GRAVELTRAVEL
Pack Dog
A friend of mine in Swakopmund (Steinie) has been the owner of this XL500 for the last 20 plus years. Somebody in the distant past has tried to restore/repair it by amongst other things painting the frame red and some of the engine covers black. During a recent discussion over a few drinks, Steinie indicated that it might not be a bad idea to get this back to as close as possible in its original condition. The bike is mechanically sound (apart from a few small things). Most of the work is purely cosmetic.
Not having ever owned one of these I had to do a bit of investigation into availability of spares, cost etc. before committing to anything. After asking this kind of questions here on the forum Geen Sand offered his redundant XL250 for sale. As it turns out almost everything except the engine size is identical to the 500.
After a bit of backwards and forwards discussion the deal was made and Geen Sand was kind enough to strip the 250 right down to nothing and pack it on a pallet.(Thanks Bennie, As there is no valid paperwork for the bike , we decided not to take the engine and frame because getting these numbered items across the border without paperwork would have been a nightmare.
As we speak, the pallet full of bike is on its way here.
Here is some photos of the current state of the bike. Apparently this was some sort of limited edition as it was originally black and white where most of them were red. I found a picture on the net that shows more or less what I am aiming for. I will try and take plenty of pics during the process and update this thread as I go along.
Hope to start stripping tonight.
Not having ever owned one of these I had to do a bit of investigation into availability of spares, cost etc. before committing to anything. After asking this kind of questions here on the forum Geen Sand offered his redundant XL250 for sale. As it turns out almost everything except the engine size is identical to the 500.
After a bit of backwards and forwards discussion the deal was made and Geen Sand was kind enough to strip the 250 right down to nothing and pack it on a pallet.(Thanks Bennie, As there is no valid paperwork for the bike , we decided not to take the engine and frame because getting these numbered items across the border without paperwork would have been a nightmare.
As we speak, the pallet full of bike is on its way here.
Here is some photos of the current state of the bike. Apparently this was some sort of limited edition as it was originally black and white where most of them were red. I found a picture on the net that shows more or less what I am aiming for. I will try and take plenty of pics during the process and update this thread as I go along.
Hope to start stripping tonight.
