Bandit 1250 GT

Oh, that's handy, I'll whiz up to the papershop and grab a copy.

Hardly a fair comparison though, one's a full dress tourer, and the
other is a UJM with panniers.

 

and you'll need to put the money into a cash ISA so you don't lose 40% of
the interest in tax

 

Or give up work and send a IR85 or whatever.

 

I think any notion of Ben doing that in the next 2 decades evaporated a
year, or so, ago.

 

You never know, one of those distant Nigerian relatives may come
through one day.

 

That was the best thing in this month's issue. Basically, the Kawasaki
came out better as a tourer, but not by very much, and certainly not
five grands' worth.

The crucial point they made was that if you take the luggage off the
Kawsaki you've still got a huge lardy bike, but do the same with the
Bandit and you have the hooligan bit back.

 

<Bandit 1250GT>

If you do get one either order the Suzuki gel seat or budget for an
aftermarket one as the standard one is rock hard and contrary to the reviews
doesn't break in after a while.

I don't think it'll stant up to a winters riding very well at all, when i
was looking for one in february I looked at second hand ones and the level
of corrosion on ones that had been ridden on the salted roads was
frightning, to the extent that I'm looking for a SOB for the winter. I used
copious amounts of FS365 on by previous Bandit 650 which helped a lot but
wasn't perfect and it being naked was easy to hose down, the fairing on the
GT makes getting at every nook and cranny difficult.

And the hanguards from the Suzuki V Strom can be made to fit, looks like
thats what's fitted to the one in Bens picture, although they do hit the
fairing when doing u-turns.

 

Ben wrote:

Those look like V-Strom ones - they're a common extra fitted by SV
owners so I doubt you'd have any trouble fitting them to a Bandit.

 

You're not doing your U turns fast enough.

 

They are cheap for a reason, but like any bike, if you look after it well
enough it should be fine.

I ran a BMW F800GS over the whole winter inc salt last year, i used GT85 &
never washed it once. I sprayed it every time i rode it. When i did wash it,
the thing was 100%, not a mark.

You need a Pan you do

 

I really don't understand this. I've never borrowed for a car or bike -
to me it seems that as soon as you drive it off the forecourt you are
commited to paying more than it's worth. At least paying cash, from the
moment you turn the key the financials are all in the past and not worth
worrying about.

Quite possibly - although with the amount of bikes for sale with 2 to
3000 miles on them they are hardly likely to be worn out.

I was merely pointing out that if squeezing every penny out of the deal
is needed, or getting it on the glad and sorry, then a pre-loved bike is
an option.

 

Yes, they are. The owner actually says so in the post which contained
the picture.

 

Money has a time value - the whole basis of discounting, in fact.
Something could be worth more to you now than in two years time by a
factor greater than the interest you'd pay on a loan.

 

Obviously, now I've read the article I see that my comment was the
whole point of it.

It was a good read, and nicely affirmed that the Bandit is just what
I'm looking for, rather than the rabbit-hole of a secondhand R1150GS
that I was originally planning.

 

Useful to know.

I'm a long term Suzuki owner and have put and SV650 and a GSX-R750 through several winters of commuting a few years ago.

I learned all about FS360 and hosing the bike down regularly.

Yes,as I said to Loz, those are V-Strom ones. I'm assuming you have
them fitted, do they really make a difference to how cold your hands
get? I'll be putting heated grips on as well.

 

Oh, I know the price point they're built to.

Not really. I like the idea of being able to strip of the bags and
box and have a normal looking bike.

And I'm not old enough yet.

 

Yeah. Right.

 

I suppose that is right - and for a large purchase (house say) I have got
a mortgage to avoid that very thing. But a bike or a car isn't a huge
sum of money - not too many bikes are more than about 10k. While it's not
trouser pocket money, it's not exactly a lot is it - I bet it's less than
2 months take home for most of ukrm.

Buy a lot of rollers do you (not a return to the hairdressing meme)?

 

You'd need to have a gross pay of £90k pa for a take-home of £5k,
assuming no pension contributions or other deductions.

I put it to you that that's *not* most of ukrm.

And I actually thought "nah - he's on a wind up and I've fallen for it"
just after I hit send!