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The 2007 Suzuki Bandit 1250S -The Mega Thread

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 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.
 
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.:clap:
 
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?
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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?
 
mine is notchy and temperamental at times but nothing compared to a BMW. I just make a habit of going down into first at a stop. I stay in gear until I see two cars behind me and even then it's rare when I shift into neutral - you just never know what might happen to warrant a quick exit strategy.

Oh, more miles + synthetic = smoother shifting
 
I'm not sure if I've ever downshifted all the way from 6th to 1st. Don't you use shifting and engine compression to help you slow/stop?

Yes I've had the bandit get "lost" in the gears, or stuck in between a few of the higher gears, but a quick/gentle relaxing of the clutch will catch the gears and get me back on track (this is a rare occurrence).

I know bandit does not like shifting into 1st gear with any kind of speed - which is probably a good thing. I imagine popping into 1st gear at 50 MPH might be disastrous should you intentionally, or accidentally, release the clutch.

Try downshifting with engine compression, you shouldn't coast to a stop, if you need to react as you're slowing you might not be able to if you in the wrong gear.

Probably didn't answer your question.... sorry.
 
I downshift and use the engine to help me slow down most of the time and it never gives me any shifting issues. However, if I need to stop quickly for some reason and don't have time to run down thru the gears.. that's when it tends to stop on 2nd or 3rd and not go down any further. I have to release the clutch until it starts to engage and then it will downshift another gear, repeat as necessary until in 1st. I don't sit at stop lights in Neutral, always first gear if I can get to it! Maybe GA-Bandit is right, I just need to ride more and switch to synthetic at next oil change.
 
Regarding shifting on the bandit 1250, the only time I notice an issue is trying to downshift from 2nd into 1st above about 15 mph or so...Under that speed it clicks in easy...Everywhere else shifting up or down is smooth...But yes that downshift into 1st too soon is really notchy...So now I just wait till I stop or slow down to about 10 mph before shifting into first and it's greasy smooth.
 
Downshifting the Bandit.
So, does anyone else have this downshifting issue?

Thinking about it. I can't remember ever coming all the way down to 1st , even practicing panic stops. 2nd is the lowest I've slammed down to with clutch in and both brakes applied to just below wheel slide. I'll try it later today and see what happens. I just use two fingers on the clutch so it's not in all the way to the handle bars but not dragging either. You might try that. BMW Boxers were great for total release clutches and let the driver part gear box stop turning and the gears would not mesh. Had to shift very fast and with a dragging clutch and twas okay. I did about 130,000 miles on those dudes so was well acquainted with it. ;-)
I've come to many dead stops and left it in 2nd gear without a problem. Just a touch more of the clutch. Try it, may surprise you how well da Bandit takes off in 2nd.
I'll get you your answer on 1st gear later today. ;-)
 
Only time I ever hit a false neutral was when my oil was getting old (pre synthetic!) and I hit the shifter softer then normal. I also downshift almost always I don't use my breaks often and once I'm stopped completely I also hit 1st just in case. After all my best friend just got rear ended at like 1 am 2 weeks ago by a drunk at a red light sooooo. I asked him why he didn't go he said no time even though he said he saw her coming and prepared for the hit. Well yeah if your in neutral thennnnn. He isn't one to plan ahead for anything as I found out after I moved in with the guy so no surprise to me! :doh:
 
Downshifting the Bandit.
?

Okay! Went and played this morning with gear shifting and braking. No problems on my bike with plus 55 thousand miles on it. Come into a tight corner from 70 mph in 6th gear about 4 times. Pulled the clutch all the way in , getting heavy on the brakes and just downshifting without throttle or anything. Just banging down to be in 1st for the tight corner. Never a problem. Course, by the time I was going from 2nd to 1st, I was down to under 30 mph. Fed the clutch and throttle and just powered out of the 90° corner. Corner had a bit of loose gravel in it at places so you didn't want to get too excited on the lean factor. Course I did it 4 times also just going down to 2nd gear for the corner. Much better and controlled in exit. ;-)
I use Mobile 1 10W40 High Mileage stuff in my engine and just changed it out yesterday at 3500 miles on the oil and filter. Didn't change the filter this time.
 
I finally hit 50,000 miles on the way to school today! I was like, should I pull over and take a picture and then it hit 50,001....and so on so I answered - NOPE, just keep riding, so I did.
 
I finally hit 50,000 miles on the way to school today! I was like, should I pull over and take a picture and then it hit 50,001....and so on so I answered - NOPE, just keep riding, so I did.

A pic would've been cool, 50,000 miles is impressive...I don't think anyone would give ya much trouble with an extra mile or so on it :mrgreen:...But at 100,000 keep a camera handy that's for sure! definitely wouldn't want to miss that one.
 
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