Bandit 1200 burning oil

Hi, I've just bought a used 2001 Bandit 1200. It had less than 3k mi.
when I bought it. I'd heard that these Bandits can burn some oil, but
I'm kind of surprised how much it is burning. I've used about 3/4 qt
in a thousand miles (in about a week and a half). The previous owner
used Motul synthetic blend 10-40 exclusively. Does this seem like a
lot of oil to burn? Any ideas?

By the way, the big bandit is loads of fun. I'm thoroughly pleased
with everything else about the bike.

 

You'd have to check on the Bandit lists, but I seem to recall the first two
years of the 2nd gen 1200s having huge oil-burning issues...something about
a factory defect with the oil return holes being drilled too large. Suzuki
apparently would fix it under warranty, if pushed. Your warranty's likely
long gone, though.

I believe this forum is dedicated to that issue. http://tinyurl.com/mop1

Geo
--
George Mealer | DoD 2170 | '00 Suzuki GSX1300R
geo*AT*snarksoft*DOT*com

"Alright, it's Saturday night...I have no date, a two-liter bottle
of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape. Let's rock!" -- Philip J. Fry

 

Thanks for the info, Geo. I had no idea the news was going to be as
bad as it is, but I guess it's best I found out early.

 

Yours isn't nearly as bad as some in the forums. Some people were talking
about a quart every 300 miles. A quart every 1K isn't great, but it's
manageable.

Push it with your local Suzuki shop. Maybe you can get some sympathy.
Don't lead with the fact that you're the second owner, though.

Geo
--
George Mealer | DoD 2170 | '00 Suzuki GSX1300R
geo*AT*snarksoft*DOT*com

"Alright, it's Saturday night...I have no date, a two-liter bottle
of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape. Let's rock!" -- Philip J. Fry

 

On the side, isn't the grotesque rate of a quart / 1000 miles still
considered in compliance for a motorcycle engine? I thought I had read
something to that value a few times in MCN.

 

Something else, if the prior owner was running synthetic oil at less than
3000 miles, I doubt if the rings would seat well as it is still breaking in.
Maybe try dino oil for a few more thousand miles and see if the consumption
goes down before switching back.

Mack

 

Hey, that's a good idea. I've talked to the local suzuki service dept.
and they told me to start keeping track of the oil loss and warned me
that it could take some time to get Suzuki customer service interested,
but if I want to pursue it, they said they'd help me out.

It's time to change the oil anyway. I'll switch and see what happens.

 

For my K100, the manual lists 1 litre/ 1000km as acceptable.

 

Good luck with Suzuki corporate!

As for your bike, you probably don't want to use synthetic anyways, unless
they upgraded the clutch spring on the second-gens. The early B12s would
slip madly if you used synthetic and upgraded the airbox and engine. The
second-gen B12s have an upgraded airbox stock. Between that and what
you're seeing, I'd stick with pure dino oil.

Geo
--
George Mealer | DoD 2170 | '00 Suzuki GSX1300R
geo*AT*snarksoft*DOT*com

"Alright, it's Saturday night...I have no date, a two-liter bottle
of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape. Let's rock!" -- Philip J. Fry

 

You'll need more than that to get .04 cents outta Suzuki!
If you have a spare weekend I will tell about my '91 gsxr warranty
nightmare. I am not sure if I am over it yet.

--
Jim Stinnett
VTR1000
NT650
Too much motorcycle information @
http://moto-rama.com