[fumanchu]

alrighty then. first point of business in Hadley's Hope: if this is to be the nexus of MO's suzuki towne, what say we introduce ourselves and post some information about our iron steeds? what pilot you, squire? and why? please, try to keep your posts reality-oriented for those that might be considering a first big bike - or even just a change of wheels.

i suppose i'll start. my name's fumanchu, and i drive the luxurious and highly exclusive 1999 Bandit 600S. a widely sought-after and highly prized motorcycle, the bandit lavishes it's rider with accouterments that don't betray it's prohibitive price tag. among those appurtenances are a revolutionary multi-cylinder engine ingeniously designed to dissipate unwanted heat directly into the surrounding air, front and rear suspension - and not least of all, handle bars to help keep you in control of the massive 39 pound-feet of torque this refined land-rocket produces. as one would expect with a premium-class motorbike, front and rear wheels are standard equipment on all bandits.

entry into the fold of the banditisti isn't without its costs, but being a bandit owner often changes the way the world looks at you.

 

[fonzie]

Thanks for braving the wild beast and living to tell us the tale! Multi-cyclinder you say?

 

[58876]

I too am brave enough to ride an older Suzuki motorcycle. Mine is the mighty 2000 sv650s. It's far more modern than your silly bandit, mine is... liquid cooled!

 

[sarnali2]

I also have tamed the beast, not once but twice. First on an '01 Bandit 1200S now on an '02 1200S, in fact, waiting on my doorstep as we speak should be a large box containing a 21 inch Ultra High Performance polished al-u-min-e-um straight through exhaust can from Holeshot Performance in Kali......

Yes, I conjuction with the flat panel K&N air filter and subtle intake mods performed in the dead of night at my secret mountain lair, I shall in one fell swoop unleash another 9 or 10 poneys and an appropriate snarl from El Bandito Grande` as soon as I get through with my labors here...

heh-heh-heh-heh-heh

 

[schizuki]

Bandit 600 here

If owning a Boss Hoss means you have more money than sense, owning a Bandit means you have more sense than money.

I've got a 2000 600S, bought new, purchased primarily because it was cheap, good-looking and black. Mods are Holeshot ignition advancer and jet kit, Yoshi carbon-fiber exhaust, and ultra-high-performance Givi saddlebags that make the stuntaz jealous of my stylin'. Just had a set of Pirelli Diablo Stradas spooned on.

Complaints - big as a 750, buzzy as hell, and the queer name (when people ask what kind of bike I have, I say "GSF600S". "Bandit" sounds like a golden retriever.) But she's a looker, even with the Tupperware bags.

 

[seruzawa]

I owned a '91 GSX1100G (the Mighty G)from '97 to '07. Put 75K on it. It definitely sold me on the rock solid superiority of the air-oil-cooled engine. But faced with the necessity to replace the carbs I recently sold it and bought a used ZRX1100. Well, actually the G was so versatile that I also had to buy an '80 1100 Gold Wing to meet the two up touring requirements that the G was able to meet.

I also had an '82 GS1100L for a year. Good reliable bike but rather boring.

Currently I'm putting together an '80 DR400 that I picked up for $40. Should be on the trail next month.

Of the Big4 manufacturers I'd say that Suzuki currently has more models I'd like to own than the other three put together. (None from Honda). Heck I'd even still like to pick up one of those much maligned TL1000s.

 

[sarnali2]

Suzuki is also my fav. of the Japaese bikes. Bike magazine did a super secret tour of the Hamamatsu plant in the last issue, that was pretty revealing. The bikes are basically hand built, all engines are blue printed and balanced and the bikes themselves hand painted and assembled. Pretty cool I thought.

I got the Holeshot can on last night and it sounds pretty sweet. I spared my neighbors and got the 21in. with the street core, I had the 17 inch competition core on my last Bandit and it sounded good but a little loud for me leaving at 0500 for work. The bike runs crisp and clean all the way through the range so I'm probably OK on the jetting. I might get the bike Dyno tuned this winter just to be sure but it seems pretty close now.

 

[longride]

"Heck I'd even still like to pick up one of those much maligned TL1000s."

Check my avatar! I have a line on a 97 TL with 13G on the clock. I'm trying to get it down to 3G's. If he goes there, I will have my old green meanie back!

 

[38500]

I know the thrill of being a banditista. I own the GP-derived 1200S, the closest thing on the road to the beasts of Hopkins and Vermeulen. It even has *adjustable pre-load* on the front suspensions!!! What will they think of next?

 

[1201]

Banditistas? Bandistas? Banditos?

aspd here. Me too: mine's the technologically nonpareil, bone stock '03 1200S. And me too: Suzuki is currently making more stuff I'd like to own than the other Big Three put together. But why did they have to wait so long to produce the Bandit I've actually always wanted, with liquid cooling, fuel injection, six speed gearbox, and ABS? Now that I can't buy a new bike, there's the one I'd take in a shot.

Oh well -- El Bandito viejo is still a great bike, and I do love the result when I whack the throttle open going across Southpark in midsummer (all you other Colorado residents know what I mean).

 

[1201]

So you didn't have to rejet from stock after the holeshot installation?

 

[sarnali2]

So you didn't have to rejet from stock after the holeshot installation?

No, typicaly adding just a can won't require a re jet. Changing the intake will like the 2 inch mod or just yanking the snorkle. The only intake changes I made are a stock replacement K&N and trimming the snorkle to gain a little more airbox volume. The bike is running a hair lean as evidenced by barely perceptible surging when cold but overall it runs like a swiss watch and I don't think I could get it any closer without a gas sniffer and a dyno.

Bear in mind I have the 21 in street core, if you went to the 17 or 14 in. competition core then it might be an issue because of higher exhaust flows.

 

[fumanchu]

suzuki's got a solid lineup (i mean solid, in that 1970's black panther way). unfortunately, i might have to wait a couple of years for the gsx 1400 to set its huggy-bear jackboots upon american shores. it strikes a similar pose to the kawi zrx1100 (a sweet bike in its own rite):

pimp.​

hopefully the states are soon to get the naked bandit 650 as well. they have them here in europa, but with austria's socialist taxing system, i'll save buying such frivolities for after repatriation.

anywho... shi-zu-ki, did the rejet and aftermarket can give you a noticeable performance boost, or did it just act to smooth out the engine? (or both or neither?) There's a flat spot in my carburetion between roughly 4,000 and 5,000 rpm, and as a result I've been contemplating rejetting la bandita sucia. thanks in advance.

 

[seruzawa]

ZRX1100 jetting

No, typicaly adding just a can won't require a re jet. Changing the intake will like the 2 inch mod or just yanking the snorkle. The only intake changes I made are a stock replacement K&N and trimming the snorkle to gain a little more airbox volume. The bike is running a hair lean as evidenced by barely perceptible surging when cold but overall it runs like a swiss watch and I don't think I could get it any closer without a gas sniffer and a dyno.

Bear in mind I have the 21 in street core, if you went to the 17 or 14 in. competition core then it might be an issue because of higher exhaust flows.

I had to put the stock can back on my ZRX because I got tired of sounding like I'm at the firing range. It also did a lot of popping on compression braking and I figured I wasn't doing my exhaust valves much good. So adding a YoshiRS3 or equivalent bolt-on definitely requires rejetting. I'm not willing to park it for the time it takes to install the holeshot jetting kit so I'll be rejetting this winter.

 

[schizuki]

anywho... shi-zu-ki, did the rejet and aftermarket can give you a noticeable performance boost, or did it just act to smooth out the engine? (or both or neither?) There's a flat spot in my carburetion between roughly 4,000 and 5,000 rpm, and as a result I've been contemplating rejetting la bandita sucia. thanks in advance.

Well, I've got the second-gen, and you've got the first. Also, I'm a mellow, mediocre rider who would be lucky to notice his tires running ten psi under. And, I barely ever cracked 6000 rpm before I did the mods (I'm better now - I let 'er sing). So it's kind of hard for me to say what the effect of the jet and can was - just a general feeling of "better" and "growlier". I don't recall noticing any flat spots pre-install, but I know I don't have any now - she's smooth and tame up to about 6000 or so, then she stretches my arms right to 10,000. I do remember that the jet kit came with parts and instructions covering both stock cans and aftermarket, and was easy even for a moron like me to install.

The ignition advancer was a nice mod. I can't remember why I bought it (whatever an ignition advancer does, I've forgotten), but the bike started easier and ran much better cold.

Sorry to be so unhelpful.

 

[1201]

suzuki's got a solid lineup (i mean solid, in that 1970's black panther way). unfortunately, i might have to wait a couple of years for the gsx 1400 to set its huggy-bear jackboots upon american shores. it strikes a similar pose to the kawi zrx1100 (a sweet bike in its own rite):

pimp.​

hopefully the states are soon to get the naked bandit 650 as well. they have them here in europa, but with austria's socialist taxing system, i'll save buying such frivolities for after repatriation.

anywho... shi-zu-ki, did the rejet and aftermarket can give you a noticeable performance boost, or did it just act to smooth out the engine? (or both or neither?) There's a flat spot in my carburetion between roughly 4,000 and 5,000 rpm, and as a result I've been contemplating rejetting la bandita sucia. thanks in advance.

Pimp indeed. OK, that thing's cool. I'll be in line for one if it shows up in our fair land.

 

[fumanchu]

Well, I've got the second-gen, and you've got the first...

Sorry to be so unhelpful.

no worries - i appreciate the thoughts. i didn't realize how different the 1st and 2nd generation B6 plants were (which apparently, they are). from the 2000 bandit 600s review:

"The [2nd generation] bandit 600S is a vastly improved motorcycle."

"Feeding the engine are new Keihin CVR 32mm carburetors with a throttle position sensor (TPS) that helps keep the ignition system in tune to what throttle setting the rider has set, thereby allowing the ignition system to adjust its map settings accordingly. The TPS, along with dual maps -- one for cylinders one and four and another for cylinders two and three -- allows the ignition system to optimize engine performance."

<thinking out loud> i suppose before i get distraught about the flat spot in my carburetion, i should see if that's just part and parcel with the design - maybe what i'm experiencing was one of the reasons Y2K bandit 600s received a new carb setup. it's just interesting that the flatness between 4 and 5k rpm only reared it's ugly head after i had the carbs sync'd, which leads me to believe that the previous owner's husband had 'tuned around' this design flaw somehow. (he did say that he does all of the work on their hayabusa himself - so he might have the skillz. additionally, the shop said that my carbs had been "voll verstellt" - the settings had been "radically changed" at sometime before i owned it.) the shop might have simply returned the carburetion to (flawed) spec during the 6,000km service. things that make you go hmmm. </thinking out loud>

 

[schizuki]

Well, the first thing I've always done on a carbureted bike is drill out the brass plugs on the idle jets (?) and adjust those to get rid of the excess leanness the manufacturers put in to pass emissions. Is that maybe what the shop is referring to?

 

[schizuki]

Forgot to mention - are you aware of Maximum-Suzuki.com? An incredible resource for Banditti. Any question you have, someone will have an answer for. It's one of the reasons I bought my Bandit (I'll never buy a bike that doesn't have a strong Web resource base).

 

[seruzawa]

easy midrange fix

no worries - i appreciate the thoughts. i didn't realize how different the 1st and 2nd generation B6 plants were (which apparently, they are). from the 2000 bandit 600s review:

"The [2nd generation] bandit 600S is a vastly improved motorcycle."

"Feeding the engine are new Keihin CVR 32mm carburetors with a throttle position sensor (TPS) that helps keep the ignition system in tune to what throttle setting the rider has set, thereby allowing the ignition system to adjust its map settings accordingly. The TPS, along with dual maps -- one for cylinders one and four and another for cylinders two and three -- allows the ignition system to optimize engine performance."

<thinking out loud> i suppose before i get distraught about the flat spot in my carburetion, i should see if that's just part and parcel with the design - maybe what i'm experiencing was one of the reasons Y2K bandit 600s received a new carb setup. it's just interesting that the flatness between 4 and 5k rpm only reared it's ugly head after i had the carbs sync'd, which leads me to believe that the previous owner's husband had 'tuned around' this design flaw somehow. (he did say that he does all of the work on their hayabusa himself - so he might have the skillz. additionally, the shop said that my carbs had been "voll verstellt" - the settings had been "radically changed" at sometime before i owned it.) the shop might have simply returned the carburetion to (flawed) spec during the 6,000km service. things that make you go hmmm. </thinking out loud>

Midrange carburetion is controlled by the needle. Adjusting the idle screws won't change midrange leanness.

My '91 GSX1100G also had midrange lean problems. A fix I found at the defunct GSX1100G website was to put a thick plastic washer under each needle to raise it. The same fix should work on the 600. Newer carbs no longer have notches for adjusting the needles. (The EPA freaks out.) It's an easy fix. All you have to do is remove the fuel tank and you can remove the carb tops, remove the needles, place 1/8" thick plastic washers in the needle seats and replace the needles.

You can see if there's a Holeshot jet kit. But the washer fix is really quick and simple and might just do the trick.