Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: rider123 on October 28, 2005, 12:52:11 PM
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I just bought a 2005 Bandit 1200 and have a whole 140 kms on the clock and as I get used to it I'm realizing it's actually pretty quick in the corners. I was expecting something a little more lethargic in the corners but this thing actually handles quite well. I even just have the standard stock settings on the suspension. Maybe I should kick them up a notch for fun, How are the standard Madcam tires? THey seem ok but not as smooth as my Battleax's on my old bike. When they wear out would it be advisable to get Battleaxs? Also I was going to change the oil this weekend at 160 kms, or 100 miles, is it nessesary or advised? Or should I just wait untll the 1000 kms service for my warranty? Any thoughts? Also I have been doing a hybrid of the "break in secrets" and the factory break in method. I scoot around fairly fast but don't go over the 5500 mark generally I have hit 6500 a couple of times just for the fact that this bike accellerates so fast and smooth it's hard to keep up! :grin: I haven't gone more than half throttle on the wrist either! Damn this thing is fast! The general Idea I'm trying to accomplish is that I accelerate enough to load the rings properly but am carefull not to abuse the machine. Does this make sense?
One thing I have noticed is that it is a lot safer with the extra power available. It has already got me out of a sticky situation with a soccer mom in a mini-van on her cell phone :duh: I'm one of those guys that believe once you have the appropriate experience MORE power not less is safer.
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One of the things I noticed when I got mine was that you could throw it around pretty good and it was quite stable.
The next thing I noticed was the skin peeling off my knuckles when I accelerated! :banana:
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From all the bandit mailing lists etc I frequent, I've heard nothing good about the stock tyres, Battleax's are very popular on them here in ireland and in the uk, as are michelen pilot tyres.
I've only drive the bandit 250 and a bandit 600, I must track down someone with a 12 so i can get a go on that.
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There are some universal break in procedures for engines. When brand new, run for short periods at varying low rpm and then shut off. Do this several times (heat up, cool down). Then basically just ride and avoid long periods of steady throttle. After a couple hundred miles start increasing rpm. Ditch the tires, you can get a package deal on a nice set of radials for under $250, cheap for the improved performance you'll get.
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Here's a good link on breakin http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
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When you're done with the macadams switch to metzler Z-6's or Pirelli Diablo Stratas. I'll bet you like them very mucho.... Of course with the new tires you'll ride a little harder so then you'll notice some chattering under hard braking so in go the Race tec Gold Valves and matching springs.... All of a sudden it will be time for new brake pads, better get the HH ones......Then there is that quite exhast and animic preformance(yeh right) so in gos a jet kit and a aftermarket muffler.......now it'll run strong and handle as good as it runs.... but after 300 miles or so the wind noise gets loud and the butt gets sore so on gos the double bubble wind screen and a custom made touring seat.....
Hi my name is Mike and I'm not an addict, I can stop any time I want too...I think...maybe :motorsmile:
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I agree... the stock tires suck.
I just put Shinko Advance 005's on mine. What a freakin' difference. It's like a completely different bike.
I'd also recommend the Metzeler Z6 or Pirelli Stradas for longer life and better handling, as well as the Shinko 009's.
I almost wish I would of had the dealer put new tires on the bike when I bought it... that's how much difference they make.
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I didn't notice any problems with my stock tires, expect for my front tire being noisy. I still have the stock front and currently have a Pilot Road on the Back. I do need to change my front. Rickey in AZ has a G2 1200 and he stuck a Z6 on the rear and loves it. So while I was down in San Antonio, I picked up a set of Metzler Z6's for the bike from Cycle Gear. I rode a bike with the Sportecs on it and it handled great, I hope the Roadtecs do the same. BTW, I rode my Bandit on the the Dragon last Summer and I was very happy with the handling and power of the bike. Nothing like a handful of throttle at your disposal coming out of a tight turn.
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My '96 1200 was the best handling bike I have owned. Rock solid in the corners and if you picked a line she stayed on it. I always ran Dunlop Sportmax tyres and they were superb.
My '03 is all over the shop at the moment. It is so loose through the corners and jumps around like a pogo stick when it gets a little bumpy. It still has the Macadams on it which will disappear shortly but I was amazed that the two bikes were like chalk and cheese in the twisties.
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I was amazed that the two bikes were like chalk and cheese in the twisties.
Especially when the 2G is considered the better handler of the two...
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My '96 1200 was the best handling bike I have owned. Rock solid in the corners and if you picked a line she stayed on it. I always ran Dunlop Sportmax tyres and they were superb.
My '03 is all over the shop at the moment. It is so loose through the corners and jumps around like a pogo stick when it gets a little bumpy. It still has the Macadams on it which will disappear shortly but I was amazed that the two bikes were like chalk and cheese in the twisties.
I think its the tires honestly. I know I was sorely dissapointed with the handling of this bike when I picked it up. I was thinking it Had to have new suspension to even be ridable.
Just put on the Diablo strada's and Im completely amazed at the bike now. I've never seen this much improvment just from replacing tires.
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I think it's always been that way... stock tires are crap.
My 2nd road bike was a CB750F I bought just after I started working in the parts dept. of a Honda dealer.
A couple weeks later, the sales manager bought the same bike and immediately pitched the stock Dunlops and put a Metzeler ME33/ME99 combo on it.
I questioned him about why he didn't at least use up some of the stock tires... he said "Take it for a spin."
I bought the same tires for myself that week. :wink:
Additionally... my dad had a CB750 Custom at the same time. I had to take his bike one day (with stock Bridgestone tires) and on a slightly wet exit ramp, the bike completely lost grip and down I went with my first accident.
There's NO WAY my Metzelers (Or the Continentals I bought on my next bike after that) would have lost it like that.
If someone bought a new bike and asked me what the single biggest improvement they could make is... I'd hands-down tell them tires.
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I agree after riding today in semi-warm weather, the bike loves to turn but the tires say "No way Jose" I think for my weight and riding style, not a hooligan but like to move smartly, the stock suspension setup is fine. The tires while being well short of "Suck", seem to be taylored to the touring end of the spectrum, it seems Suzuki got kind of confused at the end of the day when pumping out these bikes from the factory especially the second generation. It like some drunk Japanese designers had a bar fight or something. "It's a tourer!!!" " No it's a sport bike!!!" and then their manager came along and said "We'll just put touring tires on the sport bike."
A major factor that really drew me to this bike was the reliablility factor. I've owned 3 GS's, my friend owns an all original Katana 1100. And I've never seen the engine or drivetrain fail EVER on any of the GS's I've owned or my friends bikes. Even when sometimes the maintenance has been lax. My friend was down a litre and a half of oil and the oil light didn't even come on and the bike still drove perfectly!! In fact if you guys ever go to the GS resources site I've never seen even in the technical forum any catastrophic failure of engine componants when proper(or improper) maintanance was done within reason. Just recently on my GS750EF which I'm selling now, the vavle springs were weak because the previous owner let the bike sit to long and compressed some of the springs. We did a top end rebuild over the winter and put her all back together and she ran like she was brand new. Even at 78,000 KMS all the pistons and rings were still within spec, she just needed new springs and she was good to go!!
Another factor which really drew me to this bike was the old school setup. My first bike was a 78 RD400 so it show the age of the bikes I'm used to. To me AIR and OIL cooling is the perfect setup for reliability and low maintenance. There is no radiator to flush, nor boil overs, mixing of water and coolant and all that other hassle you have to do. You literally have to change the oil and your good to go. I don't know how much simpler it can get than that. Also on these GS based engines it works on a low oil pressure system so if you are a little low on oil or one the journals is slightly gummed up you're probably still good to go as there is a lot of reserve built into the engine. Also with oil cooling it's easier to fix if something goes wrong. On My GS750EF I had one of the oil cooler lines develop a small leak and I replaced the line in about 10 mins, you could still drive easily as it was just seeping out, but I'd say one slightly leaky oil line in 21 years says something about the reliability of the oil cooling setup. The rad NEVER leaked till this day. Try that on a liquid cooled bike!!
From just gathering info from you Bandit experts it also seems that the engine still has alot of reserve power built in to them as well. With a simple rejetting and slip on some people are reporting a 15-20 HP increase with no internal engine mods at all. Some of you crazy guys have even installed GSXR cams and whatnot and are getting an increadable 150 HP!! Holy!! You guys don't fool around!!
I'm very happy with my purchase, where else can you get such a package for $7999 Canadian, that's lower than the MRSP for the Bandit 650!! All I need to do now is fix a buzz in the fairing at 2500 RPM or so which is annoying as hell. I took apart the fairing slightly and put some rubber at the top left corner but it's still buzzing a bit. Based on your guys experience where does the fairing buzz usually occur? Near where the mirrors screw in? That 4mm bolt slightly down from the mirrors? Is it better to rubberize the top of the windscreen or underneath? Any advice would be helpfull. If I have to I'll take the fairing apart and rubberize(?) all the contacts points of the windscreen but if there is a common place that I could quickly take care of it would be helpfull. Thanks in advance.
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I think it's always been that way... stock tires are crap.
My 2nd road bike was a CB750F I bought just after I started working in the parts dept. of a Honda dealer.
A couple weeks later, the sales manager bought the same bike and immediately pitched the stock Dunlops and put a Metzeler ME33/ME99 combo on it.
I questioned him about why he didn't at least use up some of the stock tires... he said "Take it for a spin."
I bought the same tires for myself that week. :wink:
Additionally... my dad had a CB750 Custom at the same time. I had to take his bike one day (with stock Bridgestone tires) and on a slightly wet exit ramp, the bike completely lost grip and down I went with my first accident.
There's NO WAY my Metzelers (Or the Continentals I bought on my next bike after that) would have lost it like that.
If someone bought a new bike and asked me what the single biggest improvement they could make is... I'd hands-down tell them tires.
My buzzing was coming from both the windsheild surround on the front and where the black plactic peice connected to the painted bits in front of the tank.
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Going back to the orginal question. No the handling does not suprise me in the least. The whole Bandit pedigree, (both, Motor which is pretty damn obvious, And frame{G1 MODELS} (which bears very similar lines and angles to the GSXR 88 slingshot frames, Having had both sitting on the bench side by side, some years ago,brought me to the realization if I am going to build a sleeper the Bandit is prefect choise.
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Something I found strange is that my 02 B6 came with BT56 rubber which is a pretty aggressive tire. Why a SS tire on a 6 and a ST tire on the 12?
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I think the Bandit's handling would supprise a lot of people who have not ridden one. I use Michelin Pilot Road tires, get about 8000 miles out of the rear. Might try the Pirelli Diablo Strada next time.
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My 97 b12 came with BT54's on it when they wore out I replaced them with the 56's wow did those things stick, but they didn't last very long. I just put on a set of continental road attacks, but haven't ridden them yet. I've heard good things about them and can't wait to try to wear them out.
Yes I was surprised by the handling of this "standard" and the power is great too, not the fastest or best handling bike in the world but certanly the BEST bike I've ever ridden
:beers:
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My 02 B6 came with BT56's on it. Worked well for me. Even did a track day on them.
I replaced the rear at 12000 miles. It still had a little life in it but I was getting ready for a 1800 mile trip and did not want to have any issues. I put a BT020 on it.
Probably will replace the front with a BT020 next spring.
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I was originally disapointed with the handling, but then again my previous bike was a quick steering 600, and I found the power of the B12 quite scary. But after a couple of rides I got used to it and now I can pretty well keep up with most of the guys on the latest crotch rockets.
What did surprise me was the transformation in handling once I threw away the Macadams and put on the M1 front and rear.
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Are those Macadams cheap? WHy would Suzuki put them on there? IT seems to me that the Bridgestone's I bought for my GS750EF were reasonably priced and worked well. If the stock tires have such negative feedback from the riders, why continue putting them on there? DId suzuki buy 3 gazillion Macadams and say "oh no we have 3 gazillion Macadams we'd better put them on something!!" They are obviously not the worst tires I've driven on but if the Battleax tires are the same price or cheaper why not go with them?
Another quick question about the plugs in the carbuerators. First of all what a stuipid idea!!! I guess Suzuki has consulted psychics to guess what's going to be the best carbueration in all areas of the world and all temperatures and humidity and altitude!! I have a very slight stumbling problem with very small throttle inputs, not a big deal just needs a 1/4 turn out of the mixture screw and it's good to go. However, when I go to fix this minor problem I get a major problem, the damn screws are plugged! Nice! Anyway my question is that the plugs seem to have a small hole in the centre already dilled, say a mm diameter or less. It's almost like you could stick a small hook in there and then yank out the plug. So my quesions are:
1. Is the plug just held in there with friction, or is it glued or welded or whatever.
2. WIth the small hole already drilled in there has anybody taken a small hook like device like a dentists toothpick thingy and actually just pulled out the plug with no drilling or taking off the carbs?
3. For those that pulled out the plugs through another method such as just drilling a bit and bending the drill bit untill the plugs popped out, what was the force like? Was it hellish to get them popped out? Or was it a simple bit of pressure and they popped out themselves?
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My guess is that Suzuki used the Macadams on the B12 because of their longevity... is is a more powerful and heavy bike... so could eat softer tires faster. Also it's more oriented to the touring end of sport-touring. Just a hunch.
The caps in the A/F screw holes are there because of EPA regulations. I wouldn't try to pry them out as you can break off that part of the carb (they are made of cheap pot metal.) Use a drill and be careful not to drill to far.
In fact... I broke off two parts of my carbs when I did a jet kit, the bracket that holds the choke cable and a little piece of the a/f screw tube. (I'm a hack.)
Fortunately, I was able to get a complete, brand-new set of carbs off Ebay for $150.
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I think a good set of tires (as mentioned!) makes an enormous difference. Also, some progressive springs in the front (done that), and a Gixxer rear shock(not yet!) are a huge help.
After riding my R1100S for the past month, I feel like the bandit really needs a steering dampener! I'm also toying with the idea of switching to some clip-ons, or at least some superbike type handlebars...
:motorsmile:
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Rider123,
There is a really good FAQ with picutres (here)
http://forums.banditalley.net/viewtopic.php?t=196
on how to drill the caps out.