Written by Marlon Slack
Greece?s The Real Intellectuals are a rough group of motorcycle nuts who hawk their goods from downtown Athens. In their shop they sell motorcycle gear and apparel and thousands of beers to local bike nuts. Occasionally they run a madcap dirt event dubbed ?The Rotten Race?. Not content to just sink booze and watch from the sideline, they teamed up with local shop Urban Mechanics to build an entry, a 1990 Yamaha SR500.

Being the go-to place in Athens for sweet motorcycle apparel it?s no surprise that they?re given a heads up when people are wheeling and dealing in motorcycles. And that?s how they came across their donor bike – the SR500 was sold to them by friend of The Real Intellectuals, Bill Georgoussis, who also snapped the pics you see here.
Now if you?re in the States, your mind may have already been blown by the idea of an SR500 built in 1990, some eighteen years after they were pulled from showroom floors. But Yamaha?s big-ish capacity single remained in production well after the USA lost interest. The Europeans kept on loving the things and the SR, which has its roots back to the XT500, would be perfect for the Rotten Race.
?But Yamaha?s big-ish capacity single remained in production well after the USA lost interest.?
I’ve seen art gallery sculptures that don’t look that good
?We wanted the Yamaha to resemble a vintage tracker from the 1970?s,? TRI?s Nikko says, ?with classic lines and also some more modern parts to ...