| Had a 500 for 12 years, which was my main (only) form of transport for a few of these and did a few club racing meetings in proddie and open classes on it (ie it had a hard life!) and overall thought it was a superb bike, but suffered in comparison to the 600 with some parts (gearbox, clutch and brakes spring to mind) not quite up to the job. Weak points on the 500: suspect gearbox (got through two), cure is to fit 600 box; clutch not up the job under hard acceleration, cure is to fit big clutch conversion; and a bit asthmatic at the top end on standard pipes and air filter, cure is K+N filters and aftermarket pipe(s) though would be surprised if any still running on original pipes - tended to rot from the inside). Don't get me wrong, not saying bilke is unreliable but will suffer if ridden hard all the time, which is kind of inevitable with a 110-115 top end. Good points included the electrics (never failed once on me), the handling and found mine generally easy to live with. No idea on current values but when I traded mine in in 96 prices were around £1000 to £1600, depending on condition. If you do end up buying one I've got a manual and a few original spares if you need them.  |