I have a orange '77 GT500.....one of the last ones made. It's a great bike to ride, light, handles well, and has nice brakes. I was lucky in finding mine, it had only 4300 mikes, and was previously owned by 2 mature and careful owners.
Hush, your right about the sound they make, nothing like it. I like to get my friends to ride mine around my neighborhood, just so I can hear what everyone else can hear!
Suzuki spent millions upon millions developing and pushing the ill-fated Rotary unto production. Meanwhile, it was the GT750, Titan and other 2-strokes that kept them alive. The Rotary never caught on, and it was the revenue from Water Buffalo and Titan sales that gave them the cash to develop the GS750, and then the superlative GS1000.
Suzuki never really developed the Titan the way it could have. Like our CB750's, they were detuned year after year as well. The T 500 engines were capable of 65 streetable HP, factory racebikes made 85 without trouble as well. Suzuki eventually dealt with inadequate gearbox oil capacity in 73-74, and grudgingly added electronic ignition and a front disc to the GT500's in '76. For reasons only known to themselves, they added a Water Buffalo fuel tank to the '76-'77 GT500's. It looks over sized when you first see a GT500. Many people walk up to my bike and ask if the tank is correct.
And they have the longest chainguard ever put on a bike...the one on my GT500 must be 3 feet long!