Newbie / Potential 1250FA owner questions

Hi Everyone,
Realise I'm speaking to the converted here, but as you all know these bikes well, would love your honest opinions.
I'm after a new Sports Tourer / all rounder, that will do a decent job of playing in the twisties, commuting, two up touring with luggage, & most importantly be RELIABLE !! My current ride is Italian & spends more time at the mechanic's than my place. As the purchase price is low I'm prepared to throw some money at the thing straight away to set it up. Thinking - Yoshi pipe, heated grips, panniers & top box, maybe an Ohlins shock for ease of adjustment. Have only had a short test ride around town so any thoughts / opinions would be great.

Cheers,
Bucky

I have Italian also and love it . Thing is i use the Bandit more because of all the reasons you mentioned above . Feel free to P.M. me if you want
to for a more in depth comparison .

The Bandit will do what you want but have a close look at the full dressed Kawa Z1000 or whatever they call it.
The Bandit is a torque factory but short on mumbo.

2wheelsagain wrote:The Bandit will do what you want but have a close look at the full dressed Kawa Z1000 or whatever they call it.
The Bandit is a torque factory but short on mumbo.

Thanks for that. I had a look at the Kawi Z1000SX Ninja. It would be a great thing I didn't do any regular two up stuff. But we do lots of weekends away & its just too small for me, the girl, & all our gear (*read - her gear )
Thinking the 1250FA will do that pretty well.
Cheers,
Bucky

Thanks for the info.
Was going to order a backrest for the givi top box but after reading your post I had a look at some pics & the topbox is mounted quite a long way forward & over the grab rail. Is a possible to move the mounting plate back a couple of inches ?
At least the seat issues aren't deal breakers & there are a few options out there.

Cheers,
Bucky

Rear seat sliding issue can be fixed with a cheap Triboseat cover from the UK. Cost about $30 to the door. My wife used to always slide into me under heavy braking, fitted the Triboseat and problem fixed.

Here's a link http://www.triboseat.com/

Bucky wrote:Thanks for the info.
Was going to order a backrest for the givi top box but after reading your post I had a look at some pics & the topbox is mounted quite a long way forward & over the grab rail. Is a possible to move the mounting plate back a couple of inches ?
At least the seat issues aren't deal breakers & there are a few options out there.

Cheers,
Bucky

without modifying the mounting brackets you can only drill new holes in them 1/2 -3/4 inch back . I made a tapered spacer to fit between mounting plate & bracket which lifts the front of the box up & also gives your pillion more room.

Re the top box fitting,I bought my 1250 last year with the Suzuki carrier and box(which is just a Givi unit),and found the pillion accommodation a little snug,I have got round this by fitting a SWmotech top box rack,which looks loads neater and pushes the box back an inch or so.
I dont know how you would go on with pannier fitment,but if you intend to go for a top box only this has to be the best option.

Thanks for all the info.

Sounds like with a few mods it'll be a good thing.

Cheers,
Bucky

Renthal bars are a good bit of kit that you MIGHT change to depending on your ergonomics. I changed my FA's bars to Renthal Superbike Ultralows ... well they are here just not fitted yet. I wanted to lean a little more forward and with less rearward rake on the ends of the bars. Try an FA on for size. Big lazy lump of an engine - should last forever if you don't flog it. But don't take my word for it (I own 3 bandits so I'm a little biased)

Thanks for that.
The bars are one of things on the bike that I'm not keen on. After years of having fairly beefy sports bike style clip ons, the bandit bars look cheap & nasty. On the plus side - they'll be convenient to mount the GPS & other toys on ( which I couldn't do on the clip ons ). I'll have a look at some aftermarket bars down the track if the standard ones annoy me too much.

Cheers,
Bucky

yes - bars are nasty and engine is the bike equivalent of a 454 chev V8 as opposed to a European screamer in automotive terms

I was after the same thing a couple of years ago. What I thought I wanted was a big european that may tour. I thought the trumpy sprint st was the go or a bmw 1300s. I kid u not i bought the bandi and took the fan to hawaii with the change. Its not the fastest, prettiest, latest etc but it does everything reasonably well. If i had my time again I would get a gsx1250fa as unlike others i don't have the time to clean the engine every time it spots. I cannot replace it without forgoing something. So i won't. Lazy, easy to ride and roomy. Enjoy.