Suzuki GSF 1200S Bandit Review

Overall Rating

Easy ownership. The UJM concept still alive and it works with the bike. It has plenty of linear torque down low in the rev range. Very predicatable power. Mileage average about 35mpg the way I drive it.

Does everything reasonably well but nothing in particular is special.

Bought my 2002 model brand new so am the only owner. Have never experienced any significant problems with it. The bike is not high tech, no radiator or fuel injection. It does have a fairly large oil cooler, a good thing on an air cooled engine. It does everything you need in a big bore in line 4. Plenty of power that comes on line quickly in a predictable and linear way. Comfortable enough to drain a full tank of gas without any real pains. The seat is still in good shape. My Bandit has about 15,000 miles on it now. The original Michelin Macadams were fine. At about 7K I picked up a nail in the front tire and replaced it with with Michelin Sport Pilot. This worked fine with the Macadam in the rear. At about 8K I picked up a nail in the rear tire and replace that with a Dunlop D208. The bike immediately handled extremely weird. It felt like there was a passenger on the back when there wasn't. At a loss to explain why, the dealer recommended getting two tires by the same manufacturer. I replaced the front Michelin with a Dunlop 208 like I had put in the back. The weirdness went away but Bandit did not handle as well with the Dunlops. It felt noticably slower and heavier at anything less than freeway speed. I ultimately replaced these with Metzler Sportec tires at about 14K and the bike's initial good handling returned. At 14,000 the chain was also in need of replacing. I took the opportunity to increase the rear sprocket by three teeth. This increased 0-60 speed dramatically. It is much easier to handle at low parking lot speeds and in street traffic. The cost is an additional 400-500 rpm in top gear and the speedometer is now off. Fairing does a reasonably good job but could have used a slightly higher windshield for me. I am just under 6ft tall and get bit of buffeting. Didn't bother me enough to go aftermarket windshield for improvement. This is my first Suzuki and I have been pleased overall with what I got for the money. My only costs have been standard maintainence and consumables.