Fun Day on my 1200 Bandit!

[Chris]

On Saturday I went to a Motorcycle Safety Rodeo for many of the bases on the Kanto Plains held at Yokohama North Dock and it was great event! Lots of fun events on hand and probably 35-40 riders from the military communities around Tokyo. Most of the events were the usual sort of safety events like a slow race to see who can go slowest and a slalom event. My favorite was the handling circuit which was a small tight road course laid out and marked with cones within the confines of a big parking lot. It was kind of like a car autocross or gymkhana but for bikes. Way fun and I went around at leat 25 times. The big Bandit and I were circulating at about the same lap times as the sportbikes but the stars of the show were a KTM SuperDuke and a trick Suzuki 400cc Supermono. They were both ridden by fine and fast riders and it was fun watching them from the line of bikes waiting their turn. At one point I was behind a blinged Hayabusa with a wide rear tire and extended swingarm and caught him despite being flagged off 20 seconds later. Those things really can't make tight turns! More fun was catching a Suzuki Supermono with the Bandit. I was quite happy with the Bandit and impressed with how well it took to aggressive steering inputs since we were going from full lean one way to full lean the other several times per lap. The only downside to the day was using up a perfectly good set of hiking boots with my unfortunate toes dangling riding style. I managed to grind the footpegs even when I shifted my weight to the inside of the turn to hold the bike as upright as possible. Way fun!

The real upside to the day is, like after a day at the track, I now fully trust my tires again. (Another nice side benfit is now the tread on my tires is scuffed in from sidewall to sidewall so my street cred is better. )

Have fun!

 

[IanC]

Sounds like fun. Next time give mum a video camera.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Wow, what a great time. Thanks for sharing.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[rideOn]

There's a fairly new bandit 1250 with LOW miles available near me. It's mint. Chris, would I have any regrets going that way?

 

[Chris]

my impressions of the GSF1250 Bandit

my impressions of the GSF1250 Bandit

RideOn,

I have ridden the 1250 and it's a great all arounder. It has perhaps one of the best super standard engines ever fielded and one that was designed from scratch for the mission at hand rather than being a retuned sport bike motor. I have an early Bandit with basically the GSXR1100 motor retuned for less peak power and more mid range torque and I love it. The 1250 motor has about the same peak HP as mine but 10 more foot pounds of torque. It makes for an amazingly flexible and powerful street engine. You can leave stoplights and accelerate out of turns on just a whisper of throttle. It makes gear selection for passing on the road pretty immaterial. Just twist the grip and go...

So, pretty great motor, better than fair handling, and big and comfortable. That's a bike you can live with every day of the week. I know a fella who put Givi bags and top case on his and has a more than competant sport tourer. Like the great UJMs of the past such as our old GS1000s and 1100s the Bandits can do a bit of everything. I use mine to chase sportbikes on twisty roads and commute through Japanese traffic. Squeezing between trucks makes me glad it doesn't have a fairing.

The worst downside to the first generation Bandits was what I thought was the very worst motorcycle seat ever. I couldn't ride mine for more than 25 minutes without my ass hurting. I was ready to sell the bike until I tried a Corbin seat on it. Now it's all day comfortable. The stock 1250 seat isn't too bad but even with that I'd pop for a Corbin saddle. After my experience with the Bandit I put a Corbin on my BWM K100RS and was equally impressed so I guess you could say I'm biased about Corbin seats.

There's an English aftermarket vendor called Just Bandits with a website if you want to see the kinds of things out there for Bandits, including the 1250.

RideOn, I hope this helps and if you get the bike, good luck with it.

 

[bonanzadave]

That would be my first choice if I were looking for another Bike.

Hey Chris, how ya gonna get the Bandit back to the states when your tour is up ?

 

[rideOn]

funny you mention more comfortable. In addition to a better full range power distribution than say the fz1, the ride reviews all say that the bandit has a better seat.

 

[Ohioan]

I want a Bandit bad. I've seen some go pretty cheap around here. Everyone is FZ1 crazy...

 

[Chris]

BonanzaDave,

Sorry for the slow respose but I'm traveling this week. This is written in a hotel room in Kyoto. Anyway, my plan to get the 1200 Bandit home depends on my purchase of a bare titled Bandit frame in the US. I've seen them occasionally on ebay for about $500. Once I have that item stashed in my garage in Tennessee I should be all set for the Bandit's eventual trip to the US. What I'll do is disassemble the Bandit overseas, discard the frame, and ship the parts with my household goods. Once in the US I'll assemble the parts on the waiting titled US spec frame and I should be good to go.

That should be in a few years since I hope to get a transfer to Europe after my time in Japan. I have a big incentive in addition to the usual reasons for hoping to get to Europe since my wife has promised to buy me a new bike when we get there. She did set conditions, it will have be the native bike of whatever nation we end up in. If Germany, then another Beemer...if the UK, then a Triumph...Italy might be a head scratcher since I would have to choose between Ducati, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, or MV Agusta. Come on transfer gods!

On a side note, I passed through Hammamatsu today and while it loked like a nice town I was disappointed that there wasn't some big sign visible from the train indicating that it was the center of the world for Suzuki riders. I had always envisoned some big shrine with the torii gate topped by the familiar red "S". Oh well, I did see several Suzuki factory buildings as our bullet train whizzed by...

 

[rideOn]

I want a Bandit bad. I've seen some go pretty cheap around here. Everyone is FZ1 crazy...

yep, the fz1 gets decent write-ups. I like the red 2010, but for my riding needs (lots of low to mid revs) the bandit's drive train is supposed to perform better.

 

[Chris]

FZ1 vs 1200 Bandit

FZ1 vs 1200 Bandit

I do a lot of riding with my friend Kevin who has a red FZ1 which is sure a pretty bike. He and I are mostly about equal in experience, skill and aggressiveness. From what I can see on the street there's not a lot of performance difference between our two bikes. Neither Kevin or I are going to be getting close enough to the ultimate performance of our bikes for the FZ1's advantages to show up. If we were riding on a racetrack or a drag strip, it would probably be a different story. But out in the real world of street riding and even out on what passes for country roads here in Japan neither machine has an advantage. The faster bike is determined by which of us feels faster that day.

About the biggest difference I've noticed is the 1200 Bandit seems to be more prone to wheelie.

Kevin and I sometimes ride with another friend on a 1250 Bandit who does get left behind a lot but I'm sure it's the rider, not the bike that's making the difference there. So get a 1250 and go riding with your FZ1 mounted friends. Unless your riding includes a lot of balls to the wall sport riding there won't be any advantage to either bike. They're both good bikes.