1977 Yamaha XS500 review from United Kingdom

Nothing went wrong with the machine. It was pretty reliable and cheap to run. I was borrowing it from a friend, as I was without transport at the time.

Wasn't he kind! Eight months on a borrowed death trap.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

Worst bike, in the world, ever, bar none. What were Yamaha thinking! The XS500, truly ghastly! It was a Harley wannabe. But who'd wannabe a Harley Davidson?

The machine was two tone, a sort of sandy gold and brown or may be green, I'm colour blind but even in my deficient eyes, horrible!

The XS was just that, XS weight and XS-ively nasty.

The bike, if that's what you'd call it, actually made you feel fat! It did, honestly, I kid you not. I was about ten stone at the time and nearly went on diet as a result of a bike induced feeling of fatness.

The performance was atrocious, I think a wheezy Superdream would have out dragged it. The shear mass and 'greased pork belly' handling made the machine a nightmare.

The semi-chopper design only added to its plethora of horrors. The wind shield wasn't standard, and flapped wildly above 40mph. Not that that mattered too much, the 'alleged' motorcycle could barely break the national speed limit, and had totally run out of steam at 85.

The riding position was classic 'Easy Rider' and oh dear, oh dear!

The engine was hewn from marble, but did actually sound quite nice 'pig PIG pig PIG pig...PIIIGGGG'

The seat was very comfortable and being low, dead easy to get on and off... fall off mostly.

I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but I used to kick the bike every time I was about get on it, and then again when I dismounted.

I was so happy when my fortunes changed for better, and I was able to return Satan's ped to it'=s rightful owner.