Vintage Thing No. 154 - Suzuki X7
If you ride a white bike, people will mistake you for a highway cop - unless it's an X7 I have often wondered why I should like the Suzuki X7 as much as I do. It defies logic. There are better bikes. There are more sophisticated bikes that are also more reliable. At 1.87m tall, I sit rather tall in the saddle for an X7. In fact, I look ridiculous on one. It doesn't take me much thought to justify my enthusiasm. In 1979, when I was 16, the Suzuki GT250X7, to give it its proper title, was the fastest of the learner legal 250s. It was the first ton-up Suzy 250 when it was introduced in 1978. It wailed beautifully and spawned a host of desirable after market goodies such as clip-ons, rear sets and spanshions. Part of the X7s reputation was established in the motorcycling press. There were all manner of tuning articles and the most famous were the 250 shoot out series in Motorcycle Mechanics and the development of Brian Crichton's bike in The Biker. The X7 didn't reign for...