Paul Dorton’s 1975 Yamaha XS500s

Reader Paul Dorton’s new Yamaha XS500 back in 1975.

I enjoyed the column on the bike you wish you never sold. I had one of those too. In 1975 I bought a new Yamaha XS500. It was my first brand-new bike. I rode the bike everywhere for about 5 years before I sold it, and regretted it almost immediately. As with many of us, life happened and family and home took priority. A few years ago I started checking online to see if I could find another one. I knew the bike had never been that popular, so I wasn’t that optimistic about finding one, but it didn’t cost anything to look. Then last December I found two of them, one in Oregon and one in Pennsylvania. I wound up buying the Pennsylvania bike and had it shipped to me in Arizona. I’ve included pictures of both my bikes. The first photo is the bike I bought in 1975.

The other is the one I have now. I was even able to find the official Yamaha accessory luggage rack and backrest like I had on my original bike and add it to the “new” one. I’ve gone through my new bike and it runs and rides just like my old one. Not only do I enjoy riding it, I’ve had a blast working on it. Thank you for a great magazine and keep up the great work.

Paul Dorton/Mesa, Arizona