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Thinking of swapping cams in the bandit...


Gixxus Christ!

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So I found a set of gsxf1100 cams on ebay for $175 shipped. They are a direct bolt in for the bandit 1200 and would give me more peak hp and torque at the expense of a little midrange power. It's an easy job, I can do it with the motor in the bike in about an hour tops. Just wondering if the gain is worth the money and figured I'd bounce it off a few people here before I go to the bandit forum and everyone just tells me to do it.

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There used to be a real good Suzuki forum with great Bandit coverage, this was a popular hop up and I know you can do it. However I would like to ask what your opinion is on what might be actually gained since the Bandit tranny always seems to need another gear?

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Ok.... The kat 1100 intake cam is identical to the gsxr750 intake cam. Swapping just that will leave the mid essentially unmolested while adding 5 or 6 hp up top. The popular mod is to swap both cams for gsxr 750 or 1100 and gain more up top while losing a bit of mid. The kat 1100 exhaust cam is different than the gsxr exhaust according to part numbers. The lift is identical so I'll assume it has a shorter duration. my thinking is that if I swap in both I'll gain maybe 7 or 8 ponies up top while retaining a good deal of grunt in the middle. The bandit motor also has a lower compression ratio. 9.5 vs 10:1 for the kat. Most if not all of that should be mitigated by the 5° ignition advance I've already done (it raises the dynamic compression). By my estimates and dyno charts that I've seen I should be able to get about 140 hp and 85 lbs torque with both cams and going to pods and stage 3 jets...which is another $80 for the filters and jets. So $255 and maybe 3 hours labor for a net gain of 20 hp and 15 lbs torque while theoretically sacrificing a few hundred rpm of midrange power....

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My bike has around 150hp(ish)at the crank, yes I could remove the secondary flies, put a tuner on it, slap in some ZX cams in it and get another 15 to 20 ponies out of it, but why? I LOVE my mid range and smoothness and mpgs and reliability. Let's face it our bikes are touring/commuting oriented they aren't race bikes. I learned my lesson with my gixxer years ago to just just leave well enough alone, trying to squeeze every hp I could out of it I ruined it for every day riding.

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Ok.... The kat 1100 intake cam is identical to the gsxr750 intake cam. Swapping just that will leave the mid essentially unmolested while adding 5 or 6 hp up top. The popular mod is to swap both cams for gsxr 750 or 1100 and gain more up top while losing a bit of mid. The kat 1100 exhaust cam is different than the gsxr exhaust according to part numbers. The lift is identical so I'll assume it has a shorter duration. my thinking is that if I swap in both I'll gain maybe 7 or 8 ponies up top while retaining a good deal of grunt in the middle. The bandit motor also has a lower compression ratio. 9.5 vs 10:1 for the kat. Most if not all of that should be mitigated by the 5° ignition advance I've already done (it raises the dynamic compression). By my estimates and dyno charts that I've seen I should be able to get about 140 hp and 85 lbs torque with both cams and going to pods and stage 3 jets...which is another $80 for the filters and jets. So $255 and maybe 3 hours labor for a net gain of 20 hp and 15 lbs torque while theoretically sacrificing a few hundred rpm of midrange power....

 

Cost effectiveness-wise, that's a good return on your time and money.

 

It's not like the midrange on the GSX-1100R was all that anemic anyway, haha. If there's one thing the Bandit has a surplus of, it's midrange. I'd say go for it if you're really going to use that part of the powerband on a regular basis.

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Don't forget new stiffer valve springs, to limit float and bounce. Otherwise the high rpm gains might not work as well.

Don't have to, but it's an option. As well as larger valves too (if possible). And then there's the rejetting the carbs.

In your case, you could simply swap back if you didn't like it, if you did only the cam.

 

Having done a few cam swaps, I wouldn't bother with it either. Not unless it needed a cam in the first place.

I spent too much time tinkering with it. And the power band was pushed up too high in rpms.

It was rough on the engine. I like low/middle end torque cams now.

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Sounds like if you found the parts, you should pick them up whether you decide to do the mod or not.

 

Based on your initial post, they are only going to go up in value to other Bandit owners, even if they never go into your motor.  That said, I am not sure I would install them.  Mid-range is important on a street bike...

 

you said 3 hour of labor though, so maybe swap it in, see if you like it, and swap it back out if you don't.

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Don't forget new stiffer valve springs, to limit float and bounce. Otherwise the high rpm gains might not work as well.

Don't have to, but it's an option. As well as larger valves too (if possible). And then there's the rejetting the carbs.

In your case, you could simply swap back if you didn't like it, if you did only the cam.

Having done a few cam swaps, I wouldn't bother with it either. Not unless it needed a cam in the first place.

I spent too much time tinkering with it. And the power band was pushed up too high in rpms.

It was rough on the engine. I like low/middle end torque cams now.

They are stock katana 1100 cams, so I shouldn't need springs. I'm not gonna do valves either, don't want the bike out of commission that long, plus I'd have to buy the valves, head gasket, new oil o rings, etc... This looked like a cheap way to gain some top end with only a slight loss in midrange.

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For the money vs gain, a good investment for sure. Twice the price with an exhaust system and tune for similar results, but for a grand you could pump the HP into the high 150's at maybe 95lbs. Quite a chunk of change, but quite a performance jump too.

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Contacted the seller and offered him $150 for the cams. Shouldn't be a whole lot of tuning involved, I'm not changing the breathing characteristics of the motor, just the cam duration. I may just go ahead and put pods on and jet accordingly...nbd.

Edit: went ahead and ordered jets and pods on ebay...I can't help it, I just need to hotrod the shit out of every bike I buy. If the seller takes my offer on the cams I'll be $230 and maybe 5 hours invested assuming the tuning specs from other guys on the bandit forum pan out. Should make my ugly bagger a fucking 135 hp 85 lb/ft bastard of a machine.

Edited by CrazySkullCrusher
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Lol.. I'll concede that you are a more talented rider than I am, and that riders being equal your duc has a clear advantage over my bike as far as suspenders go...but as far as cheap, bolt on horsepower goes, the bandit is pretty awesome, and I want 3rd gear power woolies.

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I love it. I do wish it had more top end power tho...midrange is super useful but I miss the explosive top end of a true sport bike. The tl had about the best motor for me, huge torque down low but also a huge burst of power above 7k.

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It has begun. Cams and jets arrived yesterday, pods come tomorrow. Cracked the motor open tonight after work, drank a few beers and made some progress.

Removed seat, tank, ignition coils and oil lines

FB_IMG_13996123832729405.jpg

Pulled the valve cover and was greeted by one of the cleanest valve trains I've ever met. 26k on the clock and looks brand new

20140509_013304.jpg

Pulled the timing cover and rotated the motor to tdc on #1. The kat cam sprockets have a different pitch than the bandit, so I'll have to swap cam sprockets. Pauly told me a great tip: mark a tooth and link on each cam to make shit idiot proof.

FB_IMG_13996157496588508.jpg

that's as far as I got tonight. Beer count was up to 3 and that's my limit for work inside a motor. More to come over the weekend between mother's day, yard work, family dinners and other useless activities.

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