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Final: self-made rally Yamaha XT 500

The maiden voyage of a rally machine

The man builds himself, thought motorcycle designer Klaus Nennewitz and created his very special rally machine with a lot of know-how and competent help. At the Dresden-Breslau rally, the duo experienced an eventful maiden voyage.

The Rallye-XT-500 is not my childhood dream, definitely not. As a teenager, I had papered the walls of my room with posters of motocross stars from the USA. They drove motorbikes with water cooling, disc brakes and mono-spring struts. XT-500 drivers were utterly uncool, either grandfather or hyper-alternative.

But my career as a designer for the motorcycle industry has made me receptive to the charm of the XT, which unfolds with pleasantly muffled exhaust music when cruising on gravel, aside from red pencil and marketing strategies. The friendship with the Dutch Paris-Dakar driver Henno van Bergeijk, who in 2006 on a slightly modified XThe T 500 crossed the finish line last, doing the rest: I decide to set up a rally XT and drive Dresden-Breslau with it.

Final: self-made rally Yamaha XT 500

The maiden voyage of a rally machine

Nennewitz

At the Dresden-Breslau rally, the XT not only has to work its way through deep water but also through deep sand.

The night before the TÜV appointment, the engine runs for the first time, and after the test engineer has popped in for half an hour the next day, he enters all the changes. There is only one day left for test drives including urgently needed improvements to the fuel supply and electrics. Because the coordination of the fork, which is practically free of damping, and the struts that work much too tough, do not harmonize, I order other springs directly from Dresden. They are installed quickly, but starting the engine becomes a drama that runs through the entire rally.

I feel my way through the show prologue on a disused exhibition center near Dresden with the utmost care with the XT. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of it, the machine sinks into the first of the artificially created mud holes. But I’d rather get drunk than let go of the accelerator and clutch and the engine might die in the process.

It’s going to be a lot harder. Another round of the exhibition grounds, then a 700-kilometer connection stage on asphalt and finally a 100-kilometer special stage are the program for the next day. In the camp in Poland, when the XT service is at one o’clock in the morning, panic arises. After 150 kilometers off-road, a number of screws have come loose, some are missing completely and the battery is inflated like a balloon. Because of all the restlessness, I cannot sleep during the rest of the night, which is far too short. Tomorrow there are 200 kilometers on the rollercoaster-like tank slopes of Polish military areas. At least I manage to suppress the tears of exhaustion up to 50 kilometers from my destination. Then I also run out of gas and after crossing the finish line I go to sleep for two hours with black thoughts about giving up.

Nennewitz

Without a reliable team, the Dresden-Breslau rally is almost impossible for the driver and the machine.

That gives me back energy and motivation. Especially now. Fortunately, there are slopes without supercross-like difficulties, and I adapt my driving style better and better to the damper settings. But the kickstart remains a nightmare, especially when I sink my XT into the swamp just five meters from a checkpoint to the bench. With the help of a few photographers, some tree trunks from the forest and a tow rope, I heaved and dragged the XT out of the mud again after three quarters of an hour. But it just doesn’t start. Rescue is approaching in the form of last year’s winner Robert Leischner, who first also sinks into the mud and then tows me. I serve him as a tour guide for the remaining 90 kilometers of the stage because his navigation instruments are over.

I’m getting better and better at the XT. The evening service is reduced to changing the filter and checking the most important components and screw connections. It almost seems to me that I can also get the kicking under control. During the 560 kilometer long marathon stage, I am the only one to find the mobile line through a ford, only to throw the machine a few meters further like a stone into the next water passage.

It takes a good hour for it to work again. Then the instruments fail and now it’s me who has to follow the others through a gigantic cloud of dust in the backlight of the low evening sun in order to reach the finish line before dark.

The topic of water passage remains until the end. On the last 50 meters of the 1,800-kilometer route, a river gets in our way. Most of the colleagues are up to their hips in the water and try to show me the right way. Together we fight our way through and then we take a collective relaxation bath. This time voluntarily.

Technical specifications

Nennewitz

The engine is in the middle, uncoated; it comes from the SR 500 and is given preference over the real XT engines because of the larger inlet valve and the 12 volt generator.

Engine:
Air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, two valves, operated by a camshaft via rocker arms, bore x stroke 90 x 84 millimeters, 540 cm3, approx. 27 kW (37 HP) at 5700 rpm, Mikuni rotary slide carburetor, opening 36 mm, oil cooler, Kick starter, oil bath clutch, primary drive via gears, five-speed gearbox, chain drive.

Landing gear:
Single-loop tubular frame with double steel beams, telescopic fork at the front, two-arm swing arm with two spring struts at the rear, single-disc brake with double-piston floating caliper at the front, single-disc brake with single- piston floating caliper at the rear, 21"-Wire spoke wheel front / 18"-Wire spoke wheel at the rear.

Measurements and weight:
Weight (dry) approx. 145 kg, tank capacity 29 liters.

Price:
Standard-XT 500 5508 Mark (1982), Rallye-XT 540 over 20,000 euros (material and labor)

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