One Week In, My Thoughts

Good write up

I can recall reviews stating how smooth the box is, not sure what they had ridden just prior to hopping on the Bandit.

The box is a lot of things, strong, bullet proof, but they are not smooth, Suzuki gearboxes are notoriously clunky, don't worry about it, it's normal

"[ltr]Handling and commuting is easy and relaxing as anything with a few things of note for me. Firstly the bike seems to want to dive into corners no matter what speed, not a case of just leaning her over, you have to actually hold the bars which want to turn into the corner in a very aggresive manner. This startled me a bit initially but starting to use to my advantage yet still a bit cautious. There is the surging issue and throttle is a little snappy down low.[/ltr]"

This sounds like the effect you get when the front tyre pressure is too low, especially with Michelin Pilot Roads. Does it exhibit this characteristic if the front tyre pressure is at 36 or 37 PSI? And 42 in the back.

I'm not sure were you are reading comments about the gear changes being smooth! Must be from owners who previously owned tractors. As Chook said the gear changes are always a little clunky, particularly between 1 & 2.

slack for risers will be interesting - may need to unclamp cables - shall find out soon myself.
I run 40psi front and rear all the time now, BS Battleaxe on front Dunlop RP 3 on rear. set suspensions back to standard and have played a bit. 13 yo so it's not going to be "as new". didn't help that PO had rear on 1 and fronts were different as well.
Turns in super easy compared to 92 GSX1100G. Box is smoother than previous as well. Bars are narrow, kept finding hands 1/2 way off and legs way wider than that skinny tank. We'll get ourselves sorted.
Took the G for a spin the other day, felt familiar, but also Dinosaur, until I gave it A couple of blasts to +60
Get it serviced and compare and take it from there.

Cheers for the feedback. New to these modern bikes apart from my 2014 bush chook F800GSA which runs 70/30 tyres. On the Bandit are Dunlop Street Smarts, front was running at 37 so umped it up and wil get her out tomorrow to see what it behaves like. As for the gear shiting, I heard that on a few reads and a couple of youtube reviews.  Mind you when I make comment it is on the pedantic side of things as everything Ive done with this bike has been easy so i guess you could say nitpicking.
Service on Wednesday then will take it from there.

madmax wrote:I'm not sure were you are reading comments about the gear changes being smooth! Must be from owners who previously owned tractors. As Chook said the gear changes are always a little clunky, particularly between 1 & 2.

I came across an old media review a few days ago that mentioned smooth gearbox

Chook wrote:

madmax wrote:I'm not sure were you are reading comments about the gear changes being smooth! Must be from owners who previously owned tractors. As Chook said the gear changes are always a little clunky, particularly between 1 & 2.

I came across an old media review a few days ago that mentioned smooth gearbox

We'll smoothness is a relative thing. 
In comparison to what
Maybe some are smoother than others
Maybe Suzuki hand selected exceptionally good bikes for the press

I remember mine wasn't terribly smooth, but wasn't awful either

I find the Bandit prefers the rider to be positive, not limp-wristed. Accelerate fairly hard, brake gradually but use the gears, and gas her through the bends. 

I fiddled around and found, my fork preload settings were way uneven. There's a big slotted cap atop each fork leg. I used the pointed end of a wheel spanner as a screwdriver, the slots are so big. Turn them all the way in, then back off per your preference.

Regards
Stan L 
South Africa

I find mine is pretty good if I get the change just right , but if I'm having a bad hair day , it can be a bit notchy at times
 .

If you're still having problems with the turn-in being too 'severe',  maybe you should adjust the suspension setting.  ie.  the forks maybe sticking out of the top of the steering head too much.  Measure how much of the forks are protruding through the steering head.  It should be between 0 - 12 mm.  Zero degrees (ie flush) would make the steering feel heavy but give you great straight line stability whereas about 12 mm would make the steering light and easy to tip into corners (great if you like riding twisty mountain roads).  When I bought my bike it had too much sticking out so I reduced it to about 3 mm and I'm happy with that.