I was sitting at the dealer this morning while they put on a new front tire (Roadsmart) on the B1250.
One of the mechs came out of the back and asked, "Who's waiting for the Bandit?" I raised my hand and he said, you want me to grind down the clutch lever to remove the burrs?"
I looked askance at him and said, "You're just changing my tire."
He said, "Oh, must be a different Bandit," and he goes looking for the owner.
Meanwhile, I had been sitting next to a kid who was also waiting and I looke down and noticed his owner's manual in his hand: GSX-650F. Suddenly it dawned on me that the mech was looking for this guy.
"I think that's your Bandit he's talking about," I said.
He looked at me and smiled and said, "I don't ride a Bandit."
Now, this kid was maybe 24 and something about him just screamed, "Rookie! First bike!"
I explained that his bike might not say Bandit on it, but that the mechanic clearly recognized it for what it was. When the mechanic came back through I put him and the kid together.
So, my questions is, why does the 650 not carry the Bandit moniker? On the Suzuki website, the big Bandit is listed under the Standards menu, but the the 650 is under the Sport menu. What up with that? The 600s Bandits proudly sported the name and they were a pretty good success, weren't they?
Wait... I just figured it out. The young bike crowd doesn't want a motorcycle with a NAME; they want a motorcycle with LETTERS AND NUMBERS. Also, they don't want a bike listed as a standard; they want a sport bike. It's all marketing and sales, huh?
As a side benefit in terms of ethics (which is sorely lacking in motorcycle and car sales), it also gives a salesman an option to steer a new rider toward a machine they can reasonably be expected to handle. The little Bandit still carries the sportbike styling, but without the awful ergos and terrifying performance, so they can still pose with their buddies without nearly as much risk.
See, if I talk it out, I can sometimes answer my own questions. Saves you guys having to think I'm an idiot... or not.