1992 Yamaha WR500's - what are they worth

neysbo
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neysbo
Edited Date/Time 5/27/2019 5:01pm
Any thoughts on what a pair of 1992 WR500's are worth ? I have a chance to buy them both for decent price. Both run pretty good. Are they hard to find parts for ? I would like to fully restore one of them and ride the other in Vintage races.



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JW381
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JW381 11/15/2014 8:19am
11/15/2014 8:19am
My uncle had one and sold it not too long ago. I'll ask him.
newmann
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newmann 11/15/2014 9:08am
11/15/2014 9:08am
I never see them selling for much money but have always thought they were a cool bike. MXA built one with a YZ tank and shrouds on it. Looked really good.
Djw421
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Djw421 11/15/2014 9:34am
11/15/2014 9:34am
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes they tend to loose power when they get hot.
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bradmx421
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bradmx421 11/15/2014 10:54am
11/15/2014 10:54am
If I had one this is what I would build.....


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newmann
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newmann 11/15/2014 11:22am
11/15/2014 11:22am
Djw421 wrote:
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes...
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes they tend to loose power when they get hot.
Is that why Bradshaw laid waste to all those water cooled bikes? Because his lost power and made him faster?
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Bultaco
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Bultaco 11/15/2014 11:27am
11/15/2014 11:27am
I would love to have one of those. When the blue one came out (1994, I think) I cut out a big photo and pasted it on the frig. On the other hand I've never really pursued finding one. I like air cooled and good brakes and good suspension. It seems like a cool bike for local racing and goofing.

Don't forget to show us a few pics when you get them fixed up.
ATKpilot99
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ATKpilot99 11/15/2014 11:30am
11/15/2014 11:30am
Djw421 wrote:
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes...
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes they tend to loose power when they get hot.
newmann wrote:
Is that why Bradshaw laid waste to all those water cooled bikes? Because his lost power and made him faster?
He for sure won at least one moto on it , and thats at the national level. Power loss from heat isn't an issue in most local/vintage racing....the races simply aren't long enough.
dcg141
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dcg141 11/15/2014 11:41am
11/15/2014 11:41am
As I remember 490's were hard to jet. Would run either too lean or too rich. Jon Rosenthal made some special needle to fix it.
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rcannon
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rcannon 11/15/2014 12:11pm
11/15/2014 12:11pm
The bike itself, was beautiful. I always loved the color combo, the plastic design , everything about it. If you want to build it to look at, by all means, do it.

BUT, if you want to ride it, please select anything from the time period that is not that bike. You'd have to find some old guy, who dies headwork, to even have a hope of making it run without pinging. Jetting? LOL

Worth noting is that Yamaha did not make ayz version, by then, It was a "wr" meant for offroad..they knew. For its time, it was dead last. The wr 250, from that same year, is an awesome machine, and would be great to have. This bike is a big turd.

It wont handle, and suspension is terrible. Vibration is unreal. Sure, someoen might be able to help it, btu you coudl build a kx or cr and have "IT"

When old bikes look as fresh as those do, theres a reason, Typically, no one wanted to ride them. The kx, or cr 500 from th eera are great bikes.

They tried to market this bike as if they took the old yz490 and dropped it into a yz 250 chassis. Partly true, but they changed the geometry and messed that up.

If you can buy both for 500, do it. Talk them down to 480 and buy a hammer with the saved 20. Hit yourself in the nuts with the hammer. At 1000, keep your money.
pete24
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pete24 11/15/2014 2:36pm
11/15/2014 2:36pm
if your restoring one you better start looking now for the white plastic air scoop on the left side those are getting scarce, i think those are two pretty good canidates for throwing piles of money at, around here they would probably do 12 -1500 each, because of what the last guy said about a kx or cr those wernt good race bikes.
the one you restore , well you dont have to worry about what you pay for it or what you put into it, if you need to have one to look at , you will get it an it will cost you a boatlaod, and it will be worth it when its done
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kevin204
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kevin204 11/15/2014 2:41pm
11/15/2014 2:41pm
Man, as the owner of a '90 YZ490, I'd kill to have one of 'em. Worst thing about them is the vibration... it's shocking how much they vibrate, even compared to a CR500.
junglefrankjoe 11/15/2014 3:05pm
11/15/2014 3:05pm
I bought my 92 WR 500 new in the crate for 2900 in 1996, Mount Pleasant Texas. I still have in apart in boxes. I raced it in harescramble and a little moto. Loved it. No radiators to mess up when ya launched it up muddy creek banks. Only a 1000 made I've read. Great Colorado bike. Stable as hell.
Moto Mofo
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Moto Mofo 11/15/2014 6:03pm
11/15/2014 6:03pm
I would love to own a WR500, and I really don't know why. I've been halfway looking for one.
Moto Mofo
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Moto Mofo 11/15/2014 6:06pm
11/15/2014 6:06pm
newmann wrote:
I never see them selling for much money but have always thought they were a cool bike. MXA built one with a YZ tank and shrouds...
I never see them selling for much money but have always thought they were a cool bike. MXA built one with a YZ tank and shrouds on it. Looked really good.
That was a cool bike. It required a custom pipe to clear the YZ tank, though.

Bradshaw has mentioned that his WR500 ran extremely poor by the end of a moto. Pretty cool that he actually had some success on that bike.
neysbo
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neysbo 11/15/2014 6:11pm
11/15/2014 6:11pm
Thanks for all the replies and feedback. Still up in the air, I am going to make an offer and see where it goes.

Love the pics of Bradshaw on the bike.
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plowboy 11/15/2014 7:48pm
11/15/2014 7:48pm
junglefrankjoe wrote:
I bought my 92 WR 500 new in the crate for 2900 in 1996, Mount Pleasant Texas. I still have in apart in boxes. I raced...
I bought my 92 WR 500 new in the crate for 2900 in 1996, Mount Pleasant Texas. I still have in apart in boxes. I raced it in harescramble and a little moto. Loved it. No radiators to mess up when ya launched it up muddy creek banks. Only a 1000 made I've read. Great Colorado bike. Stable as hell.
I lived in Pittsburgh when I was a kid. 1973 or so. The old man who ran the shop in Mt. Pleasant was such a dick to us snotty nosed kids...I bought my bike in Longview. Plus there was a dude from Pittsburgh that worked at the shop in Longview...dude rode killer wheelies on the old 750 Water Buffalo. My idol at the time.
Brian L_Cameron 5/27/2019 11:21am
5/27/2019 11:21am
Djw421 wrote:
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes...
To me those are worth nothing if I was you I would buy a cr or kx 500 not a huge fan of air cooled bikes they tend to loose power when they get hot.
newmann wrote:
Is that why Bradshaw laid waste to all those water cooled bikes? Because his lost power and made him faster?
And Broc Glover's air-cooled over the counter highly modified yz490 pile of s... chased down and smoked David Bailey's $200,000 one off works bike in every national moto all year long, lol, yeah these big Yamaha air hammers just aren't worth a damn, I hear yeah lol.

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yzfjere
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yzfjere 5/27/2019 4:53pm
5/27/2019 4:53pm
Had one. Reinforced the frame (broke it). Modified suspension for Vet Int, Al Holley (RIP) completely modified motor. Rode very successfully in So Ca for a couple years. Wish I'd have kept it!
Falcon
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Falcon 5/27/2019 5:01pm
5/27/2019 5:01pm
yzfjere wrote:
Had one. Reinforced the frame (broke it). Modified suspension for Vet Int, Al Holley (RIP) completely modified motor. Rode very successfully in So Ca for a...
Had one. Reinforced the frame (broke it). Modified suspension for Vet Int, Al Holley (RIP) completely modified motor. Rode very successfully in So Ca for a couple years. Wish I'd have kept it!
Side note: you're not talking about Huge Al Holley, are you?

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