1979 Yamaha SR500

Beauty comes at a cost, and in the case of Rough Diamond there is no exception. Hours of painstaking work went into the shaping and completion of one of our proudest achievements to date. The mild steel tank alone took weeks to complete – made from mild steel, all the panels have been tig-brazed to create a tank of near perfect symmetry, with a few weld lines left showing to prove its hand built quality.

The forked snake tongue exhaust also took the best part of two months to get the precise curves to fit the custom made subframe which has also been fitted with GSX-R750 forks, MX handlebar clamps from Apico, adjusted to house a MotoGadget digital speedo. Oh, and all the wiring is fully concealed in the frame.

As for the engine, the original 79 SR500 has been bored out to 605cc, with Carillo 11.5:1 pistons and a stock but well balanced crank. When we say this thing really goes, we mean it.