Bandit owners,helppppp!

A

Ali F0 $ho :]

New member
I finally got rid of my butt killing Ducati and bought a bike I can sport tour on in comfort. I have an 01 Bandit 1200s that I bought used and I did not get a manual with it. I want to start off with fresh oil and filter before I put alot of miles on it.How much does it hold? And should I go with dino oil or synthetic, or semi synthetic? I do some city riding but plan on alot of 200 - 500 mile rides in the near future. Also it is hot in Texas in the summer so is that a consideration as well? I have seen guys on some forums talking about Shell Rotella oil for diesel oil being run in their bikes with good results. I am not sure about that. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks for any help. I want to change my oil soon and have a manual on order but do not want to wait to change oil if I can get solid answers here sooner.
 
Welcome.

Oil is like underwear... no one can tell you what you'll like to wear. Do a search for "synthetic" to read all the opinions on that issue. I use Mobil 1 15-50 with great results. Shifting is much smoother than with Suzuki oil. IIRC, it takes about 4 quarts. Change it on the centerstand and keep an eye on the window. When you get close, run it for a minute, then let it sit for a minute. Fill it to the line and you should be good.

Speaking of oil, are you aware of the 2001/2002 Bandit 1200 bad piston issue? All 2001 and some 2002 bikes shipped with faulty pistons that result in oil burnoff. I'll include the service bulletin on it. If you haven't already, you should find out whether the piston swap was done on yours.

Heat isn't a problem unless you're in stop-n-go. Keep your oil cooler grill clear of bugs.

Happy riding. It's a great bike that can do about anything well.
 
I purchased a 2001 1200 bandit S last Christmas and on reading about the oil problem I tested the consumption myself. I filled it to the F and after riding it for 650 miles the level had dropped 1/8 " on the sight glass. Not enough to even bother undoing the cap and filling. I don't know if the bike was built okay or if it had the rebuild. Anyway, a great bike. Loads of torque, comfortable, and great in the twisties. When I got the bike at 15k no service work had been done on it, so I had the valves checked and adjusted, carbs synced and richened up a bit. They adjusted the steering head bearings, tightened the fairing, and I had to replace the stretched chain. I had a GSX 750 in the early eighties in Australia, so I was now back on the same style bike but much bigger cc wise and more modern suspensions. I am very happy with the bike and have put nearly 5k on it in the wet as well as the dry. I was hoping to get some sliders but the only thing I could find was engine guards that are sold by Suzuki. They look pretty good though. I saw a 1200 Bandit up at Newmans Cafe on the Angeles Crest last weekend and they looked okay. So anyway, I hope that you enjoy the bike and enjoy the rides.
 
I bought the bike with 7000 mi on it did not know of the oil burning problem till that night doing internet research. I have had the bike about two weeks and have put 800 some odd miles on it. When I got it the oil was full now it is just a tick under the full line. I will keep an eye on it as I do not know if the pistons were changed or not.Thanks for all the info RowdyRed. Allen my bike came with case guards and I thought they were kind of ugly but funtional. I guess I will leave them alone and let them grow on me. At 41 I guess I don't need to look that cool anymore! I need to check the carb sinc. though as this thing runs like poop when cold at 2-4k rpms. After it is really warm is runs like a Swiss watch pulled by a frieght train. Anyone do their own carbs with that throttle position sensing thing on it?
 
Well I changed her oil tonight. I can't wait until my next day off to put some miles under my heels. Thanks for all the help and also for the Holeshot link as the cold blooded carbs will eventually drive me nuts if I don't fix them.
 
I use 30wt. Motul oil in my Suzuki, it does perfectly fine; no problems. Oil versus synthetic; I would check in with a local Suzuki mechanic about that.
 
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