It was just such a well made, well packaged little saw. It performs beyond its displacement and design age. That little sucker will pull a 16" bar of 3/8" chain (not LP) with surprising gusto. They're not fast, but they are strong. They're a very handy, sweet running little saw that does whatever you ask of it. They're durable, dependable, and the design was in production for close to thirty years.
Having said all that (and I believe every word of it)...........I believe it's Homelite's
second best saw. In my opinion (there's the disclaimer).....the XL12/SXL-AO family saws are
the best saw that Homelite ever made. I also believe that they are the most influencial chainsaw ever built by any manufacturer.
They ushered in the age of the truely lightweight, portable, handy midrange chainsaw. Many manufacturers made saws that were 'strongly influenced' by that saw family. Those saws were manufactured with minor variations of displacement, cosmetics, and other details. Some were more powerful, some were lighter. All owed their existance to the XL12/SXL-AO.
The XL12-AO saw series was built for thirty years, with few changes. They still perform well, and are as reliable as a claw hammer. The design outlived many 'newer' Homelite designs that were meant to replace it (360, 300, 330, 350, 410, XL100-series, etc). Yes there have been many advances in power, speed, and comfort since these saws were designed, but this series set the benchmark and created a popular saw class.
The 50-60cc midrange size/weight/power class is still going strong worldwide, and all who sell or use saws in this range owe a debt of thanks to the REAL Homelite folks, and their XL12/SXL-AO saws.
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here's a pic of my super nice super ez gave $20 for it and dumped in fresh gas and went to town. Tough little saws, I'm a poulan guy but even if musta admit though the xl12 super xl was the standard most companies modeled their saws after. 
