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Suzuki GT 250 discussion forum:Andy Reid |
| Andy Reid |
| Andy said 2004-07-01 16:17 |
| I owned one of these things briefly back in the early 1980´s period. Mine was DPR507T and had done 22,000 miles when I bought it. The engine ran OK which was basically the only good part of it. Handling was terrible to say the least especially at speeds above 40 MPH thnks mainly to the rubber/drinking straw based front forks being able to bend. This gave a delayed action effect to the steering and at 60 MPH it took a second for the wheel to follow any rider input to the bars. I fitted a braced mudguard from a GT185EX which improved things fron seriously crap to just hairy. The other annoying problem, as with other Suzuki GT series bike that run electronic ignition, was the fact that it ate the units at one per 8,000 miles. These things always self detructed on a Sunday, at night, miles from anywhere so it seemed. My brother and my mates all had GT200 X5s and these alaos suffered the same hastle. Cost of replacement saw their bike being sold on for spares or repair in the end. Other problems with the X7 was the usual Japanese build quality and the use of cheap recycled steel in the frame and other ancillaries. I used to thrash this bike as I did my JAWA 350 and Aprillia 350 which I also ran at the time. However the Suzuki X7 was the only one that didn´t take to this very well. The rear shocks were replaced with a spare set of 35,000 mile JAWA items which stopped it squatting under power (and stopped the wheelie potential). A mate had done this to his GT200 X5 and it had improved the handling. Also the frame started loosing lugs and other welded on attachment points with age that needed rewelding back on from time to time. Top speed was the standard 95 MPH with the clocks showing 101 MPH with the usual positive error. Once I learnt to cope with the handling deficientcies, chasing the box up and down in town and traffic (My 1979 Aprillia 350 did 42 MPH in first gear!!) and lack of anything in the wet from the front disc, the gas guzzling nature of the engine, it was a fun bike to ride and a real challenge to ride fast. It sounded good as well. I sold the bike on whilst it was still running and before I could loose it and crash it. Andy. |
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