Time and tide wait for no man, woman or anything to be honest and as a Teenager in the 70’s I always wanted the good old Thumper Motorcycle, but didn’t have the money, but have always loved the infamous “Dinosaur” These 500 machines were almost grenade proof and ran hard on the road and dirt.  The Yamaha XT500 is a twin-valve single-cylinder enduro-adventure motorcycle made by Yamaha from 1975 until 1989.

But now in 2025 we have been blessed to bring out a revamped version of the XT500 and I am eager to have a look and maybe sling my leg over one of these machine to see how they compare to the grandad of dual sports. Back home the XT500 was the big boy of Enduro motorcycles and so glad to hear that Yamaha are creating something with a feel of yesteryear but all modern.

 

This is how I remember them:

Lets hope the New 2025 version is every bit as exciting as the Thumper was when it first came out in 1975.

XT500