1978 Yamaha XT500 Service and Repair Manual

Part number LIT-11616-01-50 is the factory service manual behind the 1978 XT500, the year built as model code XT500E.

What surprises owners is the breadth of one book. Yamaha covered 1976 through 1981 in it, and folded the SR500 and TT500 into the same volume, because the machines share enough that separate manuals would have repeated themselves. Where a year or a model does differ, the text says so at the point it matters instead of leaving you to work it out.

Using it on a 1978 machine

• Confirm XT500E on the frame label, then follow the passages flagged for that code
• Work to the printed service limits when measuring bore, valve train and clutch wear
• Use the torque tables rather than feel, particularly on the cases and cylinder head

Wiring diagrams, ignition timing, carburettor specifications and the full disassembly and reassembly sequences are all as Yamaha wrote them.