Help identify 550 yamaha

[fallingrock71]

I have a co-worker that just about wants to give me a motorcycle. He knows it is a 550 yamaha kick start ONLY that runs and that is ALL he knows about it. He thinks it is a street bike, but hell that probably just means it has turn signals. It is about an hour and a half away or I'd just go check it out. I manage a parts store (not cycles) so I checked the spark plug catalogues to see what types of 550's yamaha made. It looks like they only offered a 550 in the early eighties. Something like XS, XJ, and XT. The XT is the only one I know of that definitely has a kick starter. I'm assuming the rest are jap cruiser type bikes. Does anyone know what yamaha made in a 550 without an electric starter? I've been surfing the web to find some sort of "yamaha's through the years" type website, but to no avail. The closest I have come are various parts sites. All the 550's that I have looked at list a part number for a starter except the XT. I'm hoping it is the XT cause I have a bizzare fondness for old thumpers! Any help would be much appreciated.

[sv650s]

i think it was the xz 550 check it out on bikez.com

[Jimmiz71]

Most of the early Yamaha cruisers had both electric and a kick starter.. My friends 82' 850 special has both.. right now the electric isn't working but it starts 2nd or 3rd kick everytime.. if you can pick it up for next to nothing, do it...They are Fun Bikes..
-Jimmy

They bike your looking at is most likely a XJ550, quite popular for its time.