If a dollar were given for every story heard about the Yamaha XT500, it might be enough to buy this bike back. Tales of adventure, and its mischievous companion, misadventure, are plentiful. Stories of duct tape and zip tie repairs, broken ankles, nostalgia, and moments of running out of skill have been shared time and again.
The love for the iconic 500 single runs deep within the motorcycle community, and Fred North, the owner of this particular build, shares that passion. Jeremy and Fred collaborated extensively to craft the ultimate XT500 tribute, asking themselves, “What would the 500 look like if it were released today? How would it perform?” From those questions, the North Star began to take shape.
The first step involved getting the chassis to handle as if it had just rolled off the showroom floor. A brand new set of WR450F forks was sourced for the front, and an alloy swingarm from a KLX250 was chosen for the rear. The forks were DLC coated, anodized, shortened, re-sprung, and valved by Shock Treatment before being grafted to the frame with custom CNC clamps, machined with the same offset as stock. Tracker fat bars were paired with the clamps using Rizoma mounts. The swingarm was machined and spaced to accommodate the XT’s new custom YSS hi/lo piggyback shocks and chain alignment.
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more information: deuscustoms.eu
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