2002 Suzuki BANDIT 1200S
Written: Aug 05 '03 (Updated Oct 09 '05)
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Pros: Price, Power, Proven engine history
Cons: No blinker cancel, no 6th gear, helmet holder almost useless.
The Bottom Line: For the price,power, and after market add ons it would be hard to beat the 1200s as a Sport Tourer.
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| smccuts's Full Review: 2002 Suzuki Bandit 1200s |
I purchased this 2002 bike new in 2003 as a left over. The dealer gave me a good price on a bike that was already
pretty well priced. I had looked at the Yamaha FZ1, Kawasaki ZRX1200, and the Honda 919.
The Suzuki was the lowest price, and from what I could see on the performance specs there was not a huge difference between all the bikes as far as a normal rider doing sport touring was concerned. Some other reasons I picked the Suzuki - tons of add on parts and an engine that has been around a long time and is very dependable ( oil cooled - so no antifreeze to have to mess with - I liked that ).
Two things I had to add to the bike right away - bar risers, and a rear rack. I am 6 feet tall and found the handlebars a little low for my liking. And just plain needed the rack to carry stuff too and from work.
I have 4,200 miles on the bike at this point.
Good things / Likes - power, mileage, instruments, low maintenance, front brakes, price.
I am consistently getting 40,41,42 mpg in the city, and when touring it is always 43 to 46 mpg. I think this is pretty good considering I have read many reviews saying that high 30s was a good mpg rating for this model. I run in 5th gear a lot, and almost treat it like an automatic when out on the country roads - 5th gear is good from 25 mph to ???. The bike has a digital gas gauge, clock, and 2 tripmeter sets. The gas gauge is great - when you get low on fuel a gas pump icon starts blinking on the instrument panel.
The O-ring chain is doing very well. I am going 400 to 900 miles between chain adjustments.
The front brakes on this are great.
As for price - the dealer started around 7500, then after a few more visits got down to 7000 even - no dealer prep or other charges.
Bad things / Dislikes - no blinker cancel ( my 1981 Yamaha I just got rid of had this )
PARKING LIGHT - it is so easy when locking the steering column to put the tailight on in PARKING mode. I killed
the battery 2 times in just the first 6 months. ( A real bad design setup by SUZUKI - must have been the cheap way to do it ! )
Helmet Holder/lock - it will not hold all model D ring Helmets, my HJC will not fit. I also have a Bieffe helmet with a quick release, I had to grind
down the lock to get this Helmet to fit.
Idiot safety switches - you can't start the bike unless you pull in the clutch, and the bike will shut off if you put it into gear with the kickstand down.
No sixth gear - you don't really need it, but hey, they are calling it a sport tourer. Don't you want to keep the RPM down and MPG up ?
Mirror buzz - I am surprised at how well you can see in the mirrors that are attached to the fairing and sticking way out on the sides. They work really well until around 60 mph, then there is a little guess work as to what model car is behind you.
Rear Brake - the rear brake on this bike is just average - and seems to be much worse in cold weather around 30 to 45 degrees F , which is too bad since the front brakes are so good.
Suspension - a lot of the write ups on this bike give the
suspension an average review - and that is what I think about the suspension on this model - AVERAGE. Which I think is fine for the person doing sport touring. This is NOT a crotch rocket.
Update - 7/25/2004 - 4,800 miles and no problems at all.
The seat is getting much softer and the suspension seems better. My around town mileage ( 3 to 6 miles per trip and lots of stop lights and cold weather starts ) is running 38 to 42 MPG.
Update - 8/16/2004 - just did a 900 mile 2 day trip into northern Maine. The bike ran great and I got around 43 to 46 MPG -which was very good since I ran 80 mph much of the trip.
Update - 10/10/2005 - just short of 10,000 miles. Still on the original tires and chain, bike is running great.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 7000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
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Epinions.com ID:
smccuts
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Reviews written: 1
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