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In 1978/79 the Yamaha HL 500 gave a four-stroke interlude in cross-sport dominated by two-stroke engines.
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Lightweight construction, stability and great workmanship …
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… which, in contrast to the Reiger dampers used here, had no adjustment options.
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Original Ohlins or 1979 DeCarbon struts were installed, …
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The duplex drum brake was not standard at the time, but was retrofitted to this model. It only came to the two-stroke engine a year later.
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Retrofitting a deflector on the pinion was a very recommendable measure.
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The HL engine is largely identical to the XT 500 engine. Other camshafts, in combination with a .38 Mikuni and the open exhaust system, should provide 38 hp peak power.
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Intact motor housings are seldom found: The large distance between the pinion and the swing arm bearing required a large amount of chain slack. Because of this, and because of the bad leadership, the chain often came off.
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That was not generous in relation to the half-liter two-stroke engines, so almost all HL pilots tuned their engines with larger displacements. For the "Factory machine" a three-valve head was even designed at the end of 1977.
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Like all air-cooled crossers, the HL is extremely slim.
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The wheels, fork, tank and seat as well as many small parts come from the Yamaha spare parts warehouse for the YZ two-stroke engines.
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Japanese series parts completed the HL frames manufactured by Curtis and Norton in England.
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The Japanese had a total of 400 pieces assembled in Europe.
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… distinguish the Yamaha HL 500 everywhere.
Gert Tholes Yamaha XT and HL 500
First love
"When I saw the first photos of the XT 500 in MOTORRAD at the beginning of 1976, it was immediately clear: that one and no other."
I.Back then, I learned the reports by heart and scraped together every penny as a student, only to get hold of one of the first officially offered machines in Germany in the spring of 1977.
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Gert Tholes Yamaha XT and HL 500
First love
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The XT was awesome: 500 cc four-stroke, but with reliable Japanese technology, a robust off-road machine – and it just looked fantastic. Right at the beginning there was a moment of shock: at a traffic light the front wheel jerked up, I did an impressive wheelie across the intersection. Looked cool, but was completely out of control. Okay, well gone, backflip avoided, I was impressed by this sheer violence.
From today’s point of view, of course, you judge it differently, but back then the XT with its high-torque two-valve engine was something very special. I immediately wrapped my XT around the terrain: rough Metzeler Six Days, long Bilstein dampers, Tweesmann exhaust, plastic fenders; superfluous nonsense went in the bin.
Already at the end of 1977 the XT was pretty much overworked in off-road use, I switched to the Crosser HL 500. I raced with it for a few years. And I have remained loyal to HL to this day. Every now and then she still gets a run, in September the steam hammer will be allowed to shoot out of its megaphone again at the Classic Cross in Wietstock.
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