring a bit, install the rear signals and make it prettier but I wanted to move it so I could pick up another project while at VMD. Mechanically though she was sound and rand great!
An easy way to loosen seized up cables is squirt your penetrating oil up at the handlebars and work the throttle back and forth. It'll make its way down to the carb eventually and give ya some much needed movement. I've got an 85 xl600r I've been restoring. Good video I Subbed!!
Thank you, I appreciate it! Are you doing a full resto or making a nice rider?
New to your channel, love how you resurrect old Hondas, my first bike was a Honda XL-185s , all these old Hondas are awesome bikes, keep up the great work sir, will check in to see how this XL-500 is coming along,HAGD
Thanks for tuning in! Hondas are def my favorite but I like them all lol. I appreciate the support!
@@Garage2Trail you bet,,your welcome
Great project to do my favourite bike looking forward to see how you go with your XL500s great vid.
Thanks Andy, I appreciate it!
Ive got an 81 XL500s i got with 9k miles and complete. Title and original paperwork. Im having a problem with the bike leaking oil and smoking. Thing runs fine but smokes after 15 mins. Looks like its coming from the exhaust seal maybe but it looks wet near one of the head bolts. I heard the threads like to come out and need helicoil. Lmk
Is it exhaust smoke or oil leaking hitting the manifold? I know they are prone to leaking up on the rocker pins. I didn’t have my 500 for more than a couple months so I can’t say for sure what the main quirks were. Are the valve clearances good?
I would get it properly repaired, nothing worse than crossing your fingers and hoping for the best!
The POR15 sealer and mesh patch actually worked. It held fuel without issue and I ended up selling it at Mid Ohio this year.
@@Garage2Trail cheers for that, now can you purchase this or equivalent in the UK?
@@johnpascall yup I know you can get it off eBay. www.ebay.com/itm/332469005425?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=CBt0gXy9SoK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1QWenE7CT8u&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
That should make a killer old trail bike for you. Are you just putting it back into service or doing anything cosmetics to it as well? Frustrating with the tank. My xl250 tank is seeping around the back bracket as well. Ill be curious to see what you end up doing since im not sure how im going to repair mine either.
I’ll most likely get it back to running good and do some cosmetic stuff to make it look nicer and end up selling it. I need the room for more projects and I already have my 400 and 650 for bigger woods bikes and my XL350 is a solid road cruiser. This has a title which will help it sell easy hopefully…first though I want to cruise this thing around Mid-Ohio this year at Vintage Days and enjoy it a bit.
@@Garage2Trail darn ya i was kinda wondering about that with having the 650 and 400
I want that engine
Torquey beast
Where do you get your parts at ????
I’ve gotten most from eBay. The best thing to do is look up the parts diagram off partzilla or Rocky Mountain and get the part number to use to search on eBay. You get more results that way and can weed through the ridiculously priced stuff.
Your Beagle-diet
Lol he definitely was a chunk. I miss him terribly!