Selling the Bandit - Need Advice

[PhilS]

(This will dual post on TWT/Max Suz as well)

Hi Guys/Girls:

I've decided to sell the Bandit and buy a Sportbike. I need some advice on pricing and where to list if you have some thoughts. Here is a list of the modifications and it's current condition:

2007 Suzuki Bandit GSF1250S

Candy Sonoma Red

Near Perfect condition

14500 miles as of September 2010, but still riding occasionally

Givi E360 Side Cases

Givi D262 Taller Tinted Windshield

Sargent Seat

Ferodo Front Brakes (installed at 12000 miles, December 2009)

Galfer Front Stainless Steel Brake Lines

Holeshot Front Fork Brace

Racetech Gold Valves/Springs installed by Cogent

Holeshot/Cogent Rear Shock

Suzuki Full Lower Body Fairing

Holeshot Stage 2 Tuning (Dobeck TFI box, K&N Air Filter)

Holeshot Polished Black Slip-On Exhaust with Holeshot Touring Mid-Pipe

17 tooth Front Sprocket

Michelin Pilot Road Two Tires F/R (installed at 12500 miles, March 2010)

Carbon Fiber Rear Tank Protector

Bike Master Daytona Bars

Superbike ProGrip Gel Grips

Heatech SpeedoHealer

Holeshot Mirror Extenders

Proton Flush Mount LED Turn Signals Front/Short Stalk in rear

Cox Racing Radiator Guard

Oil changed with Shell Synthetic/K&N Filters every 3500 miles since new

All maintenance done according to factory schedule

And finally, single Powerlet Outlet mounted by rear passenger peg

Thanks for your thoughts here. I love this bike, but, I really wanted a sportbike and am now going in that direction. I will most likely list this on Craig's list first as that is local and easy, but still need advice on pricing and where to list this for best exposure.

Thanks everyone!

Phil

[Fazerlady]

you will miss your Bandit for Comfort!!! lol

[MidgetTodd]

I've decided to sell the Bandit and buy a Sportbike.

I knew you'd see the light eventually.

Bad time of year for top dollar but good time to sell as this is when most are looking because prices are down. I sold 2 bikes last month, used CL and both sold in under 3 days to the first person that came to look.

If you're going to buy right away I wouldn't let the lower selling price bother you much as it will kinda be a wash because you're going to get a lower price for yours but you're also going to pay a lower price for the replacement.

I'd suggest listing it twice, once as is with all the extras and once as a stock bike with a lower price. I'm guessing you'll get more bites for stock form and you can ebay all the extras to make up the price difference, prolly come out a lil ahead. Extras are nice but most want to add on to their liking which will most likely be different than your liking so the cheaper priced stock bike will be more desirable.

just my .022 cents.

[jblosser]

....just my .022 cents.

Thief!

@PhilS: Your bike puts out a fair amount of horsepower (~100), and a lot (~80 lb/ft) of torque; more than plenty for the street, and doesn't need to be revved to 10,000+ rpm to find it. It has "usable" power. For the track, no, not enough. It's more fun to ride a "slow" bike fast than a "fast" bike slowly.

The insurance is probably the same as a 600cc sport bike, if that's a consideration.

If you're wanting a lighter weight bike, there's not much that can be done to lessen the weight.

You could try converti-bars/suburban machinery/heli-bars: all will allow you go from clip-on style to your current upright seating position in a matter of minutes.

Like Fazer1 said, you will probably miss the comfort of your bike if you go to a "true sportbike".

[MidgetTodd]

He's tired of trying to hang with us sporties on his old mans bike. He doesnt do to bad though.

[jblosser]

If his is an "old man's bike", does that make mine a "grandpa's bike"?

[Fazerlady]

my hubby rides a bandit 1250 and he has not problems "hanging on" to the sport bikes... the handling of the bandit is great.

the roads here suck for sport bikes or sport touring anyways.... And like jblosser said, it is more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow...I had a FZ6 in Germany and have no idea why I upgraded here. Not like the FZ6 was slow..lol...but this is driving me nuts!

[MidgetTodd]

You may not have good roads where you are at but we have awesome roads here in my neck o the woods, and that is where Phil likes to ride as well and is where a sportbike shines. Plus he wants to start doing trackdays with us as well, he has made the right choice.

[fazer1sniper]

I have the bug to get a full on sport bike alot. Then I get one to do some work on. After my back and palms of my hands kill me I'm happy to get back on the FZ. But the "Ludicrous Speed" factor is tempting, but have have little problem hanging with the R bikes on the street.

[NightRider]

If anybody has got to see Phil's bike in person they'll know how clean it is. Good luck with the sale. Hope you find what you want.

[PhilS]

Thief!

@PhilS: Your bike puts out a fair amount of horsepower (~100), and a lot (~80 lb/ft) of torque; more than plenty for the street, and doesn't need to be revved to 10,000+ rpm to find it. It has "usable" power. For the track, no, not enough. It's more fun to ride a "slow" bike fast than a "fast" bike slowly.

The insurance is probably the same as a 600cc sport bike, if that's a consideration.

If you're wanting a lighter weight bike, there's not much that can be done to lessen the weight.

You could try converti-bars/suburban machinery/heli-bars: all will allow you go from clip-on style to your current upright seating position in a matter of minutes.

Like Fazer1 said, you will probably miss the comfort of your bike if you go to a "true sportbike".

All very good points - thanks.

BTW - Stage 2 1250 Bandit now at 122HP and 92 Ft Lbs all between 6K and 9K. It's a great street engine.

[Fazerlady]

I have the bug to get a full on sport bike alot. Then I get one to do some work on. After my back and palms of my hands kill me I'm happy to get back on the FZ. But the "Ludicrous Speed" factor is tempting, but have have little problem hanging with the R bikes on the street.

hm, the FZ 1 has the R1 engine in it...on the track it might be better, but I talked to a guy that does track school and when he saw my FZ1 he said, awesome bike even on the track you could kill with it...never tried it, but would love to.

I am sure the Bandit is not that easy to whip around as it is a lot heavier than my Fazer, so for track, I would probably ditch the Bandit too, but def not for the road.

So you wanted advise...go test ride the FZ1...lol

[Fazerlady]

You may not have good roads where you are at but we have awesome roads here in my neck o the woods, and that is where Phil likes to ride as well and is where a sportbike shines. Plus he wants to start doing trackdays with us as well, he has made the right choice.

where are you guys at in relation to Dayton????

[PhilS]

You may not have good roads where you are at but we have awesome roads here in my neck o the woods, and that is where Phil likes to ride as well and is where a sportbike shines. Plus he wants to start doing trackdays with us as well, he has made the right choice.

Yep - Coshocton is a great place to ride. In the end, I may just buy a sportbike and keep the Bandit depending on how bad the bleeding will be on the sale. I also know that 90% of my issue with keeping up with the "sportbikes" is my riding abilities - which are in process of curing. I figure this when I see a Gold Wing kicking most of our butts on the roads...................nuff said.

[MidgetTodd]

where are you guys at in relation to Dayton????

Coshocton, 2 hrs east of you. We ride most weekends send a PM when you would like to come see there really are some good roads here.

Yep - Coshocton is a great place to ride. In the end, I may just buy a sportbike and keep the Bandit depending on how bad the bleeding will be on the sale. I also know that 90% of my issue with keeping up with the "sportbikes" is my riding abilities - which are in process of curing. I figure this when I see a Gold Wing kicking most of our butts on the roads...................nuff said.

The goldwing and our sportbikes all have a much lower center of gravity than that bandit and thats whats hurting you. Well that and the weight, all Im sure you noticed when you rode Johns ape. Your welcome to try mine sometime too.

[PhilS]

.............. Your welcome to try mine sometime too.

Real honest answer is I'd love that! I think I need to spend some time in the saddle of a few of these different bikes before I decide. I was looking at John's Ape and it's very nice, but I don't want to own two bikes at the same time.........thus, if I do this sometime soon, the Bandit is gone. Funny, when John rode my bike, I saw him for about 7 or 8 seconds then he was gone. What a good rider!!!

[MidgetTodd]

He has more faith in the Michelin man than you do.

[PhilS]

He has more faith in the Michelin man than you do.

I'll be developing more faith on the 18th in class then executing that newly found faith on our fide on the 25th..............all going well of course!

[speedytriple]

I am looking to build this same set up over the winter. 1250 bandit sport tour set up. If the timing was better I would be all over your bike. And I use to have a 2000 bandit 1200 with about the same work as you and had no problems keeping up with the r1 cbr guys if not passing some of them on my old man bike. Some one needs to buy my damn triple already lol!

[PhilS]

I am looking to build this same set up over the winter. 1250 bandit sport tour set up. If the timing was better I would be all over your bike. And I use to have a 2000 bandit 1200 with about the same work as you and had no problems keeping up with the r1 cbr guys if not passing some of them on my old man bike. Some one needs to buy my damn triple already lol!

Well then...........talk to me over the winter and I just might be ready to sell then. I just sold the entire luggage set up so now it's down to the bike and all the performance mods. I am looking at a Triple myself......just in the Daytona form

[speedytriple]

The 675 is a sweet platform have done a 400 mile day on one last season. It handles way better then my triple does with worked over suspension. much lighter and holds a line very nice. has about the same power just alot higher up the revs. Very nice bikes, but a bit cramped. I wanted to shoot myself on the way back home on the freeway after along ride. good track/twisty roads bike, but hell to commute/sporttour on. Just for a heads up local craigslist had a 2007 bandit 1250 all stock with 4k miles for around $4700.

[PhilS]

I think I can see the future here...........

The Bandit stays and my wallet opens up for an additional bike after some other "fatherly financial responsibilities" are met. I hear a lot of the same thing regarding longer riders and comfort with the Bandit or similar and how a sportbike is a great "second" bike. Besides, I really dont want to take a huge bath on my Bandit seeing as how it's in such nice shape but probably wont bring much more money for that aspect.

Oh well, waiting for the money and cleaning a spot for #2! Maybe John's Ape will still be available in Spring?!?!?!

[SpeedTriple44444]

I seriously doubt a sportbike is going to make you a better rider. I have been able to keep up with everybody I've ridden with on my 650 Strom in the twisties (although not on the straights, of course). That includes liter class sport bikes. Most guys will not ride their liter bike to the bike's limit, and I do ride my Strom to it's limit. I took it down to Beaverrun and found what it was capable of, and my confidence in the bike is much increased.

Why don't you do some track time on the bandit and see what it can do? It might surprise you just how capable it is, as well as build some confidence in the bike and your ability.

It's a lot of fun to ride a sporty standard really fast and freak people on sport bikes out. On one ride with a friend and one of his friends (both on literbikes- GSXR and a Honda CBR) I took my little Strom and left them 1/2 mile behind. When we met up they were laughing and shaking their heads... the one guy said "just proves you never know by the bike". Truth was, I knew the road really well and they didn't so I had an advantage, but we were at 100+ through some of the sweepers, by their speedo. I can go as fast on my little 650 in the curves as I would dare ever ride on the street. It's not the bike... even a sporty standard has enough on the street if you know how to handle it.

Just a suggestion... do what you want.