01 Bandit rebuild

[Robandit]

Hey folks,  I haven't been on in a while but some of yee may remember me as roedb.  In early February I was hit on the left side as I rode through a green light and some dumbass "who didn't see the headlights 6 feet in front of him"  pulled out to make a left turn into the the side of me.  Busted my left ankle where the car hit but otherwise I was ok.  It's still swollen etc but is well on the mend, I'm off the crutches and back on the bike.:-)  He has insurance and all that end of things will be taken care of.

To add insult to injury,  last week someone knocked over my Ducati Monster while it was parked outside a movie theater.  Bastiges!

The bike was cosmetically a write off but in great running order,  I got the check from the insurance to take care of the bike and I've been stalking ebay and getting great deals,  got an unused black tank for 176.  I also read on the FAQ about the hayabusa shock upgrade so I've gotten one of those, progressive springs, dual headlights.  I'm making a street-fighter out of it rather than replacing the overpriced fairing.   The bike was blue so I'm keeping the blue frame and the tank and plastics are black.  I'll post a picture when it's done.  The upshot of all this is accidents suck,  but It's like getting a new bike now:-)  

I've blabbed as usual,  My technical questions are.

When installing the hayabusa shock should I use the linkage from the b600 or the linkage from the new shock?  I know the tail will raise about 1.5 inches.  Woooo!:-)

I want to get black brake/clutch levers,  I can only find them for the 1st gen,  i have an 01,  are the levers the same throughout the years?  I hope not,  so far I've only found alluminium ones.

The bike landed hard on the right side,  The right footpeg frame lugs were slightly bent inwards.  It's not much and they can be tapped out.  I got new LSL rearsets but right where the rearsets attach and the metal is bent the paint has cracked and lifted.  I can't afford to repaint the frame,  I wish,  but it's too much,  What's the best way to treat that so rust doesn't spread under the paintwork?  Should I sand down the immediate area and put some kind of paint on it?  Or it there a sealer or something i can get.  I'm not worries about looks as it's just the paint around the holes that's cracked and the rear sets will cover most of it,  the frame strut itself is undamaged.

Any advice would be appreciated..

Thanks.

Ronan,

"But how could he not see me,  I was six feet in FRONT of him."

[Red01]

Sorry to hear of your accident, but glad to hear things seem to be well on the way towards a good mend!

When installing the hayabusa shock should I use the linkage from the b600 or the linkage from the new shock?  I know the tail will raise about 1.5 inches.  Woooo!:-)

The Busa links will be WAAAY too short. Use your stock links if you want the tail to go up. Otherwise, make or buy lowering links to retain stock height.

I want to get black brake/clutch levers,  I can only find them for the 1st gen,  i have an 01,  are the levers the same throughout the years?  I hope not,  so far I've only found alluminium ones.

I know the levers are different on the 1G/2G B12, but don't know about the B6. Check part numbers on a Suzuki fiche. One source for this is Ron Ayers Motorsports.

I can't afford to repaint the frame,  I wish,  but it's too much,  What's the best way to treat that so rust doesn't spread under the paintwork?  Should I sand down the immediate area and put some kind of paint on it?  Or it there a sealer or something i can get.  I'm not worries about looks as it's just the paint around the holes that's cracked and the rear sets will cover most of it,  the frame strut itself is undamaged.

Sand the damaged area so it blends out with no ridges/edges. Prime and paint the effected area. You can get factory touch-up paint from Color Rite

Hope this helps!

[Robandit]

Thanks Paul, that's great!  I got everything sorted,  paint is ordered from colorite.  

Ronayers did indeed have the answers for the brake lever,  The first and second Gen B6's do have different brake levers but I checked the 2nd gen b1200 and it has the same lever part number as the 2G B6,
 57300-33E01.  I've seen plenty of 2G b12 black levers.  Yay!

I'll have most of the parts this week but there's always one straggler,  May take 3 weeks for the headlights to arrive.  Damn!  Gives me plenty of time for priming and the likes I guess.

thanks again.  Ronan:-)