Welcome
Welcome to the homepage of the ACT branch of the SR500 Club of Australia.
This site is dedicated to the Yamaha SR500 and it's variants in both stock and modified form and to the enthusiasts who ride and modify them.
The SR500 is the road bike offshoot of the XT/TT500 dirt bikes that were first sold Worldwide in 1976, however the engine and chasis are quite different in a number of areas.
Here is the nice TT500C of 1976.
The prototype XT/TT500 styling were some distance from the end result...here are a couple of pics.
The SR400/500 design team was headed by Atsushi Ishiyama, the President of GK Dynamics. His team of late are also reponsible for the MT-01, another Yamaha motorcycle headed for probable future cult status.
Here are some development drawings of the SR500...
...and some early SR prototype pics with what looks like an XT500 engine installed...
The SR500 first went on sale in early 1978 as the SR500E. The SR500 continued in Australian dealer's showrooms until the end of 1981 when importation stopped.
In Japan the SR400 was also made and sold alongside the 500. The 400 only varied from the 500 in the length of stroke of the piston in it's bore.
The SR500 and the SR400 variant continued to be made by Yamaha alongside each other until about the end of 2000, when the SR500 was discontinued. The SR400 manufacture, in it's current guise, finished in 2008! That makes a model run of 30 years!
This was the 30th Anniversary production model! Still a great looking bike!
The SR500 models that originally came to Australia were:
1978 - SR500E...
1979 - SR500F
1980 - SR500G
1981 - SR500H
SRs continued to be sold on the Japan homemarket and they were exported to Europe for much longer than they were available here. In Europe, Japan, the USA, UK, Australia and many other countries they enjoy a large and ever growing cult following.
In recent times the SR is once again being imported to Australia, so if you want a new SR400 it's still not too late. The parts aftermarket for the bikes is also steadily growing here in Australia.
Along the way the SRs have come with mag wheels with discs both ends and with disc front and drum rear. They have had alloy-rimmed wire wheels with front discs and rear drums and with front and rear drums and back to front discs again, they have had black engines and silver engines, big headlights and small headlights and come in standard and SP versions. With all these changes however they have always retained their basic shape and style.
Here is the 1996 model 500.
...a red '98 SR500
...another red '98 SR, a 400...
The last SR500...2000.
Anniversary model...
The black-engined SR400 of 2002.
2003 SR400...
The SR400 continues in production. Here is one of the 2007 models.
Here's the new 2008 SR400, in blue, and below it the 30th Anniversary 400!
SRs are often the bike of choice of modifiers to make cafe racers, trackers, bobbers and others...as an example, here is a pic of a few cafe racers...including the Black Cafe Racer, Stratos's much modified 400 from the ACT, which was the winning 'modified SR' from the '08 Australian SR500 Rally at Bethanga, the DCM 'sound of singles' framed racing single, and Allister's E model cafe racer from the ACT.
It appears that the SR400 will possibly be made again, but as a new fuel injected model; carburetion is gone...rumours are that it might not be available 'till 2011!
Keep looking here for more updates as they come to hand...the saga continues!
Please feel free to look around the site and enjoy!
Visitors: 16225 | 
