New To This Forum - Maintenance Question

I don’t have a Bandit. I have a Kawasaki ZR-7, and a Honda Shadow VT1100. I plan on looking to replace my Shadow next spring, and the Bandit 1250S is one of the bikes I am considering as a replacement. I am here to learn as much as possible about the Bandit, so please excuse me if I occasionally ask something that may be obvious to most of you.

From what I have learned so far, my main concern is access to the oil filter. From some of the pictures I have seen it looks like it might be difficult to change. Is the exhaust headers and coolant hose in the way? Is this a legitimate concern?

It looks a little tight and it is, but its really not an issue. You loosen the oil filter from the right side and remove it from the left side.

Suzuki sells a cap type oil filter wrench that you put on and turn with a wrench from the right side of the bike - easy as pie. You go around to the left and hold the outside radiator hose out a little and remove the filter. Preoil the new filter after cleaning the bike's flange and put it on. Filler her up and check for leaks.

I use a pair of the long channel lock type oil filter removers but it scratches the new filter ever so slightly.

Thanks for the reply. I'll scratch the oil filter off my list of concerns. What does the Bandit 1250 owners manual say about valve inspection/adjustment intervals.

14,500 miles until first valve inspection. I absolutely love my Bandit - quiet - smooth - SCARY powerful (torque). The only thing I've been unhappy with was the life of the OEM Dunflop tires (about 4K they were starting to come apart). I put Michelin Pilot Road 2's on over 3K ago and they still look new.

I don't see how you can get more bang for the buck than with the 1250S Bandit.

etcthorne said:

14,500 miles until first valve inspection. I absolutely love my Bandit - quiet - smooth - SCARY powerful (torque)...

I don't see how you can get more bang for the buck than with the 1250S Bandit.

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+1

Oh, and to the forum!

How about fuel economy. Are there any threads here that would give me some idea of how many MPG I could expect from highway and city riding?

In the two trips I did I averaged right at 44 mpg all around. Some times I was having a good head wind at speed and it dropped to about 40. This is at 65 to 75 mph average. I'm running a PB flip windshield or a Givi touring at times. No difference in the mpg from screen to screen as they are the same height but the PB is just a little wider at the top.

Welcome to the group. The Bandit 1250s is one of the better bikes I ever had. Now attempting to make a long distance touring bike out of it. I'm pretty much there cept for the windshield. ;-(

I'm averaging 43-46 mpg on a variety of weekend riding.

Oh, welcome to the forum!

I have been averaging 40 to 46 mpg combined city and highway riding. The difference in mileage is determined by how far you twist the throttle and how fast you want to go. I use 87 octane regular gasoline of top tier quality.

HTH's

I came from the torque of a couple big two cylinders, a three banger, a couple fun Bonnies, and the FANTASTIC first generation FZ1 (XL1200'S', BMW R1150Ra, Triumph RS950, Bonneville 790's). Between them, I put 170,000+ miles on in the last 9 years. This is my impression of the NEW Bandit 1255cc:

I've gotten as little as 38 mpg while breaking her in, and averaged 45 mpg on a road trip at higher altitudes & higher speeds while canyon carving and cruising. Commuting on the freeway to & from work (40 miles total) returns me about 41-43 mpg.

I usually put a couple white pinstripe lines on the face of my tach to indicate the "party zone" where the engine is at it's strongest. I did that this morning and decided that it's strong pretty much everywhere between 2,000 & 7,500 rpm.... but I lined the face of my tach' between 3000 and 7000 rpm. AMAZING torque curve!

Oil filter..... poor design. They put a cross-over pipe in front of the oil filter, not allowing use of a socket wrench. I hadda poke a hole in my oil filter with a large screw driver and twist the filter off..... I returned 'em and got credit for the three OEM oil filters I bought, then went to Cycle Gear and bought three K&N oil filters with a nut welded on the end of the filter.

Valve adjustment? Modern Japanese bikes are using materials and designs that can actually go well beyond the factory recommended check/adjustment intervals. You takes yer chances going beyond the 14,500 interval, but some people are finding that their valves needed NOTHING when checked!

Handling characteristics..... I LIKE it! Very neutral, but NOT a "flickable" machine; it's a big heavy bike after all! Those factory handlebars are too narrow and have a weird grip angle, I changed mine out to suit MY tastes. OEM suspension components are good for no more than 8,000 miles; they continue to be 'functional', but nothing to go road-racing on. ANY Japanese factory bike's suspension is best replaced with something better suited to fat hamburger eating Americans.... ESPECIALLY if you add touring luggage. For the time being though, my naked Bandit is a fun & easy machine to go canyon carving on.

Touring luggage. It's available, it looks good, it's affordable. And the 2007/2008 Bandit 1250S is BEST suited as a bagger (upgrade the pogos though!).

You don't wind this engine out anxiously seeking an orgasmic boost of power toward red line. You don't need to be shifting all the time to maintain a position in the power curve. You don't hang off the saddle in switchbacks trying to catch up to some snot-nosed squid who just passed you on his little 600cc rice rocket. Instead, you simply select a gear or two and gracefully dance through the twisties with little effort and NO DRAMA. The new generation Bandit is an appliance, it's 'functional', it might even be a bit boring, but it's fully capable to do anything the skilled rider may ask of it....... to include torquing it's way up to that squid causing him to wonder, 'how the **** that bagger jus' catch up with me???'

If you finance the bike, get all the luggage as part of the loan. If instead you want a standard that will give you an adrenaline rush, get the new generation FZ1.

Thank you all for the information. I also read through the mega-thread. I am very impressed with the Bandit 1250. My main reason for considering the Bandit is the ABS brake option. A few weeks ago, I grabbed a little too much brake on my ZR-7, locked the front wheel, and went down. No big deal because I was going slow at the time. Just got a very small patch of rash on my knee and minor scratch on the side of my helmet. The engine guard prevented any damage to the bike. I would like a little better MPG out of the Bandit, but still 40-45 MPG is pretty good for a 1250cc motor. I’ll be looking for one with ABS after I sell my Shadow next spring.

Forgot to ask. What is the earliest model year Bandit to have ABS brakes in the U.S.?

WMU_BRONCO said:

Forgot to ask. What is the earliest model year Bandit to have ABS brakes in the U.S.?

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The 2007 model year.