I know the SR head has a bigger inlet port dia. and bigger inlet valve, and a kick start indicator window, any other differences?
Are the barrells identical?
Oil pumps?
Ignition?
Gear ratios?
The SR500 head has larger fins than the early XT/TT head but later XT/TT's have the same head as the SR.
The kickstart indicator window is on all XT/TT500's except the original 1976 "C" models.
The cylinder barrels are the same, I have mixed and matched between the various XT's, TT's and SR's that I own without any problems.
Ther were two different oil pumps fitted. The early XT and TT oil pumps have a slightly different body (3 screws), but use the same rotor sets as the SR engines which have a 5 screw body. Later XT/TT's use the same 5 screw oil pump.
The RH end of the SR gear selector drum runs on a needle bearing while the early XT/TT gear selector drum runs directly in the crankcase, this changed on the post 1978 XT/TT 500 when most of the SR improvements were carried over to the XT and TT models.
There was a difference between the gear selector shafts, between the early XT/TT and the SR, the early XT/TT has a splinded shaft that allowed the selector mechanism to be removered from the shaft while the SR and later XT/TT's has the selector mechanism welded onto the shaft. The ealy selector shafts have not been available for many years and the SR part is the supersesion for it.
The gearbox ratios are the same, and as GMC has said there are a few different part numbers. The part numbers for the counter shafts are different between the XT/TT and the SR but you can fit a XT/TT gear box assy into a SR and visa versa.
The spacer behind the countershaft sprocket is different between the XT/TT and the SR, to allow for the different chain sizes, XT/TT 520, SR 530.
These are the main differences n the engines that I can remember of the top of my head, there are probably a few other minor differences.
CJ