Bandit Alley
MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 600 thru 1200 - AIR/OIL COOLED TECHNICAL => Topic started by: rmx250 on March 07, 2005, 11:14:58 AM
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My wife has an 03 B6 with just over 2500 miles. She finally got some gear so she can ride comfortably in cooler weather. Her bike is completely stock. It takes quite a while to warm up enough to be ridable and even longer to be able to take the choke off. With the choke on, it idles fast but stutters as soon as any throttle is applied. Is this just the nature of the inline air-cooled 4? I had an SV and just had to shim the needles and all was fine. Now I have a Vstrom with FI. Man, FI can be great or a big PIA.
Thanks,
Larry
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Holeshot or Ivan's jet kit will solve the problem instantaneously. Worked wonders on my 02 B6. Hardly ever leave the choke on for more than a minute.
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The B6 is cold-blooded as jetted from the factory. A kit will cure it!
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Funny, I live in Yorkshire UK and it's been a really cold few weeks, freezing temps, rain and snow etc.
I always have to start my B6 on the choke but it doesn't take long to warm up, maybe 5 minutes and I can set off with the choke off.
I believe the UK 600 bandits are fitted with carb heaters but I'm not sure if they're turned on (I know there should be a switch somewhere, according to the Haynes wiring diagram, I just can't find it! :razz:)
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IIRC, only the 1200 has the carb heaters in the UK.
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Are there any other options other then a jet kit? I remember just shimming the needles in my SV did wonders. My wife is not looking for any real performance increase but just to get rid of the cold blooded nature of it.
Thanks,
Larry
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Adding a single shim to each needle did the job for my 00 B6. I had a step-by-step w/Radio Shack part numbers ...piece of cake. Best .08 cent mod you can do.
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I would really consider the jet kit w/ignition advancer. The bike gains much more low end under 4k rpm. In other words, its more rideable with easy warm up. I've preached before that stock I don't feel the B6 is a good beginner bike. There's no power under 4k rpm, especially cold. You really need to rev it and add to this the clutch is very short travel. You can guess what happens with this combo. The rider will rev it to avoid stalling and then pop the clutch. Instant wheelie and acceleration. Check out a stock B6 with a beginning rider, I guarantee you'll find scuffs on the engine cases from going down. If you need to get by on the cheap, one shim under each needle will solve cold start problems.
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I jsut talked to Dale at Holeshot. I orderd a modified stage 1 kit. This will give me something to do while the weather is still cold. Plus it will make my wife happy!
Thanks for all the input.
Larry
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Good choice! the kit doesn't make the bike a fire-breathing monster, it just smooths out the power band. Power is nice & mellow but still pulls well under 4k rpm, where newbies like to be. :motorsmile:
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My wife has actually been riding for quite a long time. (Since she was 14 or so) This is her first bike that is bigger then a 250. I can't believe she rode this bike since it was new without saying something. I am looking forward to doing the work.
Larry
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I always hear people say that talk to Dale I always get a young lady that talks really low and I have asker to repeater herself all the time. I'm never able to talk to Dale directly to answer questions!
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I belive he's out of town at the moment, but when he's in, all you gotta do is ask to talk to him.
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When my carbs were stock jetted, I started the bike with 100% choke, then cut it back to about 80% choke to ride to the first traffic light about 1 mile away. If it started to idle fast during the first few miles, reduce choke down to about 50% or where the idle just drops down. After about 3 miles, 0% choke.
This worked down to about 20 deg. F.
Post Holeshot Stage 1, I start with about 75-85% choke, then drop to 50% after it's running, and 0% choke after about a mile or so.
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I really wanted to to the holeshot stage 1 kit but after putting my scorpion s/o I went from 180-185 miles before having to switch to reserve to 161.
How much more would I lose after installing stage 1
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Most likely, nothing, posiibly even an improvement over where you are now.
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HOw is that possible?
I thought a jet kit install was an automatic understanding there will be gas mileage loss! I'm not worried abut pulling the carbs I did it for the very first time this past summer to clean the carbs which actually didn't need it. I was surprised how clean they were inside. Those throttle cables were a bitch to get back on though. I only worry about getting diaphrams-sp. back on correctly with out damage. I've heard they can be kinda tricky to get seated right once they are removed to get to the needles!
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Adding a single shim to each needle did the job for my 00 B6. I had a step-by-step w/Radio Shack part numbers ...piece of cake. Best .08 cent mod you can do.
My B6 is also a cold blooded beast! Warm it up or it dies in the street. :sad:
I need to fix this. Can you tell me where to get the step by step?
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You're gas mileage may improve with the H/S Stage One. My MPG didn't get any worse when I rejetted, and I tend to run the piss out of it now that I have the Yoshi pipe and the jet kit.
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I know it's weird that richening the bike would equal better gas mileage, but it's because the bike is running more effeceintly. Not everyone gets better mileage when they rejet though, some do get worse... but if it's done properly, the difference should be minor, like 1-2 mpg. If you end up with 5-10 mpg loss (or worse), it's not right.
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my solution to the cold bloodedness of the 600 was to make starting the bike the first thing I do before a ride. I found that if I started it and then went through my pre-ride ritual it was warm when I was ready. By this I mean putting on my jacket, pants(in cold weather) gloves, check the laces on my boots, have a look at the tires, chain etc. This worked for me even in the coldest days(30F or so). Just my 2 cents. :motorsmile:
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I received Dale's kit and installed it. It took just a couple of hours from start to finish. THe kit comes with great instructions. I decided to take the throttle cables off to do the install. That was the biggest pain, along with putting the cables back on. Other then that it was fairly easy and straightforward.
The results?
It's like a different bike. Easy starting/warm up. Better midrange. Smoother all the way around. Don't have to rev the hell out of it to get going.
My wife hasn't ridden it yet but is going to love the difference.
Larry