During the 1970s, two stroke twins were the choice for many a young rider and if you were still a learner having not passed a test, the popular 250cc capacity gave the maximum fun factor. It was one such machine that a close friend of mine acquired, a 1978 suzuki 250 x7, he rolled up at a regular meeting point for young riders one Saturday afternoon.

The new Suzuki

We saw this machine approaching, whats this we all said to each other, there was about 7 or 8 of us chatting, its an x7 somebody said, its coming over here, the bike stopped just feet away, its Bob, he pulled off his helmet, that grin, i will never forget that smile, he was shaking with excitement, it goes like hell were his first words, bearing in mind he had just stepped off yam FS1E moped. He went on to tell us all about it and how it will touch a 100 mph or more, i think for the first week he slept on it.

Suzuki two stroke twins.

From 1978 on, Suzuki introduced a new range of twins, the SB200 a softly tuned commuter, with drum brakes a four speed box and conservative styling, the X5 GT200, same piston ported unit as the SB but with increased power and a 5 speed box and front disc brake. The X7 GT 250 unit apart from increased capacity, used a piston ported reed valve induction system linked to a six speed box making for brisk performance and the 100mph top speed claimed by Suzuki was certainly achievable. The X7 had a slightly longer production run than the other two models, from spring of 1978 to the summer of 1983, they sold well during this time but the days of the two stroke twin were numbered as new emission laws were on the way.

1963 Suzuki Appeared in U.K

Back in the early sixties Suzuki introduced their first two stroke twin, the T10 in 1964. These machines were aimed at the commuter with good economy broad spread of power making for limited use of the gears around town having plenty of mid range torque. The pressed steel frame and chrome tank side were not to dissimilar to the Honda's of the era, one of which i owned, a 1965 C95, my first bike in 1978.

Suzuki, a major contributor.

Suzuki motorcycles have made a major contribution to the motorcycle industry since their introduction in the early sixties, Barry Sheens success in the mid 1970s being the icing on the cake for Suzuki, who unfortunately is no longer with us. The book, Barry Sheen, the story so far, is an excellent read by the way, it came out around 1978, i was in my last year at school, i still have it. Classic Suzuki parts are still around if you need them, some are hard to find, but if you look hard enough you can usually locate what you need, prices can be high on some items for good clean items. I loved those cool two strokes.