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Bolt Checks - Questions

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Dec 14, 2007
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Virginia Beach, Va.
My 2007 Bandit 1250S now has 8200 miles on it. I'm going to be making some longer rides in the next couple of months, and although I'm pretty anal about changing the oil (I do it every 2K miles), cleaning and lubing the chain, and generally keeping the bike VERY clean, I haven't been very thorough with bolt checks (and probably other things).

No worries - nothing has fallen off the bike, and the darn thing feels as sturdy, smooth, and quiet as it did on day one.

Questions:

1. I've done a little searching but pull up very little info - is there a common bolt or thingamajig found loose on anyone's Bandit? I can't find anything loose - ever.

2. Is there an easy way to check the exhaust pipe allen bolts? Can't really get to them, and has anyone ever found their's loose (is it worth going through the trouble to get to them to check).

Thanks guys.
 
1. I've done a little searching but pull up very little info - is there a common bolt or thingamajig found loose on anyone's Bandit? I can't find anything loose - ever." Ecthorne
I only found 2 things loose on mine, and they both showed up quickly. One may have been dealer prep..the throttle assembly twisted one day under hard rotation. The other was factory. The front sprocket developed a click when gassing in 1st gear (not hard either)..turns out the nut was not properly tightened. I fixed that problem when I dropped a tooth. (as a side note, the interior teeth on the sprocket looked odd, almost as if a casting or machining flaw.:uhoh:
 
Worth checking all your coolant hose clamps, I had one at the radiator loose at a point of leaking. When I checked all the other ones I could give 2 or 3 turn on the clamps.
 
Out of all the nuts to check I would highly recommend checking the the lower steering stem nut for proper tightness.

the lower sterring stem nut was way loose on my 1250S when I pullled my triple trees off last year to grease the bearings and there are numerous mentions of the nuts being found loose in threads on the Maximum Suzuki forum.

All you have to do to gain access to the lower stem nut is place a bunch of old towels on top of your gas tank and remove the top triple tree and lay it and the handle bars back across the tank. :rider:
 
Not so much about loose nuts & bolts, as a lack of grease; at least that's what I keep reading about here, and even before I bought the Suzuki. Seems the factory puts only enough on moving parts just to say they did.... and nothing more.

When I brought my bike home, I found the headlamp waaaay out of alignment, the dash loose, and have since stumbled onto a few more things that were not really loose, but not confidence inspiring either.
 
Really nuttin to add to above. Always check everything when the bike is new. Most shops have assembly people that are not exactly at the top of the food chain. Assembly manuals usually none existent on newer models till a year late so they are having to guess at things, get mad, forget common things. ;-)

Mine was missing a throttle housing screw (which they ordered and called me when it came it with no problems (course me working in that business once lets me understand that **** happens and be nice and tell a joke or two) ) and head lite not even kin to being adjusted close. I reset it after I set sag for my weight. Other than that, all was good.
 
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