Too Good?..

I thought 2WA made an interesting comment by saying he was getting a little bored with the Bandit,even though he realised how good a
bike it was.I to have thought this at times,it starts first time every time,i dont even need to set the choke and give it the right amount
of throttle that only i know how much. The motor is so smooth and if you select the wrong gear you would hardly notice.I think you
could ride around all day with 3 gears if you really wanted to.Exhaust note is good with a can but hardly spine tingling .ABS good for safety Carries
gear easily,dam fine motorcycle that does everything well.Except maybe being involving in stock form.
The Aprilia i have is just the opposite. Set choke at exactly the right spot ,make sure the battery has been on the trickle charger.Push starter,
hope you dont get a dash reset and be careful it doesnt fall off the side stand if it starts.Think how bloody loud a V-twin can be,select
1st ,remember you wont be able to get neutral for five minutes.Remember to check oil after 15 minutes because you carnt check it cold.
Pick the wrong gear and it will let you know and leave you shaking your head and embarrassed as everyone else clears out.Its so
high at the back you nearly pull a hamie getting on or off.With bags strapped to it take up Yoga 3 weeks before you leave.
At times it can be exhausting with rock hard suspension and more than once i have called it a cantankerous piece of Italian crap!
Involving it is ,even in stock form.

Both of these bike are great,perfect partners actually.You just have to match the bike with the mood

All this electronic traction control,launch control ect worries me.It might work well ,but is that the way we want to go ???

One of the 'faults' of the Bandit is that it is the ultimate UJM. If I want to remind myself what it's like riding bike that doesn't always 'feel' the same, doesn't always start first time, has false neutrals etc, I just take my wifes Ducati for a ride, get it out of my system and thank the road gods I own a Bandit.

I was in no way meaning to diminish what the Bandit does or what it stands for and Gus and Mick I agree with you both.
My feelings come from previously owning a string of bikes over 35 or so years both good and difficult to ride and live with but each of them had "character" and sometimes I think that's the only thing the Bandit lacks. It does everything well with few faults.

I guess I'm thinking I'd love a second bike. Something with a bit of mongrel or something quite different. I have a list of bikes I'd love to own but they would be in addition to the do it all B1250.

Some people would say I'm hard to please but its not like I don't like the Bandit. It has enough power. It handles ok. It carries its bulk well and on a good day can keep up with sports bikes but where's the character unless $5,000 is spent on it?

Would I sell it? Hell no!

This is the dilemma i have.If i get rid of one bike ,which one.The Aprilia cost $6000 more and does some things badly,the Bandit does
everything well but lacks a bit of character.I sold the Aprilia before and had nightmares about it.Four weeks later i brought it back.
That Bandit does tour well though.

The beauty of owning two bikes is that it doesnt cost you twice as much.You still use the same amount of fuel,tyre wear
is the same .$230 for 6 mths rego.As long as you dont go silly on mods its not to bad.

gus wrote:
The beauty of owning two bikes is that it doesnt cost you twice as much.You still use the same amount of fuel,tyre wear
is the same .$230 for 6 mths rego.As long as you dont go silly on mods its not to bad.

I'm busting my arse trying to get back into home ownership after a few poor decisions in the last 10 years otherwise there would be 2 bikes in the shed Reg and 3rd party ins here would be about $800 combined and that could be cheap smiles if I look at it like you Gus. Hmmm another RF900R perhaps?

The boredom thing is part of the reason I had the roadside chat a few weeks ago. Not the whole reason though.

I havnt had to buy 2 sets of tyres yet as both bikes are wearing at the same pace.I may change my mind when the time comes
to buy 4 TYRES.

Home ownership.Thats one reason Tassie looks good to us,we could come close to owning a house down there.Not to sure about
the cold though.There's QLD cold and there's Tassie cold and dont talk about the water,i'm still trying to find a couple of things.

gus wrote:Home ownership.Thats one reason Tassie looks good to us,we could come close to owning a house down there.Not to sure about the cold though.There's QLD cold and there's Tassie cold and dont talk about the water,i'm still trying to find a couple of things.

You might get a regular visitor if you get down there

No character because it doesnt have any annoying idiosyncrasies? Am i the only one thats confused?

2010banditsa wrote:No character because it doesnt have any annoying idiosyncrasies? Am i the only one thats confused?

No I still love mine but after 3 years and over 20,000km I feel its now lacking something that used to stir the emotions. I ride every day and I love it.

Well I have taken a Busa for 3 full day rides now and I still can't get rid of the Bandit. Talked to my wife and she says wait 18 months and just get a Busa as well if I still want one. I get off the Busa and I "need" one, however when I get back on the Bandit I realise how good they are. The mate with the Busa was even surprised by the Bandit.

To cut a long story short, I like the Bandit because it does so many things well.

I agree with everything Gus said,, Oh well except for the bit about 2WA having something interesting to say.

2wheelsagain wrote:
I'm busting my arse trying to get back into home ownership after a few poor decisions in the last 10 years otherwise there would be 2 bikes in the shed Reg and 3rd party ins here would be about $800 combined and that could be cheap smiles if I look at it like you Gus. Hmmm another RF900R perhaps?

Interesting 2WA that you mention the RF900R. That's exactly what I was looking at as a second bike when I had the VZ800 (ie pre-Bandit). I would have bought one probably except that the one I wanted was already sold (but still up on Bikepoint). Then I realised I'd be riding the RF900 more than the VZ so why did I need a VZ with 3,000ks on it while I was roaring around on a 10 year old RF900? So instead of spending the $4,500 - $5,000 on the RF I traded the VZ on the Bandit for a $4,500 swap price.

Still look up the ads for RF900s though!

Ahh, a topic close to home. I made a comment elsewhere here, IMHO, the Bandit / GSXFA is a bloody good average scoot. Mr Dependable. Does near everything spot on without fuss or bother, full tank of juice, insert / turn key and start, off you go without a worry at all. Now for the character part, forget the GSF/GSX, for some of us it's the mechanical interaction that needs to take place, not a full blown rider / mechanic, but to tweak and investigate to get the best. I baby sat my brothers 900SS and a couple of others which demanded constant attention. It’s bloody good and teaches you so many aspects to riding one of these steeds, you can't get enough words in. Oh well, lucky I have a mortgage, kids, work, weekly taxi to keep me occupied instead of “wasting time” on my mount...

[quote="Ewok1958"]

2wheelsagain wrote:
Still look up the ads for RF900s though!

Lets not start a bidding war against each other but if you find one I could have a look for you it if its down here.

Dear Mr Suzuki.

Top effort on the Bandit range. Just a small ask,on the next model is there any chance of just a little bit more "mongrel ".
Overall i'm impressed,hopping to do business with you again in the future.
Yours Sincerely.-Gus

If I'm to have any hope of retiring in the foreseeable future, I've got to stop getting ideas off you guys!
I'd love to turn a vtwin into a street fighter.(sigh)

Big Al wrote:If I'm to have any hope of retiring in the foreseeable future, I've got to stop getting ideas off you guys!
I'd love to turn a vtwin into a street fighter.(sigh)

Oohh Yeah!!

Buy a Tuono, they did it for you. O.k you can have a go on that one too .

Saikhan wrote:

I agree with everything Gus said,, Oh well except for the bit about 2WA having something interesting to say.

You'll keep!

Ok I've been having a think about what I've started the other day and I've come to the conclusion that after a good ride I come home happy and pretty much amazed at how much bike I bought for less than $12,000. I have also concluded that my daily commute could also be done on something like a chook chaser or a 250 - 400cc scoot.

All this means that I haven't been "riding" enough and the Bandit is overkill as a commuter in my case. As a late new years resolution I intend to forget domestic duties occasionally and go riding more. This option appears cheaper than picking up a Busa (any colour except white) or spending weekends tinkering with an Italian twin just to ride around the block.

So I'll be charging up the video cam and boring you lot sometime soon when work allows.

im telling youse all - change the front springs and compression valves and you will have a different bike - problem solved!!!!!!!!! [for not much if you do it yourself.....which i couldn't]

actually a while ago i saw in a magazine [and i wasn't going to mention this] that they referred to the mighty Bandit as a BLANDIT. needless to say i never purchased that title again, but i think its true that it does everything so well that its probably easy to under-rate it at first meeting and become a little accustomed / complacent about its goodness as time goes by. however as we all know here being the astute motorcyclists that we are its a top machine with hidden soul!!!!!!!!!

bandit = Toyota corolla. it just gets on with getting on

others = MG A (or B or.....) it does it with a bit more flair but you've gotta take the good with the bad.



Speaking of scooters, a bloke at work just got himself a Yamaha Tmax (or what ever it is)
500cc of fun IMO.

Speaking of MG's my brother was president of the MG Vic. car club for many years .He used to have a MGA 1600 Mark2,and a B and
a Sprite Ect Ect.We used to have some meeting at our place .Some of the old ones, F was it were superb.

local bloke came on one of our rides on a T MAX... scraped on every corner ( esp left )....he opened it up on a back road and at 150 I was not gaining on him .....go well in a straight line......................G60