Change is hard for some people, I guess.
It's funny how many negative opinions already exist about a motorcycle that nobody has ridden yet, or even read about anybody else riding one.
If you are one of those with the attitude of "wait and see", then good for you. At least you have an open mind.
What gets me is the fact that the only thing that's different about the new bike is the engine... yet some folks complain about the "styling" and handling of the '07 even though it's the same chassis and suspension, fairing and seat as the '06 model.
Ok, granted, the engine is the heart of the beast. No, it's not the same old GSXR-based power-plant. But are us 1250 buyers the only ones to see past the numbers (or lack of) and realize what is hidden behind the finless silver exterior, the over-size muffler/catalytic converter and the detuned fuel system and computer?
Has it occured to anyone that Suzuki is doing the same thing with the '07 that it did with the original Bandit... putting out a "wolf in sheep's clothing"?
I'm glad for the "standard" designation, and the mediocre specs Suzuki has put out so far. The insurance rates for this bike are as low as a middle-weight, or a touring bike. I don't think this is an accident, I believe the '07 is deliberately targeted towards the same customers who have embraced the Bandit all these years, the same stubborn individualists who make up the entire membership of this board, those who know what a hot-rod lies behind the deceptively plain exterior of all Bandits... those who have made it into the "cult of the sleeper".
Yep, time will tell. Those of us risking our hard-earned bucks by plunking $8000 down on a untested, controversial new engine design may be fools, or we may be geniuses in disguise, who knows? It won't be the first time I took a chance.
But I can't wait to get mine home and break it in... get it on the dyno and record the base numbers, then begin the long and exciting process of bringing out the full potential in what I believe to be an incredible motorcycle. It's going to be an adventure, and us '07 owners will be the pioneers in a rewarding and fullfilling first year of discovery, no matter which way it turns out.
That's the whole point, isn't it? Taking a store-bought motorcycle and making it into something that is better than it was, an individual statement of your own taste and ingenuity? Isn't that the same attitude that the very first Bandit owners had but many seem to have lost now?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but when the first Bandit came out, there were many nay-sayers and negative attitudes about it, were there not? "It's just a de-tuned GSXR motor, it's under-powered, it's cheap, it's a marketing trick meant for suckers, why not just buy a
real motorcycle, I'm not wasting my money on this thing, etc, etc".... sound familiar?
In a way, you guys are right, the old Bandit may have come to the end of it's line. But the new Bandit carries on the same heritage, in my opinion. The "outlaw" attitude is ours now, we are the ones who are taking a chance, going against the grain, believing in something because we see the potential in it that others do not, and we are willing to put our sweat and dollars into proving it.
Just like the very first Banditos. We are no different than you once were.
"Badges? BADGES? WE DON' NEED NO STEENKING BADGES!!!"
