Someone called them jewel-like once .. also a lot lighter to carry about than a unit engine ! I think I read an article on this young chap once .. 13yrs, and quite sucessful.
Yeah indeed. I once had the xt660x was comfy and great to look at but the earlier ones suffered a little with reliability. Also very slowwwwwww
A mate had an xt500 for (heavy) trail riding. Came past a group on the back wheel showing off. Someone said that looked good, do it again, so he did 2nd run didn't go so well and a broken leg was the result