Time to ride it ......

I have owned my Gen 1 1200 bandit for 6 months now ,and have not ridden it at all . I have probably sat on it twice . ( I have owned 3 before )  The reason ,I realised was that I just liked my 600 Bandit so much for Tasmanian conditions .This is it below , hard to pic from the 1200 I have .

The only reason I can think of why I prefer the 600 is the less weight it carries making it more nimble .I started to wonder if I could make the 1200 LESS heavy than the 600 ,would it be better again . 
Lets find out .
First thing is to weigh both bikes . The 600 is stock so that's easy , the 1200 I just have to put the oem exhaust back on ,easy .
Bikes shall both be weighed without fuel tanks fitted so not having extra fuel in one bike mucking up end result. Also no cutting allowed ,must be able to be reversed .
Bathroom scales will do the job ok I have found in the past .
Weigh in time .
Bandit 600
weigh front 78 kg
weigh back 106 kg 
total 184 kg (no fuel tank ) That's 10 kg under what manual says (fuel tank ,center stand ) 
With the Suzuki 1200 if I remove pegs ,center stand ,anti vibration thingo ,bar ends ,grab rails ,light link pipe and can , it still comes in at 210kg .
Hardly worth the effort , its never going to be as nimble as the 600.
The big difference is the front weight . 600 76kg --- 1200 104 kg . . Forks and motor weight .
Might have to keep the 600 (its on gumtree )

Stop if you get this far Gus....

I gave up before I got that far .   I did learn one thing though . You know those fire extinguishers ($30?) that we all should have in our sheds ( I do)
They come with a strap that locks it in place around the middle . (read that sentence again ) In a rushed situation (panic ) when you grab the extinguisher you hand covers it . I yanked 3 times before I realised why it wouldn't come off the wall . It was only my bench on fire ,if it had have been a person , that split second my have made a difference . CUT THE STRAP OFF, mine now sits ( nicely )with no strap and no pin in place for next time .
Wall mounted like this one .

I didn’t like my Gen 1 1200 compared to my wife’s 600 initially. 
Stiffer springs front and rear and properly set up “Gold Valves” transformed the bike.

gus wrote:The only reason I can think of why I prefer the 600 is the less weight it carries making it more nimble .I started to wonder if I could make the 1200 LESS heavy than the 600 ,would it be better again . 
Lets find out .
First thing is to weigh both bikes . The 600 is stock so that's easy , the 1200 I just have to put the oem exhaust back on ,easy .
Bikes shall both be weighed without fuel tanks fitted so not having extra fuel in one bike mucking up end result. Also no cutting allowed ,must be able to be reversed .
Bathroom scales will do the job ok I have found in the past .
Weigh in time .
Bandit 600
weigh front 78 kg
weigh back 106 kg 
total 184 kg (no fuel tank ) That's 10 kg under what manual says (fuel tank ,center stand ) 
With the Suzuki 1200 if I remove pegs ,center stand ,anti vibration thingo ,bar ends ,grab rails ,light link pipe and can , it still comes in at 210kg .
Hardly worth the effort , its never going to be as nimble as the 600.
The big difference is the front weight . 600 76kg --- 1200 104 kg . . Forks and motor weight .
Might have to keep the 600 (its on gumtree )

Sorry Gus, but I'm no help with your quandary   

But, I took both the 96-7 and my '12 for a brap on the weekend and the 96-7 would walk circles around my '12 

Im about to do a trip up the West Coast on the Bandit 600 so we will see how that goes .Its on Gumtree if anyone is interested .

Take the 1200 donk out and put in a 600, there problem solved

First ride on the 1200 reveled a bike that was terrible . It just bounced every where and even bottomed out on the road surface once . . Pulling the rear shock out showed a leaking seal . Anyones guess how long this had been leaking for but no wonder the bike felt like a spring on a stick .I had a spare one from a Gen 2 which has a longer and thicker spring, also looks a couple of mm longer . We will see how that goes ,can not be any worse .