IT’S MY BIKE:

I had a phone call from my partner Rob to say he’d bought me a bike. We had previously bought a XS500B to restore but found there was too much wrong with it so finding the TX500 at Donington was a much better project to do and was going to be our first restoration together. The exhaust pipes were gone but all the rest was good and salvageable. When we started the restoration nobody else seemed interested in TX500 so there was a lot of new old stock still around. Having bought the bike in February we decided to get it ready to go to Stafford in October so the push began calling favours from JBS Paint, Chrome Restoration Service and RPA for powder coating. To my surprise lots of parts came direct from Yamaha including rims and spokes and most of the gaskets. Luckily the engine was good inside but all the chains where changed just to be safe. During the final assembly I took the rechromed silencers out of the wrapper and dropped one putting a dent in it. Bob at Chrome Restoration Service saved the day and pipes where ready for Friday, set-up day. A friend picked it up, brought it to the show and fitted it on the stand in the afternoon. The bike is great to ride and has been reliable.