1974 TX500 Cafe'

Our TX/XS500 friend Dean has built a very clean and well executed cafe' bike out of  two hundred dollar craigslist find. He buys and restores bike a on a regular basis as winter projects. I'll let Dean take over and describe the build and the impetus behind it.

My hobby is picking up old, titled bikes in the winter and basically doing just enough to make them look and run good. Some I ride for a year or two, however most eventually get passed on to a new owner. ( my wife calls them orphans , meaning I am not supposed to keep them..... and is always asking me about getting some of them adopted )

My '74 TX500 was a November 2010 craigslist find from Kenosha, WI about a half hour from me. The seller had it listed as a "Yamaha 600" ...( It is bit embarrassing to say... I had to look at Google images to find out what the heck it was ! ) So I went and drug it home for $200. It had good compression , a title, and less that 7k miles so I had found a good deal.

The build is of course a theme,,, if Yamaha made a replica of a late 60's Italian bike...... this is it. I am happy with the result. It is Corsa red ( Lania racing red ) with Le Mans stripes painted in white and black, then cleared. The head pipes were modified to keep the mufflers low , the upswept angle of the stock pipes was not vintage Italian. The fuel tank is the garden variety vintage Benelli .

I made the custom seat cowl, seat pan, under seat electronic compartment ( to hide everything ) and the tach bucket and mount all from fiberglass. Much of the wiring harness was modified ( and repaired ) .. most of the wiring is custom or relocated. The ignition key is on the underside of the seat. I used the stock tach, by making a custom face plate ( photo shopped and printed, used white Lexan and a base ) relocated the oil light to where the TX rear brake wear sensor was within the tach face. The big tach is now front and center with no other gauges or caution lights, everything needed is in the tach (I have a bar mount for my little GPS as a speedo.) That is the stock 7" headlight, lowered and mini bulb turn signals ( no led's on the bike ).

I made the headlight tilt bracket , rear turn signal brackets, exhaust hangers, battery bracket, etc all from 1/2" aluminum flat stock. I removed the un-needed brackets and tabs. The rear-set mounts and fuel tank brackets are all I had to weld on. The engine is stock, I just bead blasted the cases and polished every cover. All new seals, gaskets and proper adjustment checks were done. I run the stock Keihin carbs , tuned for the uni-filters.

I restored most all of the nuts, bolts and hardware ( zinc plated ). The 35mm forks and front brake are off my XS500 parts bike. The TX had only 34mm forks with a 10" disc, now we have 35mm with the 12" disc. I polished the fork lowers, before rebuilding. It has tapered roller bearings in the steering neck . That is a stock XS front fender (and my license plate is the rear fender)
The wheels are stock, I just "restored" them, new seals, bearings, some polishing and wrapped in Avon road riders ( love them). Bronze swing are bushings, rebuilt front caliper , new pads in front and shoes in back. The front master cyl is from Mike's, almost as cheap as a rebuild kit so I also bought the clutch lever................Did I mention all of the metal polishing?

I think Dean pulled off the bike he had in his head. He shows us what is possible with a idea and a plan and some motivation. He has put together a real head turner and a bike to be proud of. Way to go Dean.