Final Analog UJM: 2002 Suzuki Bandit GSF1200
Simple bike with a lusty motor. No screens or traction aids.
Last summer, I was up to my neck in non-running Suzuki GSes. I had just finished up and sold my 1979 GS750E. I had my GS1100E that I was sorting the final bugs through before my planned ride with my brother out in PA. Additionally, I had adopted two more GS bikes, an ‘81 GS650G and ‘82 GS1100G, bought out of the bed of a rusty S10 from an old black scrapper for $600. I was turning into a bit of a crazy-old-cat lady with these things.
I think it was directly in response to this fleet of project bikes that I finally relented and decided that yes, even I should consider buying a newer bike that I can just get on and ride.
What to buy? At this point in the re-awakening of my motorcyclist hobby, I was all in on Big Bore Power. If I’m gonna spend some “real” money (roughly $3-4k) whatever I got better be able to bomb down a twisty road with some punch coming off of corners. I very nearly picked up a clean barney purple Buell Thunderbolt S2T for $2750… a nice snarling Harley V-twin in a cool trellis frame bike was awfully appealing. But the relative rarity and oddball nature of the bike was ultimately deemed too much of a hassle. I decided to stick with my comfort zone, and I naturally gravitated *back* to a Bandit. Yes, this wasn’t my first go-around with one of these bikes.
When I first moved out to Indiana in 2013, I met some new riding buddies. One rode a newer Ducati Monster, the other a Honda CBR600RR. The XS500 that I had trailered out with me wasn’t going to cut it. The “good” riding starts about an hour and a half south of pancake-flat Indianapolis. I needed something that could keep up with my sport bike buddies, and could comfortably blast down the 50 or so miles south and back to the fun twisty roads in the area around Bloomington IN. So in 2014 I bought a tidy 18k mile 1999 Bandit 1200S for $1900. Beautiful black paint, Supertrapp pipe. It was the perfect weapon for those 200ish mile day trips down to Brown County. Starting early in the morning, blasting south down 465 to get out of the Indy metro and into the rolling hills. A few years later, we had moved deeper into the city and I wasn’t riding the Bandit (or any motorcycles) at all, and ended up selling it.
After a brief search I found my ‘02 on craigslist out in Illinois. I loved that it was a rarer “naked” model, and only had 10k miles on it. That first test ride down a farm road brought back a flood of memories. Wow, these things are properly quick!
By total coincidence, Lemmy from Revzilla also bought a silver, naked ‘02 Bandit 1200 within a month and a half of me last summer and wrote a fantastic retrospective piece:
https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/retrospective-review-suzuki-bandit-1200
“The motor is a legend. It was plucked from the Gixxer 1100 and "detuned." (That's what all the bike mags said back then.) In reality, the compression ratio was decreased and different cams were selected that brought the big top-end number down, but allowed the bike to make whoppin' torque in the basement and on the first floor.”
I will attest to the whopping well of torque. On sporty back road rides, I’ll sometimes think “I should have dropped down into 2nd gear” then I’ll get on the throttle at 3000rpm coming out of the corner and the bike zips right out. That fat torque curve can really help mask rider deficiency, quite frankly. Come in too hot on a corner, lose a bunch of speed, miss a downshift, whack the throttle open at whatever RPM and make up distance. The only caution is that even at relatively modest engine speeds by sportbike standards (4500-5000rpm), hit a crest on the Bandit and give it too much throttle and that front wheel WILL start to come up!
Mine has one of Dale Walker’s Holeshot slip on mufflers and jet kit, the bike is definitely jetted rich judging by the smell at idle. There’s currently a tiny dip in engine response if you chop the throttle open from low speeds in hot weather, indicating a rich condition on the idle/pilot circuit. The PO installed some engine case guards, heated grips, foam grips, and a mini fairing. It all works quite well. I can ride at 70mph all day long and not feel fatigued by wind pressure at all, zero buffeting. Last summer I did a 340 mile day on it, the single biggest complaint is the stock seat. It angles you into the tank and is quite firm. I’ve been experimenting with cheap band-aid fixes in the form of various amazon seat cushions, but I may end up biting the bullet and buying a Corbin seat. The seating position puts you in a slight forward lean, but never enough to fatigue my wrists. At my 5’11” my legs don’t feel scrunched up or too tucked in, it just feels perfectly fine. I’ve been getting mine prepped for a long weekend ride down in the Smokeys with my brother and some friends, so I’ve been test fitting my cheap soft saddlebags, tank bag, phone mount. I’m going to try putting in some 1” bar risers I’ve got sitting around, just to get the riding position a bit closer to classic UJMs.
Overall what I like so much about the Bandit is that it continues the “UJM” concept of a simple, unfaired, air (and oil) cooled carbureted four cylinder bike, without being a toned down retro-throwback with a restricted/softened powerplant (2013+ Honda CB1100 comes to mind… 82hp from a 1100 4cyl give me a break). The highlight of the bike is most definitely that fantastically torquey old school big bore Gixxer motor, wrapped in a competent comfortable bike. Throw a few comfort mods on it and tour on it, put a bit of money into the suspension and track it, ride it down a gravel road. It’s affordable, tunable, very DIY maintenance friendly. They sold quite a few and for a long time you could find clean low mileage examples in the $2000-2500 dollar range all day long. Nowadays, the number has crept closer to $3000-4000 (I paid $3800 for my 10k mile example, Lemmy mentioned above (over)paid $5300 for his), but I’d say they’re still very much worth it. One thing’s for sure: I’ve got no plans to sell this one any time soon.
This is classic ujm, with the big engine, it properly does things that the smaller engine bikes just can’t. Gorgeous machine
Beautiful bike! Many, many years ago, I took my Honda VF500F to a Japanese motorcycle specialist to have some work done. I spotted a Bandit S1200 in the corner with what I'm reasonably sure was a pair of nitrous tanks. They looked like missiles strapped to each side. All I could think was hold on tight.
My suggestion: Spring for the Corbin. To my mind, a comfortable saddle ranks alongside good tires and a proper suspension in importance. The best bike in the world isn't any good if the seat sucks.