2010 Bandit 1250 possible purchase

Hi, i am new to the forum & looking at a 2010 Bandit which i would like to use for scratching in the mountains on weekends with a mate but also use for the occasional trip away with the better half...My main concern is the scratching bit of the equation !  Are there any riders who push these bikes hard in the twisties & if so, are there any short coming's with the suspension or brakes, also, which parts contact the bitumen 1st & what can be done to sort the bike if needed ? Any feedback much appreciated...Lastly, why would anyone do that (picture) to an exhaust ?

Hi,
Good question about the exhaust, Ill bet cheap & loud that's why it's been pushed so far back. Dump it !, go back to stock if need to.
Scratching - well how hard do you go ?, and so many things that impact the bike.
Little bits on bottom of footpegs is usually the first bit unless you have a wide foot.
How heavy are you?,
Your ability?,
Road - smooth, undulating, bumpy, f-ing rough or a mixture?
Work your way into getting the feel of your toy.
Set front & rear to standard settings & take it from there.
Tyres- front 40 & rear 38.
Front will dive under hard braking, but will almost lift in 2nd when punched.
Don't think you'll be scratching with better half on back, so she'll like a comfy ride.
I went for a ride today, it varied. From freeway to 3m wide twisty, wet country back roads that were a complete patchwork of potholes, numerous ruts and soft tar sections where you could feel road sink under the bike.
They are a great all round bike, bang for buck.
Enjoy.

Thanks for the reply, i like to ride any bike to its limits of clearance while knowing it wont get out of hand, regardless of road conditions...So i suppose my question relates to how hard you can push the Bandit before the suspension & brakes become an issue ?  Eg; Does it run out of clearance before the suspension gives in or vise versa ?

Maybe one of the track guys can help you out.
What are you flogging at present?

Sold a Triumph Thruxton R a few months ago, before that a mate hit me from behind & rode off both our new 2018 Kawasaki Z900 RS's & before that a 2015 Aprillia Tuono...then etc, etc, etc...So bikeless at the moment & it is killing me, lol...

Make sure that the mate stays in front from now on .

Or a long way behind, lol...Strange thing is, he is a very good rider & the only guy i trust to ride with...We had just finished riding through all the fast twisty stuff & were sitting at the speed limit on a short straight road when a dog ran out, i braked, but not in a panic, he was just too close, probably not concentrating & obviously not expecting it..Sh#t happens !

The Bandit is a good all rounder .......meaning it will do most things , but not excel in any of them . They do have great grunt from fairly low revs and are good fun to have a squirt around some twisties , but for serious scratching some upgrades to suspension etc would be necessary , and even then you will still have a fair amount of weight to manhandle around . Unlike a more purpose built manufactured sport style of bike  . The pillion perch can be a tad cramped if your partner is a bit in the tall side for longer trips , and a full blown tourer it is not but it will do the job more in the " sport tourer " kind of way . I can only suggest you test ride one and get a feel for it to see if it will suit your needs . There are usually plenty of OEM cans to be had from people who have changed theirs , or I use a delkevic which was a good fit , came with the link pipe and centre stand stop knob , and didn't cost the earth .

Thanks, i can certainly adapt the bike for a bit of touring, my only real concern is pushing it in the twisties & what upgrades will be needed ? I dont think any owner is going to let me take their bike into the mountains & flog it through the twisties on a test ride, lol, which is why i am searching for info on this forum, in the hope there are some quick riders who have already sorted the Bandit for this purpose...

Jump back to the home page & rummage through the "mechanical" section. See what others have done re suspension set ups. Parts are reasonably cheap.
Someone recently made a rear peg lowering set up too.

Ok thanks...

There is also the search box in the top corner under the header banner you can type suspension etc into to find stuff .

My 2c worth. Owned the 1250 for over seven years now and she's the only bike that I have kept registered, every year.
I have a habit of getting a hard on for a bike, buying, moding, riding, loving and then letting rego lapse and tucking away in the shed (or dining Room) when the next ride comes along.
The Bandit is a fantastic "All rounder", as has been stated. Sports bike, she is not. She will get up and mumbo and embarrass most others in a straight line drag (even with missus on back). She will give you enough grunt to get you into trouble in the twisties, if you think that she's going to keep up with your mate on his 1098 S. She is a big girl with a steel frame and budget springy bits. A good suspension tune has done wonders for my girl. She rides like she's on rails up to the point where mass and inertia overcome the suspensions ability.
You can spend a bucket load of cash and try, but she will always be a big girl.
Buy the bike! You will love her. I know that you will.
The Biggest thing about the Bandit is The Lump.Tuned for low down torque she is sewing machine smooth. The Suzuki engineering department did an exceptional job at making an inline four work at low revs. Secondary butterfly delete and headers/pipe will let her breath more for hypersport revs. Don't expect a SuperSport and you won't be disappointed.

Appreciate the advice, i am definitely not expecting sport bike handling but just wanted to be sure they can still handle being pushed in the twisties enough to have fun on...If the Bandit can be set up so i run out of ground clearance before everything gets pear shaped, then i am happy !

I'll give you my 2c.

Some context - I ride fast group on track, but haven't had a track bike since I left the UK about 8 years ago.

In Aus I've only ridden track at Broadford, which is a pretty dinky, but fun little place just north of Melbourne. I did a couple of days on my old Bandit 1200 and maybe 10 days on my S1000R. Obviously the BMW was waaaay faster, but the bandit was just as much fun, the main limitation was the horrible PR4 tyres.

I haven't done a track day on my 1250 yet, but I aim to in the next few months. I'll probably drop down to a slower group as the bike hasn't got the handling, ground clearance or (especially) the braking I've been used to. I don't trust the ABS not to chime in if I'm trail braking. I'm really looking forward to taking it to Broadford though, there's something fun about hustling a fat, torquey pogo-stick.

I've scraped a knee on the road on the 1250, it was easy enough to do. It's just a bit cumbersome, you have to plan your braking and corner entry a little more. I've only done this around roundabouts, so no really quick knee-down antics, and once you push the bandit a bit faster through bumpy turns it does tend to tie itself in knots and bounce around a lot. It'll plough through it, but it gets a bit skittish.

I haven't decked anything out yet (I was hanging waaay off), but pegs will be first to go, along with your toe sliders.

My advice is to get some decent rubber, I'm running Metzler M9RRs and they've been great.

A bandit will scratch, you'll have a lot of fun doing it, but it is a bit of a trough of jelly rather than a nice, planted sports bike


Edit to add - you'll need to do a little work on the Bandit before it gives you anything like the grunt you're used to. Mine has a set of Black Widow headers, secondary butterflies removed, airbox work, brentune (remap) and a quick action throttle and it feels nice and perky. Not 3rd gear power wheelie perky like the s1000r, but quite rapid with a ton of low end.

Edit - couple of pics. This might give you an idea of the sort of angle that you can comfortably get on the 1250. The bike I'm on is a Mk2 1200, so the frame and dimensions are pretty similar. I had scratched my knee sliders on the same bike going up and down the Heidelberg - Kinglake road a few months earlier. That road is all very tight, fairly smooth turns and it was fine 



And the BMW 

Hi there

I find the Bandit a great tourer, but for a scratcher the suspension is quite soft. Setting it stiffer didn't help; counterintuitively, I actually found it detrimental to the handling. On factory settings she gives a respectable, but perhaps not strike-fear-into-the-hearts-of-the-enemy, account of herself in twisty mountain passes.

Note, the 1250 S - the Bandit with the fairing - is a tourer and has softer fork springs than the naked model, which is pitched as a streetfighter. 

My two cents worth, but if any fast lads know better, rather listen to them. 


Regards
Stan L
South Africa

Thanks for all the replies but i ended up buying a low km Yamaha XJR 1300...Sorry to waste everyone's time...

WHAT?! A Yamaha? Pfft...

I could not help myself...

Got any pics? Congratulations on the new bike

She's not really designed for the twisties. A few things you can do to help are a fork brace, and suspension mods.
Bitubo make a replacement cartridge for the front forks and many places have rear damper replacements. These make a big difference.
Remember, she's a heavy bike so you have to consciously counter-steer. My mate, who rides an Aprilia Tuono, rode my 2007 1250S and had trouble going around the corners until he realised, "counter-steer". He was pleasantly surprised after that. He was even able to start scratching the footpegs after a few minutes.

the Bandit is an excellent all round budget bike. I think it's she's worth spending a couple of grand on suspension bits if she's going to be a keeper for you.

SRAD_Pitt wrote:Got any pics? Congratulations on the new bike

Thanks...

Yeah, that's really nice. What's it like to have brakes that actually work?

Yeah, probably the best brakes i've had on any bike, and i have had a few, lol..Handles very well for a big bike...no chicken strips after last weekend & no issues with suspension so i am pretty happy...

Another UJM