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Hey, all. Moving up to Hamilton, Ma. this summer, glad I found you here.
My issue is an 02 Bandit 1200S, it's a consignment bike I bought in Virginia, it's sitting at the dealer waiting for pickup. Owing to family obligations, I'm stuck in Florida for a couple of more weeks. The bike was bought new out of the crate in 2005, but the guy was afraid of it, wife didn't want him on it, so there it sat until this spring when he consigned it to his buddy that's a salesman at a Honda/Suzuki dealer. It's got three thousand miles on it, looks and is like brand new, got it for 4 grand. It's got the stock chain and tires.
While it's sitting there waiting, I had them put the EBC organic kevlar pads in the front brakes, and I've decided to have them put Dunlop Roadsmarts front and back, I figure the stock tires are all gassed out by now even if they have plenty of tread. Good decisions so far?
I'm also wanting to replace the chain with whatever is the best and most DURABLE chain and sprocket set. I figure tires and chains, price is no object as long as the price is buying quality. Problem is, being a shaftie-rider all my life, I don't know squat about chains, except that price is no object and quality counts. My style is two-up, mostly slabs and touring and while I'll hang in the twisties, that ain't my main goal, it's just cruising distances, and mostly straight up and down riding, somewhat at speed. The first trip on the bike will be from Northern Virginia to Boston area, in fact.
So I figure I got the tires and brakes squared away, what's my best, price-is-no-object stock-spec setup on the sprockets and a chain?
Thanks to all who'll entertain my ignorance![]()
Welcome! I live right next door to you in Wenham. This is a great area to ride, and there are a lot of awesome locals.
So far as your chain goes, I'm not sure. Someone will chime in.
Wenham, no kiddin! I'll look ya up when I git settled..Gonna be awhile but by June's end, mid-July if I can get things closed out down here. Someone will pipe up, and I also I found some threads, it sounds like the best DID Pro-Gold X rings, and new steel sprockets are the way to go. I realize a chain can't be as reliable as a shaft, but as close as can be would be nice. I don't mind horsin' around a little in the twisties, but mostly, I don't thrash the bike and mostly touring shouldn't be too hard on the chain. Like I said, I dunno shit, I'm open for suggestions..
tx
Last edited by toocrazy2yoo; 05-25-09 at 09:02 AM.
I have an '03 1200s. Don't worry about the chain. They come with a high quality 530 chain ( I believe EBK or DID ). With proper care it will last well over 12,000. It's also a riveted chain, not a master link.
The Bandit has gobs of torque so Suzuki did right by it and put a beefy high quality chain and sprocket set. Just pick it up and ride it back.
The engine is the same as the GSX-R 1100 with different cam profiles for low end torgue. The engine is pretty much bullet proof as are most in that engine family.
Just try to keep the front tire on the pavement!! :-)
" In the name of the Spedo, the Tach and the Holy Throttle, Amen. "
Oh, man, did I buy a wheelie-monster? Greeeeat! I put 80K on my NighthawkS and gave it away for parts with a cracked swingarm. It was ok, quick enough for the take, but at 700CC, hardly a torque-monster. Glad to hear about the chain, though. The bike has been sitting around awhile, though, just don't wanna have issues with old consumables, hence the concern over the tires and chain.
Tx, Palan...![]()
If it was stored inside, there's no problem.
Yes, it can be a bit of a wheelie monster but, if your an experience rider, you should have no problem.
Stock, it has a bit over 100 h.p. and nearly 80 lbs ft of torque. All delivered below 8,000 rpm.
It's a sport touring with a lean toward the sport side. There are a million mods available to do what ever you want to it. Touring to racing drags or track days.
" In the name of the Spedo, the Tach and the Holy Throttle, Amen. "
While it's at the shop, make sure they check and make sure it's not one of the bikes with the bad pistons. There was a maintenance notice sent out about it.
Also, if you haven't found it yet, check out maximum-suzuki.com, one of the best forums for bandit mods and information.
Yup, I'm a member of Maximum-Suzuki. Great site with good people and info. Very little BS. There is a thread that lists the ser. # cut off for the oil burners.
You might as well start writing checks to Holeshot for all types of trick bits and Cogent Dynamics for suspension upgrades.
" In the name of the Spedo, the Tach and the Holy Throttle, Amen. "
Well, experienced on a 750-class, anyway. This is my first liter-bike, but I'll handle it ok. This one is exactly the weight of the NighthawkS, but I never did anything but turn a tire on that one. Dunno if you could wheelie a NighthawkS without a monstrous tug on the bars. Makes me wonder if I oughtn't go to another sprocket to take some edge off the bottom and move it toward the top..Is that even possible? How is this one at 60-70-80, reving like crazy, or ok?
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll be sure to be on the horn to the guy about the serial number, but I'd be screwed trying to get Suzuki to do anything about it, no? Absent a recall. Probably better not to know until there's smoke. If I hadda fix it, what better opportunity to have someone good work a little magic on the innards, no? I assume I'll find someone up there to sweeten up this engine if necessary? Thanks again!
The Bandit is pretty civilized if you control your right hand. I believe it's at about 3200 rpm at 70. I changed my gearing for track use and it's at 4,000 @ 70 mph.
The problem was the rings were wrong at the beginning of the 2nd gen.. Suzuki did issue a recall and covered the repairs. It was based on oil consumption over a set amount of miles since not all bikes had the problem. The dealer should check the #'s and do the work if needed before you pick it up. Your chances are pretty good that it's not an oil burner since it's an '02. That's when they corrected the problem.
The Bandit is a low end torque monster. Don't bother winding it out. As a matter of fact, you can just short shift it. It will pull like a freight train from 2,000 rpm on. It makes peak power by 8,500 rpm. You can cruise along at 3,500 all day long and pretty much loft the front from there in just about any gear.
" In the name of the Spedo, the Tach and the Holy Throttle, Amen. "
You'll love the bandit, great bike.
Like the fellas have said, I wouldn't worry about the chain with only 3k miles on the bike
Thanx, doods!
I ride a 06 Busa with over 50K miles on it .
I replaced the stock chain and sprockets at 26K with a EK ZZZ chain and steel sprocket set-up.
It has the highest tensile strength chain available and in 25K miles hasn't stretched a bit and should be good for another 10K.
TIMMYDUCK