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2002 Bandit Owners ?

bccap

bccap

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
I'm considering the purchase of a 2002 Bandit. Have viewed a 2003 Suzuki service bulletin concerning high oil consumption due to a piston design flaw. Does anybody know anything about this ? Is this something I should be concerned about ?
 
I've had an '02 for seven years with no issues at all. my son has put 18k miles on it. only normal maintence.
 
Thanx madjack. Is your vin # higher than JS1GV77A*22102179 ? Bikes with vin.'s higher than that had the new pistons.
 
It never occurred to me that someone might have already asked this ! I am a regular user of the search feature { such as it is ! } After reading that thread I think the asking price of $3950 may be too much. Mint condition though with 12000 km, and full set of luggage. I think $3200 might be more appropriate. Gonna wait a while and see if it is still there in a few weeks.
 
I got my 2000 Bandit 1200 for $2300 US$ with 27K miles. It had about $600 worth of Givi luggage on it. They can be had pretty reasonable down here from time to time.
 
1948man said:
I got my 2000 Bandit 1200 for $2300 US$ with 27K miles. It had about $600 worth of Givi luggage on it. They can be had pretty reasonable down here from time to time.
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So I see from that other thread. The best I've seen here is $2400 for a 96 with 53000 km. Snoozed a little too long on that one. I'm in no rush, was just thinking of something a little bigger for touring. On the other hand, the weight and size of a Bandit is probably not much bigger than my 750.
 
i bought my 02 1200 with 35k on it for $2300 check out holeshot.com
 
That's sort of what I figured. My logic is I { think } I want a second bike for touring, and of course while I work on the 750 it would be nice to have something to ride. I'm just not sure if I already own that ride ?
 
bccap said:
That's sort of what I figured. My logic is I { think } I want a second bike for touring, and of course while I work on the 750 it would be nice to have something to ride. I'm just not sure if I already own that ride ?
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I've had a couple of GS 750's and you can certainly tour on one and I found them comfortable. I think the Bandit is more comfortable than my 750's were, but I'm about 5'10 and 168 lbs. I guess it depends on your size.
The B12 does everything much better than the 750's, but that is to be expected for a bike that is 25 years newer. In comparison, my opinion is the rider wear factor between the two bikes is about 350-400 miles on the 750 will be equally tiring as 600 miles on the B12. The B12 doesn't make me work nearly as hard as the 750 did. There isn't anything out there I would rather have for a distance bike. Its why going into 7 years, I'm still riding the old thing. hehe There isn't a day that I dont come back from a ride that I'm not still impressed with it. After this many years, I think that says a lot.
 
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earlfor said:
I've had a couple of GS 750's and you can certainly tour on one and I found them comfortable. I think the Bandit is more comfortable than my 750's were, but I'm about 5'10 and 168 lbs. I guess it depends on your size.
The B12 does everything much better than the 750's, but that is to be expected for a bike that is 25 years newer. In comparison, my opinion is the rider wear factor between the two bikes is about 350-400 miles on the 750 will be equally tiring as 600 miles on the B12. The B12 doesn't make me work nearly as hard as the 750 did. There isn't anything out there I would rather have for a distance bike. Its why going into 7 years, I'm still riding the old thing. hehe
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Thanx, food for thought. I haven't done any long rides on the 750, and have been tempted by the Bandit for some time. I'm 6'2 and a little under 300 lb.'s. Unfortunately I have not ridden a Bandit yet, and have been going by the ergonomics on cycle_ergo.com. It looks like a good fit. Also good prices { not as good as yours ! } but good for here as opposed to the 1100E.
 
Some people have complained the the Bandit seat is not good for long rides, but I do not have that complaint. So far, the longest one-day ride I have had on the Bandit was 700-750 miles. Toronto to Ottawa and return. Left about 9:30 AM, met a friend and took her for a ride to see the countryside. After dinner I headed back to Toronto.

That was in early November and the daylight part was great with temperature up to 16C/61F but it dropped as the sun went down, and kept dropping. There was snow forecast in Ottawa for overnight, so I left at about 8:30PM. By midnight the temperature was in the 30's F so I was glad to have warm clothing, but my hands got pretty cold, despite the heavy gloves. Got home just after 1AM
 
The B12 is a great bike. I use to put 15k miles a year on my 750 until I bought my B12. Now I push +20K a year, added faring protection, more comfortable seat and newer components allow me to go longer with less down time. Gas mileage is about the same on the 2 bikes but the B12 has oodles more torque.
I've installed heated hand grips, hand guards, my old GS750L handlebars and cut out some cushioning in the seat o make it more flat... And I can ride for hundreds of miles without any issues.

I found mine for $1800 with 25k in November last season. I'v put nearly 25k on since then... Bullet proof reliable.
 
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