The 2007 Suzuki Bandit 1250S -The Mega Thread

[wanabeguru]

Silly as it sounds, would love to get my old Lambretta 150cc scooter[100mpg] back!

[achesley]

Originally Posted by wanabeguru

Silly as it sounds, would love to get my old Lambretta 150cc scooter[100mpg] back!

Years back, I worked on a few of them for local college students. Very fun and great scooters.

[Ga-Bandit]

I'm hoping I can get some input on a note that I wrote concerning trackday etiquette. I don't want to post it here but it's on my Facebook page under notes . It's marked Public so anyone should be able to see it. Please provide feedback from those in the know - trying to win a free TD at Barber.

[Buellboy]

With just under 3k miles I just ran out of rear tread on my 1250, I looked at the OE Bridgestone, the Roadsmarts, the Michelin PR2/3's and Shinko R005 Advance rears. Everything but the R005 was way out of my budget. I hope I made a good choice...

[honda pc]

you should try the new continental motion tires... Its the most bang for buck tire... $170 shipped for the bandit from motosport.com

don't let the price of tire fool you.... I have it and think its equal if not better then the bt23, which was way more $$$$..... These conti tires plain are soft and grippy, sticks in the twistie very well... and from reviews supposed to last long miles..... I only have 1k miles so far and it looks new...will see how long it last???

Originally Posted by Buellboy

With just under 3k miles I just ran out of rear tread on my 1250, I looked at the OE Bridgestone, the Roadsmarts, the Michelin PR2/3's and Shinko R005 Advance rears. Everything but the R005 was way out of my budget. I hope I made a good choice...

[achesley]

I just knew the RP2s were well worth the money when I went 14,000 on the first set, over 12,000 with the second set. More local stop and go ( plus a slow leak in the front ) in the 2nd set Had a best of about 8600 on the other sets I had tried. Roadsmarts, 021s, Storms. Stockers slick at 4000.

[treybrad]

Originally Posted by achesley

I just knew the RP2s were well worth the money when I went 14,000 on the first set, over 12,000 with the second set. More local stop and go ( plus a slow leak in the front ) in the 2nd set Had a best of about 8600 on the other sets I had tried. Roadsmarts, 021s, Storms. Stockers slick at 4000.

+1. The PR2/3 aren't the cheapest tires, but for me, the price per mile is lower than anything else I've tried because I get so many miles out of the suckers. Doesn't hurt that they're a fantastic all around tire as well .

trey

[Alton]

Originally Posted by Ga-Bandit

I am going to cut some plastic bottles and zip tie them around the ares of concern. I've seen this cheap setup used a few times without scratching. For $50-$100 it can't be beat. Sure, I'd like to get the high dollar No-Mar, just like I'd like to get a high dollar BMW but we all know what I did buy - something practical, that will do it all very well without all the frills, bells, or whistles, but in an efficient manner.....:lol2:

I know I'm a couple of pages late, but I thought I'd jump in on the tire changing stuff.

I built my own bead breaker that looks a lot like this
http://www.clarity.net/~adam/images/...e/mbarassy.jpg

In fact, this page has several good suggestions for doing your own tire changing without spending a lot of money.

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.html

I use the cut up plastic milk jugs as rim savers. Works awesome, though sometimes I wish for a third hand.

[Scubadvr]

Originally Posted by Alton

Works awesome, though sometimes I wish for a third hand.

Gimme a shout next time you're changing tires, and I'll come give you a hand. With any luck, we'll both need to change at the same time..... I PM'd you with my email address.

[whitesands]

It's getting warmer and the posts are picking up! Went riding yesterday and couldn't believe how nice it was to not be freezing.

[DRW]

A bit redundant: commuted home last night in a driving rain. PR2's are the tire for this bike. At no time did I feel uncomfortable with traction or responsiveness. Gives a person peace of mind knowing your going to be able to drive your drive-- without worrying about your tires.

[Alton]

^^++

I had PR2's on my Tiger and they were awesome. Waiting for the rubber to wear a little more on my Bandit and I'll be upgrading to PR2s for it as well.

[Ga-Bandit]

Originally Posted by DRW

A bit redundant: commuted home last night in a driving rain. PR2's are the tire for this bike. At no time did I feel uncomfortable with traction or responsiveness. Gives a person peace of mind knowing your going to be able to drive your drive-- without worrying about your tires.

I rode in our 500-year flood during the worst part of the downpour and I felt 100% secure. 6-inches of water and the tires sliced through it.

Everyone was so polite and nice. I was cut off 2 blocks from my house and there was a LEO behind me in his personal car who proceeded to go around and pull the dummy over with gun drawn and holding his badge. Yep, you guessed it, motorcycle cop who sees me riding all the time.

[Buellboy]

Two hundred miles on the Advance rear tire and it handles like a dream, traction good, ect.
On close examination of the front OEM tire @3K it appears to be bulging up in the middle (cannot see until you rub the center and there it is). What is this from? Weight of bike? If so is 38PSI not enough air for the front? Should it be more like 42? Are 2011 OEM tires junk?

[Ga-Bandit]

How close to the wear bars are you? Most people stock tires are gone around 3k-5k

[Buellboy]

Not close to the wear bar on the front at all. It just seems to bulge up a little bit in the middle. I have seen this wear off to one side but never down the middle of a tire at 3K?

[rockitcity]

Originally Posted by Buellboy

Two hundred miles on the Advance rear tire and it handles like a dream, traction good, ect.
On close examination of the front OEM tire @3K it appears to be bulging up in the middle (cannot see until you rub the center and there it is). What is this from? Weight of bike? If so is 38PSI not enough air for the front? Should it be more like 42? Are 2011 OEM tires junk?

Probably not so much bulging up in the middle as wearing faster on the sides. My OEM Bridgestone that was on the bike when I bought it was nearly triangular. Really twitchy handling. Should have replaced it sooner, but still had plenty of tread wear indicated. Won't run them down that low in the future.

[Buellboy]

rockitcity you are right! The middle appears pushed up because the sides are wearing off! This Bridgestone tire appears totally rounded when new so as it wears it turns triangular! So here we go again, I guess I will need to replace the front soon as well. How many miles did you go on your OEM Bridgestone front tire before it started to really handle weird? I was hoping to replace the front when I replaced the rear again like in the good old days.

[rockitcity]

Been a while getting back to this thread...

My Bandit 1250S had just about 10,000 miles on it when I bought it. Don't know if that was original tire or 2nd set, but it was OEM Bridgestone. The handling was already pretty twitchy. Turn-in was very non-linear; I would start the turn, and then get a lot more turn than I expected as it fell into the corner. Really was not confidence inspiring at all. I put up with it for about 4,000 miles since there was plenty of tread before I put on Michelin Pilot Road 3's. What a difference! Gave me a lot more confidence and ability cornering.

After 3500 miles on the PR3's, there is just a light bit of squaring on the back and only slight wear on the front sides. Still plenty of tread, so expecting good life from these tires. Very happy with them so far.

Bob

[dasminkar]

Downshifting the Bandit.
I've got about 400 miles of seat time on the Bandit now and I've noticed that it doesn't want to downshift from 6th to 1st all at one time. If I clutch between each downshift there is no problem. If I had to come to a quick stop(or just forgot to downshift as I was slowing) it will not let me into first gear. some times it won't let me even get into 2nd. I have to let out on the clutch, then downshift, let out on clutch again and then get into first. Meanwhile, light is green and everybody is waiting on the guy on the motorcycle to get moving!(no pressure, right!). So, does anyone else have this downshifting issue?