I was chatting to some dweeboid at the local bike meetup last Wednesday.
He owns a Bandit 1200..
He reckons hes "Had 160mph out of it"..
I asked if he woke up with a wet hand ??
Dont think he cared for my comment !
What is the TRUE top speed of a standard Bandit 1200 ??
144 Mph I seem to remember :)
Thanks Notty.
I think thats more like it and plenty fast enough on an unfaired bike..
I think his speedo must lie like a politician :whistling:
I had my 1200S up to 154mph on the speedo so probably about 145mph before it complained. It was on the flat across the Great Divide (Springville) in Arizona.
:hat:
Stan
The speedos all read high from the factory, they range from 5% to 10%+ too high. Usually around 6 - 7%. His speedo may be one that's reading at the higher end of the error scale. The speedo will also read higher if the bike has had a smaller front sprocket fitted at some stage in it's life.
Easiest (no cost) way to check, is to use GPS app on your cell phone. Just mount it somewhere you can read the speed, bit of industrial Velcro works fine, just don't leave it in the full blast of the wind. Or use a proper cell phone holder.
(https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi66.tinypic.com%2F30trl81.jpg&hash=b5bb04b1b0b4bc856ab8c0aae4e7c9f698f41fce)
(https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi66.tinypic.com%2F2yzhrpw.jpg&hash=a8fccfaee029be984f4b6bf5eaed4aa998dfc3c4)
Many years back I went on a group ride, we were cruising along when one of the riders on a TRX850 came barreling past followed not long after by a Bandit 1200. Not long after that I decided to chase them down on my ZZR1100 which I did. When we all stopped for a chat it turned out we were all Posties and had topped out our respective bikes. All speeds measured on the Clocks, the TRX did 230kph, the Bandit did 260kph and the ZZR managed 290kph. Reality is the ZZR would struggle for a real 270kph but I always say 290kph. 🤓
I'm a big fan of Bandit 12's.
They are one of Suzuki's three big tuneable great motors.
#...The air cooled GSX1100, ET, EX, Kat, EF etc.
#...The oil cooled GSXR 1052 / 1127 and Bandit 12.
#...The water cooled 1299 and 1340 Hayabusa's.
The stock B12 is good, tough and predictable, but its not hard to bring it up to GSXR specs and well beyond. The GSXR11 was the rev-heads favourite in its day and still has a huge Old Skool following, all of which passes on to the oil cooled Bandit.
My current one...
(https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi66.tinypic.com%2Fblmp5.jpg&hash=be68344268650f2b76286cf4154cc3250848d56d)
Back in 2000, the new Hayabusa hadn't really found its potential with tuners, and the street bike drags was largely dominated by Suzuki GSX1100's and GSXR1100's, turbo's, big bores, nitrous etc.
Prize money was put up for the first street bike (vaguely street legal!) to run into the 7's.
The GSX's with their 20 years of Go-faster mods and the alloy framed more sporty GSXR1100's hadn't cracked it, then up rocks Brock Davidson with his Bandit 1200....
The much modded, nitrous GSF ran a 7.9 second quarter mile.
OK, so it's a loooooong way from stock, but it still put every one of the highly modified sportsbikes in their place.
(https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi66.tinypic.com%2F2epn6tg.jpg&hash=36714b2068ff016e7f654a9a8db8c3728d7f3fce)
I ran my Bandit down the Dragstrip a few times. 11.309sec was my fastest time. Standard pipes are very restrictive up the top.
165 mph on the way to Blarney the other day with a wee Highland cow on pillion :whistling:
Mine was slightly more powerful than the 2 Hayabusa's that came after it.
Cam's, carbs, exhaust, GSXR coil spring clutch, ignition advancer (later removed) and a 60hp wet NOS system.
It still had stock brakes, tyres, suspension etc, as a naked bike running standard height and wheelbase it never got boring.... :twisted:
At the drags (run-what-ya-brung) at Avon Park along with my Kat and GSXR.
(https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi67.tinypic.com%2F25505c9.jpg&hash=7ce4abb88613e035ead0ca50ad6db721ac1706f9)
I saw a brand new old stock Bandit 1200 tail piece / side panel on EBay.
It was red.
My bikes black and I don't need a side panel.
What the hell, I can't say no to cheap Suzuki spares.
I bough it anyway.
:whistling:
I love my Mk1 1200 Bandit.
It's not standard by any means :imrgreen:
I haven't ridden it for months now, but MOT is due soon so it'll come out of the shed for a spruce up prior to the test. I keep thinking about selling it due to lack of use, but due to the fact that I built it myself, I can't bring myself to part with it.