Chronicle of a 1976 Yam XT500 restoration On 15th June 2008 I bought a wrecked 1976 Yam XT500. I already had a 1978 version in reasonable, unrestored condition. Due to having spent too much time researching these old multi-purpose bikes I'd discovered that the rarest is the 1976 or 'C' model. This was the first year of production, and has a unique 'low slung' exhaust system.

Unfortunately you can't buy them from Yamaha anymore....sounds familiar?