1980 Honda XR

I believe the time has come to say goodbye to my torque-monster 1980 Honda XL500S which I have owned for seventeen years. I obtained this machine from a friend who bought it in near-cherry condition and mostly putt-putted around on it when he and his wife went camping. It sat in an open shed where the sunshine faded the original red until it was almost pink, and, one day after about a year of tolerating that underwhelming look, I was painting my shop building with Olive Drab, had a bit left, and hosed down the entire motorcycle with it. Several years later I loaned it to my neighbor's sixteen-year-old son for a few months, and he gave it the stylish motif which it is wearing now. THE GOOD: Naturally, I realize that we are living in a world where appearance is everything - to most people it doesn't matter what is on the inside, they only care about the outside. I myself have been a motorcycle/old car/truck/tractor/you-name-it mechanic for many years, and it seems to be the rule that more folks are worried about shiny paint and doodads than they are the condition of their brakes or tires... and the oil in their vehicle's crankcase often looks like it has never been changed. Well, my approach to this machine has been the polar opposite of that attitude. It has always had clean oil and regular, fussy maintenance, regardless of how it appears on the outside - but it rarely saw soap and water. Obviously, I didn't clean and wax it for these photos - in fact, it looks even WORSE in person! But it has been treated with tender loving care (except, of course, for the times when it was zooming across a field throwing dirt clods into the sky, or spinning the rear tire down a gravel road, mile after mile!) I rebuilt the top end a few years ago, and replaced the clutch at the same time. It has new valves, a first-oversize piston and rings, and hasn't been run two hours since. This motor is barely broken in! (IF YOU ONLY WISH TO BUY THIS ENGINE, I will be more than happy to unbolt it and ship it to you for the right price. Just ask!) THE "BAD" - Yes, this bike is FILTHY. The seat cover is just a piece of rubberized vinyl which I slapped on back in the early 1990's... the tires are cracked but have lots of tread, I think the brakes have been replaced on both ends (it's been a while, and it's hard to remember the details when you get old like I am), either way, they only do a moderate job of slowing this beast down - because it has way too much engine for those puny drums to keep up with! The fork tubes are nice and shiny where they go into the lower legs, they just have two layers of paint on 'em above that point, and the legs have many years worth of road grime below. It was treated as if it was made to be RIDDEN, not POLISHED! And this machine has been ridden, believe me. It is loads of fun to ride, with nice wide handlebars and a narrow chassis - it handles like a bicycle with a serious motor stuffed inside. Plus, that 23 inch front wheel rolls over potholes and ditches like they don't even exist! Another nifty feature is that it doesn't need a battery to run; it has had a thoroughly dead one under the seat for the entire time I have owned it. The gas tank is nice and clean inside. The only real 'problem' with this bike is that it sits on the kickstand way too much. We used to have a couple of convenient hundred-acre fields to play in, but one was fenced in for pasture and the other has been flooded to farm crawfish. So this bike has just been collecting dust in the corner of my shed for years. It has never disappointed me when it was time for a ride; it always starts right up and goes. This morning when I hauled it out into the daylight - after resting for at least six months - it fired up on the second kick! I flew down the gravel road behind our house and gave myself a good scare, then decided I might as well take some pictures and get the inevitable over with. It is currently wearing a ridiculously quiet stock muffler. Depending on the amount of whining I get from prospective customers (NO, I am not interested in trading for any guns, a boat, or a Kawasaki three-wheeler with a burnt wiring harness), I may or may not include a noisy performance exhaust which used to be on this machine (it's solid but the header needs a little work) and a number of other items I've had stashed away for spares. Or I might just sell them separately. Are there any REAL men left out there - someone who can see this monster as the thing of beauty that it is? Or are you all recoiling in horror at the dirt and rust, ready to go back to drooling over glistening "restorations" - with fresh lipstick-red paint on their dented, bondo-slathered gas tanks??? I guess we will find out! This motorcycle is located about 20 miles northwest of Lafayette, Louisiana. Any further questions- see my"About Me"page or read my feedback.On Oct-13-11 at 13:03:42 PDT, seller added the following information: ALL BIDDERS PLEASE TAKE NOTICE!!! Due to an unexpectedly large number of messages asking me to sell and ship the engine alone, I must ask that you understand that any shipping fees will be YOUR responsibility if you win! I have no idea what this motor weighs, and it could easily require fifty to seventy five dollars (or more) to send it to you. PLEASE DO NOT BID if you expect it to cost any less! Thank you.