This is the original XT500 made for the U.S. that started the rich XT heritage of reliable 4-stroke enduros. The original XT500 was produced for the USA only and imported into Europe on a limited basis.

This model was developed as a desert race enduro machine. Released as a street-legal version of the TT500 enduro machine launched the year before, this model became the pioneer of the big single off-road genre. It was the focus of attention also for the bold adoption for the first time ever of a forward inclining upside-down rear suspension on a trail model. It was on an XT500 that the Sonauto Yamaha team’s Cyril Neveu won the motorcycle division of the 1st Paris Dakar Rally in 1979.