I had two of them and loved them to death and raced them all over the place. I didnt leave the UK till 84 by the way.
I had the original X7 and then the GT250 for its better looks and ride with disc brakes to make stopping better.
I found the handling to be excellent but its not a bike for the timid, you need a firm hand on the bars and I dont agree with the low mileage verdict on the bottom end either as mine both had more than 30k and were still running great.
I rode all over England often in competition with my mate Phil and he was younger than me but really showed me how to get the most out of a bike doing thins that previously on my old Brit bikes would have had me off. I was Phils mechanic, his dad was rich and when he learnt about my making a friend of his son who previously hadn't fit in well with the local cornish yokels, he gave me the x7 and bought Phil the GT250 so we could ride around together and kill ourselves as he said. He thought I was a good influence dont ask why.
Anyway it turned out Phil and me had grown up close to each other, me in Herts he in Essex, so that helped us forge a strong friendship.
So thanks for the article and videos but that bike was my stepping stone to modern machinery and I really cannot agree with the whole corrosion bollocks or the cosmetic shortcomings either. I found them to be reliable, predictable mounts and I'd love another one. They impressed me so much that my next bike was a T500 Titan and I had that for years.
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