1976 Yamaha XS500 Service and Repair Manual

On a 1976 XS500 the model code is XS500C. Yamaha's manual for it, LIT-11616-01-46, was written as one book for the 1975 to 1978 machines rather than as a yearly revision.

The practical effect is that the tables carry more than one set of numbers, and you read the column that matches your code. Anyone sorting out a bike assembled from several years will find that helpful, since the differences are stated rather than left to be discovered on the bench.

Procedures follow the factory's own sequence. The engine chapters take the twin apart in order and give the measurement to take at each stage, along with the torque to reassemble to. Chassis work covers suspension, wheels and brakes; the fuel chapter deals with carburetor setting and synchronising; and the electrical section pairs component test values with harness diagrams so a fault can be traced rather than guessed.