bandit 1200 handling

[widdy]

Hi peeps

thinking of spending me cash on a bandit 12, but my last one handled like a bouncy castle so i'm wondering if the new shape bandit 2000-2003 handles any better or am i going to be spending time and another wad on suspension mods?

and where would the cash be best spent? i ride urban, fast A road , fast(ish) B roads and some motorways, 30% of my riding is two up.

last suspension i did was on me thunderace , it was so knackered the guy had everything wound very tight with no movement at all, sorted it with hagon front and rear. (honestly officer i have to ride it like this the exups stuck open)

ps what i'm wondering is did the chassis change and updates make the new shape Bandit any better handling or is it still a bit mushy?

cheers

[Tomfoolery]

When I had my Bandit 6 it sufferered terribly from cheap, worn-out suspensions. If I were to have it again, at the very least I'd swap the fork oil at the front and have the shock re-gassed/oiled. If I could afford it, I'd have the forks and shock rebuilt by someone like MCT/ABE/Kais etc etc to replace all the seals/bushes and stuff.

IMO.

[Tomfoolery]

Oh, and make sure the tyres are all nice and black and round and ting.

[banoffee]

might be worth asking on http://oldskoolsuzuki.info as quite a few modified bandits on there

[widdy]

Doh!

why do i always forget about oldskoolsuzuki? must be early altzimmers, now where did i leave the page 3 girl i married

[Liamo]

You can work wonders on a Bandit for not a lot of cash. Suspension wise, a Hayabusa shock should fit straight in (check Old School Suzuki for details) and can be had quite cheap on ebay. A set of Ohlins\Hagon progressive springs in the front should stiffen things up nicely.

These turned my jelly-like 2002 Bandit 6 into a lovely little handler.

[widdy]

You can work wonders on a Bandit for not a lot of cash. Suspension wise, a Hayabusa shock should fit straight in (check Old School Suzuki for details) and can be had quite cheap on ebay. A set of Ohlins\Hagon progressive springs in the front should stiffen things up nicely.

These turned my jelly-like 2002 Bandit 6 into a lovely little handler.

so the new 2002 B6 is wobbly as well? what are Suzuki playing at selling wobbly bikes!

This does ansewer part of the question chassis wise,

ps is th busa shock the same lenght?

[bezzer]

so the new 2002 B6 is wobbly as well? what are Suzuki playing at selling wobbly bikes!

This does ansewer part of the question chassis wise,

ps is th busa shock the same lenght?

All Bandits are still budget bikes no matter what the year so the suspension didn't improve but the Gen2 models do have longer rear shockers than the Gen1 bikes. The Busa shock mod is common, it's a few mm longer than the Gen2 so does lift the back end a touch which is no bad thing, if you fit one to a Gen1 though it raises the back a lot more and you have to force it in to fit along with trimming the battery box so doesn't rub.

[kja.busa]

Have a chat with Mark at mhracing.com, excellent service, and quality owrkmanship, he'll rebuild your forks to suit your personal statistics and modify a shocker to suit too.

http://www.mhracing.com/

[Liamo]

As said, the busa shock is longer which raises the rear. 2 points to not if you go the busa shock route. you have to hacksaw off a littl;tab thing on the Airbox to make room for the resivoir thingy on the BUsa shock. Also, it kind of renders the centrestand a bit useless as the back wheel touchs the ground (slightly) when its on the main stand.

Happy modding