imagineer

Does anyone know if this guy (ABDecal) is still in business? I ordered OR decals on 8/6 and have not received them, or any replies to my inquiries since.

I'll try this... I may try this too, if I can find a sacrificial brake lever. I'm decent enough at MIG & TIG on aluminum to make an attempt. I already did something similar on my C90; made a custom shifter and brake pedal from waterjet cut steel.

On the bandit, I use the rear brake probably more than I should. On the cruisers, I almost never use the rear brake (unless I'm doing slow maneuvering). Thanks, Tpoppa, that's the answer I was hoping for.

I must be subconsciously trying to avoid work today because I’ve got a myriad of goofy ideas breaking in and interrupting what I get paid to do. The current distraction is rear brake foot lever position. On the Bandit, with the current position of the brake lever, I end up hanging my right toe under the lever. It’s a little cumbersome to pivot my toe out and lift it on top of the foot lever when I need to apply the rear brake. (I should add that I recently installed a set of Buell XB12 foot pegs that lowered my feet about an inch.) So, the question of the moment, if there’s enough adjustment available, should I lower the brake lever such that with my foot in normal position on the peg, the lever is below my toes (such that to apply the brake I’d simply press down). Probably a stupid question, but again, I’m avoiding responsibility at the moment.

When warmed up, it idles fine.

I probably deserve to be flamed for asking this, but someone please school me on proper choke use. My other bikes are both EFI and I’m obviously spoiled by the convenience. The '02 Bandit (my current favorite ride) however is carb’d and very cold blooded. This morning it was 51F on my 6 mile ride to work and I used ¾ to ½ choke almost the whole way. The problem is that when I’m using that much choke, the idle RPMs are over 2k. It gets a little silly sitting at a traffic light with the engine racing Can someone explain the proper way to use the choke? Also (for any Bandit riders out there), does the little idle knob on the left side of the engine come into play? What is the purpose and proper use of this knob?

Anyone change their sprocket ratio to make their sport bike a little more touring friendly? I'm thinking of swapping the stock 15/45 sprockets on the Bandit for a new chain and a smaller rear sprocket (and maybe a larger primary) to make the bike buzz less when at highway speeds. I recently made an 80 mile errand run on the highway and although being able to accelerate from 60 to 80 in a blink of an eye is nice, I'm wondering of a more touring friendly ratio would suit my riding style. It might also help me stop trying to find 6th gear (that doesn't exist). Any thoughts?

Maybe, if I ever work normal people hours again. I'm still putting in 12-14 hour days, 6 days/week.

That will be my plan B. So far, I've made space in the garage for the fat tire cruiser. Not the easiest thing to back in, but desperate times... In the workshop, I moved the lower shelf on of the workbenches to provide clearance to roll the bike lift underneath when not needed. I also made the wheel chock quick(er) release. I made a shelf to store the small mower above the big mover that freed up a parking space for the Bandit. In a week or so, I'll also build a fixed height riser table on casters for my Goldwing project bike. It's a long term project bike that can be rolled off to the side until I can get to it. It's a lucky thing I don;t sleep much...

Flaps

Yup, might be time to move too.

Well, after lengthy introspection, I've decided I don't want to sell the Bandit. It's way too much fun. Now I've got the "first-world problem" of where I'm going to park a 3rd motorcycle?

Thanks for the props Skull. I'm not a pro-welder or mechanic, but I try not to do crap work. It's a fair thing to be skeptical toward someone else's work and I don't take offense when someone tries to out "smart guy" me. As I mentioned before, I do a lot of buy/sell on CL, focusing on electric guitars (And no, I don't play; I just like building and working on them). Any time I read where a seller boast about upgrades or repairs they did, I am immediately skeptical that they screwed something up that will take time and $$ to fix. I just find this current CL situation confusing because the 2 bikes I've sold, a '05 Suzuki C50 and a '94 Katana 750 were nothing special or customized; just solid, good running bikes. Within an hour on CL, I was inundated with legitimate offers and inquiries for each. It was like a feeding frenzy. This time . . . nothing. I doubt it's the economy because I'm still flipping guitars quick enough, and doesn't matter if they're cheap replicas, custom builds or vintage.

All good input...Thanks. Bubba, you're spot on. I built, what I think is a drop dead sexy bike. Maybe I'm the only one with a taste for this look. Looks like I might have to suffer through riding this bike for the rest of the season.

Here’s a question for those out there who sell bikes on a regular basis…What am I doing wrong? I’ve had this 2002 Bandit 1200 on Craigslist for 12 days now and have had ZERO legitimate inquiries. Yes, I’m asking higher $$ for it, but haven’t even received one “would you take $#,### for it?” offer. http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/mcy/5125171874.html I buy and sell a lot on CL (mostly electric guitars on Cleveland and Columbus CL; over $5k/year) and almost never pay the asking price. When I have one for sale, at least half the people responding make a low ball offer (sometimes an insultingly low offer). I’ve also previously sold 2 motorcycles on CL, one in late summer and one in early spring. Each ad was on CL for less than a 24 hours before I was flooded with inquiries and had each bike sold (both for my asking price). So what about this Bandit is so unappealing? Is it that it’s been customized? Or that it’s a single seater. Are the pictures bad, or are there too many pictures? Is my ad too wordy? Really, I’m in no hurry to sell as this bike is a blast to ride, but I'm curious why there has been ZERO interest in it.

Any riders near NE Ohio looking for a fun toy? My Craigslist ad ---> 2002 Suzuki Bandit GSF1200 As much as I like riding this bike, my original intention was, when it was done, to sell it. Well it's done and I really need the shop space so this and a few other toys have to go. Since these pic were taken, the header got ceramic coated and I wrapped the pipes with titanium exhaust wrap. The CL pictures are new and show these changes.

Since most every mechanical part on the 1978 MGB I'm working on is protected with a thick layer of leaked oil, grease, grit, etc; I'm thinking of picking up a small parts washer (probably the 6.5 gallon HF unit). I'd like to hear from those folks out there that have a parts washer in their garage and get their opinions if having one proved to be worth the cost and space?

Stay muffler stay . . . good muffler. How sad is it that it takes me 9 days to find the time to do an hour of tinkering? Last night, I practiced TIG welding different types and gauges of wire to some scrap pipe. but wasn’t able to duplicate the same weld beads as on the stock pipe without melting the wire away to nothing. Because I’m a total pack-rat and rarely throw anything away, I had a handful of these small 301 stainless spring clips that had been abandoned from a project at work; and they already had the correct size holes. After cutting them to length and making one small bend, I was able to TIG these to the header pipe and the muffler. The springs are 9mm BikeMaster brand. The tabs are positioned such that the spring extends only about 3/16”. The welded tab material is harder than the spring material so the spring should wear before the tabs. Here’s close up of one of the better welds. One of these days, I’ll learn to TIG weld properly (as long as I don’t have to give up coffee). Next is to media blast both the header and muffler, then hit each with VHT primer, silver paint and semi gloss clear.

Fairgrounds? The website for Bike Week indicated it was centered around Mad River HD.

I had reason to be in Port Clinton on Saturday afternoon so the Missus and I stopped in Sandusky while out there. Although there was little traffic and it was easy to find parking, I was disappointed at the scale (or lack) of the event. Being an 'Ohio Bike Week' virgin, I didn't know what to expect, but I was hoping it was more than just what we saw in the parking lot behind the H-D dealer. We were able to see all that was there, buy a requisite t-shirt or two and be on the road in 30 minutes. I didn't see what the all the radio hype was about.

All Seasons in Wooster has them too and they'll let me dig through their supply to find what I need.

Also, facilitating this with the header off the bike will make things much easier. Since I've not removed this header pipe yet, are the any caveats or potential problems to expect in removing the header bolts? Should I do this with the engine hot, warm or dead cold? I'll put some PB blaster on the header bolts tonight. I've pulled the exhaust off my V-twin cruiser several times and have not replaced the crush gaskets, and had no leaks. Any chance I can reuse the existing gaskets?

I'm not worried about installing the springs. My question is are these springs something special (i.e. a special alloy, have a special spring rate or that they have to swivel), or can basic stainless tension springs be used? The trickier part regarding this is getting the small wire loops TIG welded to the thin wall pipes (I'm not the best TIG welder out there). Also, FWIW, and old mechanic once told me to drape a shop rag over the hooked end of drum brake springs when trying to install them. If the pliers slip and the spring takes off, it will get caught up in the rag and be easier to find. I suppose the same idea would work on these exhaust springs.

Is there something special or unique to the little springs that hold sport bike exhaust together, or are they just stainless tension springs? After installing the links to lower the rear suspension, I took it for a test ride. At 60 mph or so on Rt. 30, the “muffler” fell off. I’m certain I had the clamp plenty tight, but it must have vibrated loose. I circled around to go look for it, and to make matters worse, there was a state trooper pulled over, lights on, right behind my muffler. He was understanding and didn’t hassle me (he did run my license and registration though). He even sacrificed a bottle of his water to cool the muffler to where I could pick it up, pocket it and ride home. So, to not have to look for my muffler alongside the road again, I’m going to install a pair of those springs.