Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: jbrough7 on April 28, 2006, 07:58:01 AM
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Here's mine:
I just rode 1800 k. and then the next day park my bike in the drive. I notice I park it on a soft spot so move it around a bit until the kick-stand looks to be on firmer ground. Look out half an hour later and the Bandit is laying on its side ON THE GRAVEL!!!!! Broke the clutch lever and scratched the engine and a little bit on the fairing but I was totally despondent for 24 hours. Seem to be coming out of it now.
This after just giving the shop sh!t and making them rub out a mark they put in the paint during the 1000 km. check!
My better half says it makes the bike look tough like it's a real warrior but I think it just makes the owner look really stupid!
Signed - Depressed in Da North.
Jim
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At one time I had 3 bikes in the garage on their center stands (last year). I had my Beemer parked immediately behind the Bandit. Not quite far enough back, unfortunately. I went to ride the Beemer, rolled it off the center stand, its front wheel touched the rear wheel of the Bandit, the Bandit rolled oh so gracefully and in slow motion off of its center stand as I watched in horror as it balanced for a couple of seconds and then fell like United 93 onto its left side. :shock:
Sh!t sh!t sh!t!!!
At the time I didn't have sliders on it, so the left case cover got slightly marred, BUT the Helibars I'd just put on were extended enough to prevent the fairing from hitting the ground. Just messed up the weight on the left handlebar.
Here's some advice...
Only park on concrete--if not possible, carry a little 3X4 piece of board or steel to put under your kickstand and give you a bigger "footprint". Great for soft asphalt or dirt/gravel.
Put a crash bar or frame sliders on the bike.
As Father's Day, birthday, and Christmas approach, you have finally something useful to ask for, which is sliders and/or starter gear cover & gasket, maybe left side fairing?
Investigate these links:
http://www.revsperformance.com/renntec/engine_bars.htm
(http://www.revsperformance.com/images/renntec/enginebars/GSF1200EBarREN10085B.jpg)
http://www.whaccessories.com/Suzuki%20Bandit.htm (scroll down to Protector category)
(http://www.whaccessories.com/SuzBanditFramProtNew.jpg)
OH! And don't leave your bike on the centerstand in the garage! :duh:
Edit: I just noticed you have a Canadian 650, so you may have to hunt different links up there to the same sort of things. But you get the idea. Fix it and don't let it fall again!
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I've only had this one for a month. So far, the stupidest thing was to start modifying it.
$omebody $top me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEA$E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:lol:
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Early Friday afternoon of a long weekend last summer. Went with my buddy to pick up his new DL650. Got ready to leave, started my bike and put up kick stand then realized I forgot to put in my earplugs . Tried to put bike back on kickstand forgetting I had already raised it. Bike on its side with broken clutch lever in front of local Suzuki dealer with other riders and store staff looking on. Talk about embarassing! The worst part was trying to find a replacement clutch lever for my BMW F650. Called four BMW dealerships within an hour drive to find a lever but none had any stock. You would think clutch levers would be standard issue in any parts department. Needless to say I was without my bike for the long weekend :crybaby: Finally got replacement lever following Tuesday...$158. :shock: Just one of the many reasons I traded the Beemer for a G3 B12 :banana:
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Hit a concrete wall at about 35-40 mph. :duh:
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...Finally got replacement lever following Tuesday...$158. :shock: Just one of the many reasons I traded the Beemer for a G3 B12 :banana:
Expensive, yes, but I learned when I had one that BMW made a commitment to maintain parts availability for ALL models back into the late '40s, which is wonderful for restorers and those who just happen to keep their bikes a long time. Worth a lot if you like old stuff and want OEM parts. Some folks I know with '70s and '80s Suzuki GSes wish they had that kind of parts availability!
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I've had plenty of scrapes that I've had to repair (those levers and pedals seem to be very soft metal), but my stupidest story is the one I related earlier this week under "Happy Birthday El Bandido".
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I've only had this one for a month. So far, the stupidest thing was to start modifying it.
$omebody $top me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEA$E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:lol:
Ed, It's an addiction. There is no hope
I told Dale Walker one time the perhaps I should just start sending him my paycheck :duh:
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...Finally got replacement lever following Tuesday...$158. :shock: Just one of the many reasons I traded the Beemer for a G3 B12 :banana:
Expensive, yes, but I learned when I had one that BMW made a commitment to maintain parts availability for ALL models back into the late '40s, which is wonderful for restorers and those who just happen to keep their bikes a long time. Worth a lot if you like old stuff and want OEM parts. Some folks I know with '70s and '80s Suzuki GSes wish they had that kind of parts availability!
Not worth that much!!! Is that why you used to own one!!!! Real tempting to sneak a 3G B12 over the boarder! even more if i were close to the=============
Stupidest Thing You've Ever Done With Your Bandit?!? }sell it!
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Forgot to mention that my buddy with the DL650 dropped his bike and broke his clutch lever. Replacement part cost him $12. BMW make good bikes but their prices on parts and service are outrageous. Last oil change I had done at the stealer cost me $150. I can get my car's oil changed four times for that price.
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Hey J.
If you have to use the side stand in soft pavement (like hot asphalt) or gravel lot. Get a coke can and crush it, use it as a foot under the stand. Or anything that will spread the weight distribution of the stand out, I've even used a stick, though I really didn't trust it as much as the coke can method.
Stupidest thing- Entered the parking garage at work, tried to follow a car through so I woudn't have to stop and dig around for my card. Damn gate came down and whacked me in the helmetin front of the morning crowd, sme of my coworers saw it and gave me shit that day for it.
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Expensive, yes, but I learned when I had one that BMW made a commitment to maintain parts availability for ALL models back into the late '40s, which is wonderful for restorers and those who just happen to keep their bikes a long time. Worth a lot if you like old stuff and want OEM parts. Some folks I know with '70s and '80s Suzuki GSes wish they had that kind of parts availability!
That's not so hard for BMW, they don't make big sweeping changes with the frequency of the Big Four - and only slightly faster than H-D.
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Expensive, yes, but I learned when I had one that BMW made a commitment to maintain parts availability for ALL models back into the late '40s, which is wonderful for restorers and those who just happen to keep their bikes a long time. Worth a lot if you like old stuff and want OEM parts. Some folks I know with '70s and '80s Suzuki GSes wish they had that kind of parts availability!
That's not so hard for BMW, they don't make big sweeping changes with the frequency of the Big Four - and only slightly faster than H-D.
Sure! True! When I bought my '82 GS450TX I became married to eBay. Constant parts hunting. Sure would've been nice to just drop in to the dealer for those impossible to find side covers and emblems, though! And that magneto cover. And the instrument cluster. And the tank. And the case guards. And the backrest/luggage rack. And the seat.
Why did I buy that bike, exactly? Hmmm.....
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Expensive, yes, but I learned when I had one that BMW made a commitment to maintain parts availability for ALL models back into the late '40s, which is wonderful for restorers and those who just happen to keep their bikes a long time. Worth a lot if you like old stuff and want OEM parts. Some folks I know with '70s and '80s Suzuki GSes wish they had that kind of parts availability!
That's not so hard for BMW, they don't make big sweeping changes with the frequency of the Big Four - and only slightly faster than H-D.
Sure! True! When I bought my '82 GS450TX I became married to eBay. Constant parts hunting. Sure would've been nice to just drop in to the dealer for those impossible to find side covers and emblems, though! And that magneto cover. And the instrument cluster. And the tank. And the case guards. And the backrest/luggage rack. And the seat.
Why did I buy that bike, exactly? Hmmm.....
Yep i C your point @ these $ what shop could make a buck? :stickpoke: :beers: :motorsmile:
Item Title Price Store
Replacement Lever Suzuki GS450TX 83 Brake
$4.01
SpeedSupplies
Replacement Lever Suzuki GS450TX 83 Clutch
$4.01
SpeedSupplies
Replacement Lever Suzuki GS450TX 83 Brake
$4.01
SpeedSupplies
SUZUKI GS450TX 1981 CLUTCH PERCH / CLOSE OUT SALE
$9.99
Smith's Motorcycle Emporium
SUZUKI GS450TX 89-98 CLUTCH CABLE NEW DG
$27.99
PRODUCT SOLUTIONS WORLDWIDE
97 items found for gs450
Item Title Price Bids Time Left
TACHOMETER CABLE GS450 GS500 GS550 GS650 GS750 GS1100
$14.00
2h 21m
1980 Suzuki GS450 Seat
$85.00
- 2h 48m
SUZUKI GS 250 GS450 1980 fuel tap petcock valve filter
$15.50
3 6h 56m
CAFE FAIRING gs450 gs500 gs1000 gs1100 gs750 suzuki
$45.95
9h 52m
NOS SUZUKI GS450L GS450 L & TX 83 CYLINDER HEAD GASKET
$1.04
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Not too many dumb things on the Bandit, other bikes-don't get me started. How many miles have you ridden with the blinker on? I've gone miles, I guess I should look down more often.
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Entered the parking garage at work, tried to follow a car through so I woudn't have to stop and dig around for my card. Damn gate came down and whacked me in the helmetin front of the morning crowd, sme of my coworers saw it and gave me shit that day for it.
I had a similar situation, but I don't call it a stupid thing because I didn't think it was my fault. On my very first two-wheel commute to work a few years ago (and it was Ride-to-work day!), I was leaving work. The parking arm raised for me, which I didn't expect, and started moving forward, but the arm came right back down and hit me in the helmet and knocked me off the bike. The parking amr board broke on my hard head, the bike lost a mirror, blinker, lever, etc.
I ended up with a lower back pain, and the doc visit and PT was covered by worker's comp because it occurred on Federal property, but the bike damage was NOT allowed as a personal property claim, even though it occurred due to negligence by the guards (who are supposed to WATCH for departing vehicles and manually open the arm for motorcycles). I appealed the claim a couple times, but got no where. Explain to me how they can be liable for ME but not my PROPERTY when both were damaged by the same incident?
I'm sure more people would have played the injury for as much time/money as they could, but I finished the PT and some home stuff, and got back to normal (or as normal as I get) and ordered the parts to fix the bike out of my own pocket. (It wasn't enough to cover the deductible on the insurance, and I didn't want a clain my first year of ownership.)
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Holy Crap! Now I have something else to worry about!
Tough luck, sven.
Jim
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... Explain to me how they can be liable for ME but not my PROPERTY when both were damaged by the same incident?...
The government sux in so many different ways.
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... Explain to me how they can be liable for ME but not my PROPERTY when both were damaged by the same incident?...
The government sux in so many different ways.
Sux! I can't imagine even getting that, from my employer if I were on my bike! :shock:
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OK, so I changed my oil this one time, and like I dint do up the oil plug tight enough, and like a few days later I was doin a buck and a quarter in the left lane on the Parkway and "poop" the damned thing fell out.
That was stupid and scary all in one.
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OK, so I changed my oil this one time, and like I dint do up the oil plug tight enough, and like a few days later I was doin a buck and a quarter in the left lane on the Parkway and "poop" the damned thing fell out.
That was stupid and scary all in one.
Scary is an understatement!! Hope it turned out better than stripping it. How about more info? did it skid? How did you handle it, to not wipe out?
:duh: :beers: :congrats: :motorsmile:
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It took me several minutes to figure out what was going on. At first the rear ed kind of broke loose. It was just a slight wobble so it made me thing I was getting a flat. Then I gave it a little gas and the revs shot up, so I thought my clutch was slipping. Finally the smell of oil and more slipping and my life flashing before my eyes told me something was very wrong. I kept it upright , pulled over and shut it down.
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The stupidest thing I ever did was to let someone drive it. He wrecked it and couldn't pay for it. So I tore it all down and put it back together on another frame. And I know better!
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Smooth: My nephew has a beautiful vfr 750 (1987?) with low miles and he wanted to sell it. Gets some new fairings and has it painted and it looks absolutely brand new. His brother-in-law asks to take it out and my nephew lets him! The stoner brother-in-law ALMOST crashes at the end of the drive and then DOES crash down at the end of the street at a stop sign.
Now he has to fix everything if he wants to sell it and the doorknob relative has no money!
Which one of the two is the most stupid??
Nobody is ever riding my bike but me! That's enough stupid people, anyway, right there!
Jim
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The stupidest thing I ever did was to let someone drive it. He wrecked it and couldn't pay for it. So I tore it all down and put it back together on another frame. And I know better!
Oh, man, I forgot about doing that! Brand new '78 GS750E. Move into an apartment with my best friend. He says, "Can I borrow your bike"? I say, "Wouldn't you rather take my car?" He says, "No, man. I haven't ridden a bike in months". Now, here comes the stupid part...
I said, "OK, here's the keys. Don't wreck it!"
He wrecked it. Almost lost his foot, too. Was touch and go for a couple of months.
Wrecked it good, too. Messed it up bad. For the next couple of years, though, I had this cool unremoveable blood stain running all down the right side engine fins. Impossible to remove. Blood is tough.
My friend didn't pay for it. Couldn't. Incapicitated for months. His insurance refused to cover the bike, either. They said if he'd been in my car, yes, but on a my bike, no. Bastages! And I was too young and dumb, and really poor, to sue them!
It was this one. I sure miss that bike.
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/DesolationAngels/1978GS750EwithSonjain80.jpg)
F^ck Farmers Ins. Co.!!! :gatlin
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lets see, the dumbest thing i did on my bandit was to ride like a mad man after if rained in mid october. then not slow on a road i never had ridden. then stuff it in a tight s turn with a blind hill. smashed into a guard rail at about 60 or so. and long story short my bandit is no more, broke the frame. bent forks and a whole lot of other broken plastic metal and glass. roamr was there and saw the bike he even did a holeshot into the u haul truck we used to cart it home, seeing as how the clutch lever was broke and the shifter and foot peg were ripped off. the bike was stuck in 3rd i think he launched it up the ramp and into the truck. miss that bike.
mike
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No brainer here, I gave it to the minister of war, after she finally got rid of that heap of crap CBR600.
Now she wants to paint the bandit pink :duh:
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131 in a 30. Enough said.
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The time I was riding back and forth through some twisties, stopping a lot to tweak the fork preload with a screwdriver I had in the tankbag. I'd ride, pull over, adjust the forks while sitting on the bike, ride repeat.
After 15 minutes of that I pulled over, tweaked the forks again, and decided to get off and stretch my legs. Leaned the bike over onto the sidestand, only to realize too late the sidestand was not down...but the bike soon was. :duh:
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I've got two good ones, neither on my Bandit though.
1. Stopped at a gas station on my 1985 Ninja 600 (long time ago) to fill up. Pulled up to the pump and put my left boot down right into some kind of invisible slippery stuff. All my weight was on this foot and so the bike and I go over. My left leg is pinned under the bike and I'm squirming around trying to get it out from under the hot cylinder head. No one (and there were three customers plus the gas station attendant) came over to help me. What ever happened to love thy neighbor?
2. I used to live near this High School (I was going to college at the time) and on the way to my morning class the students would be all hanging out in the parking lot. So I got in the habit of doing stupid stuff on my GSX-R to "impress" these little people (wheelies, high rate of speed, a lot of revs, etc). This one day I turn on to the road, see the kiddies and hit the gas way to hard while still leaned over a bit too much to right. The bike stands up quickly and sort of throws me up and over. I land on the tank and seat (I'm still holding on with a death grip) and I’m sort of doing this lying superman diagonally across my bike with both feet flailing. Still on the gas, the bike bucks again the other way and somehow I get my right leg back over the seat and onto the peg. At this point, I'm able to control the bike somewhat and I just keep riding away. I stopped around the corner (out of everyone’s view) and promptly threw up inside my helmet before I could get it off. This is something you NEVER want to do if you can avoid it. Thank you sir may I have another.
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I dropped my B6 the first day i bought it, trying to get it on the center stand haha. luckily it fell onto the grass next to the path it was on.
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I lowsided it the first day I rode it. Turning left from a stop sign didn't have a good feel for the throttle yet, punched it a little too hard before I was upright. :crybaby: didn't have that problem on my 40hp honda.
The dumbest thing I did though was leaving it in the garage on a beutiful summer day, instead of riding I mowed the lawn. :duh:
Boy I won't do that again!!
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Mine would be just taking out the Db killer and racing passed the cops one day. it was fun though lol.
Done a wheely a few weeks ago and busted me nads on the petrol tank when it came down hard lol.
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Sold it...Pretty dumb eh? New GPZ shall be coming my way this weekend. Woohoo!
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Went deer hunting :duh:
Dave