Honda XL500S

1979–1981

Honda's big-bore desert single of the early Dakar era — a 4-valve, twin-shock trail bike built for the years just before Honda started badging its enduros "Paris-Dakar".

Honda XL500S

Overview

Engine
497cc air-cooled SOHC single, 4 valves, 89 x 80mm bore/stroke, 8.6:1 compression, single carburettor, kickstart only (no electric start)
Power
27bhp (19.7kW) @ 5500rpm
Torque
37Nm @ 5000rpm
Transmission
5-speed, chain final drive
Frame
Unknown
Suspension (front)
Telescopic forks
Suspension (rear)
Twin shocks, swingarm
Brakes (front)
Single-leading-shoe drum, 140mm
Brakes (rear)
Single-leading-shoe drum, 130mm
Tyres (front)
3.00-23
Tyres (rear)
4.60-18
Weight (dry)
Unknown
Weight (wet)
142kg
Seat height
Unknown
Fuel capacity
10.5 litres
Top speed
83mph

Price guide

good
£2,800.00–£4,000.00
rough
£1,500.00–£2,500.00
excellent
£4,500.00–£6,000.00

Known issues

  • Cam chain tensioner adjustment (Check)

    The SOHC 4-valve top end uses a manually-adjusted cam chain tensioner rather than an automatic one. Listen for chain rattle from the top of the engine on cold start and ask when the tensioner was last adjusted. Rattle that persists after a fresh adjustment points at a stretched chain or worn tensioner blade rather than a simple setting issue.

  • Carburettor condition and tune (Check)

    Single-carb Hondas of this era commonly suffer from perished diaphragms, worn float needles and gummed jets after decades of intermittent use and ethanol-blended fuel. Confirm the bike idles cleanly and pulls without hesitation off idle — a full rebuild kit (see Upgrades) is inexpensive and often the difference between a first-kick starter and a non-runner.

  • Drum brakes front and rear — condition and expectations (Info)

    Both ends use a single-leading-shoe drum rather than a disc, and even period road tests flagged stopping power as marginal by the standards of the day. Check shoe lining thickness and drum ovality/scoring rather than expecting modern braking performance — tired, glazed original linings make an already modest brake noticeably worse.

  • Frame, subframe and cycle-part corrosion (Dealbreaker)

    Every surviving XL500S is now 44+ years old and these were sold as trail/enduro bikes — ridden off-road and stored outdoors more than most road bikes of the era. Inspect the steel frame closely around the headstock and swingarm pivot, the footrest hangers, and the exhaust downpipes for rust-through or poor-quality previous welded repairs. Pitting or cracking in these areas is a walk-away, not a weekend fix on a bike this old.

  • Import history and paperwork (Check)

    The XL500S was primarily a US/export-market bike — original sales brochures were printed by American Honda — and surviving UK examples turning up at classic auctions are frequently documented as private imports (California- and South Africa-sourced bikes have both sold at UK auction). Check the V5C history, confirm the recorded mileage is consistent once you allow for a km/h speedo, and ask for any import paperwork the seller holds. TODO(verify): this guide has not found a definitive source confirming whether Honda UK ever officially catalogued the XL500S new, versus every UK example being a private/grey import — treat import status as likely but unconfirmed until checked against the individual V5C.

  • Weak 6V CDI electrics (Check)

    The XL500S left the factory with a 6V CDI ignition and lighting system, kickstart only (no electric start). 6V systems this age are usually tired — dim lighting, a weak spark and reluctant cold starting are common even when the CDI unit itself is healthy. Check headlight brightness at idle and confirm the bike starts cleanly from cold; a 12V conversion (see Upgrades) is a well-supported fix if not already fitted.

Upgrades

History

The desert single before Dakar had the name

Before "Paris-Dakar" was a badge Honda put on a motorcycle, it was just a race — and the XL500S is the bike Honda built while that race was still finding its feet. Launched in 1979, it paired a big-bore 497cc air-cooled single with a 4-valve SOHC head — an unusually sophisticated top end for a trail bike of the period — in a simple twin-shock chassis with big 23-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels. It's a direct contemporary of Yamaha's XT500, which won the first two Paris-Dakar rallies outright in 1979 and 1980, and the two bikes make an obvious pair: same job, same era, same basic formula of "big thumper, minimal weight, go a long way on not much fuel."

Honda kept the XL500S in the lineup for the 1979, 1980 and 1981 model years before replacing it for 1982 with the XL500R — a genuinely different machine, with Pro-Link monoshock rear suspension, 21-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels, and a 12V electrical system in place of the XL500S's 6V setup. The XL500R has its own separate guide on this site; the two are easy to confuse from a listing title alone, so if you're specifically after the twin-shock, 6V XL500S covered by this guide, confirm the frame code (PD01 for the S, PD02 for the R) rather than trusting the "1982" in an advert.

What it's like to own

By the standards of its era the XL500S was a genuinely capable enduro-flavoured trail bike rather than a road bike wearing knobbly tyres — light, tractable, and happy to be thrashed off-road in a way a lot of its more road-biased contemporaries weren't. The trade-off is everything you'd expect from a 1970s big single: kickstart only, modest 6V electrics, and drum brakes at both ends that were considered adequate rather than strong even when new. None of that makes it a bad bike to own today — it makes it an honest, mechanically simple one, closer in spirit to the XT500 than to the more road-focused adventure bikes that came after it.

Because it was chiefly sold in the US and other export markets rather than distributed new through Honda UK, most examples on UK roads today carry an import history of one sort or another. That's not unusual for a bike like this and isn't a reason to avoid one — but it is a reason to read the V5C and mileage history carefully before you buy, the way you would for any privately imported classic.

What to check mechanically, the common upgrades that address the XL500S's known weak points, and realistic current UK prices all live in their own sections on this page, below — see Known issues, Upgrades, and Price guide.

Sources

If anything on this page is believed incorrect, please let us know and we will update it accordingly.