Bandit 1200 Yoshimura Special

[earlfor]

I have a 2003 Bandit 12S with 85K miles on it. All except the first 800 miles are mine and all maintenance has been done by me. The bike has required nothing other than routine maintenance for 17 years. I check valve clearances every 20k miles, however no adjustments have been needed in the last 65K miles. I love having screw adjusters on the valves and no shims to fight with. I have had to replace the fuel petcock once and that was about 8 years ago. It's on it's 3rd set of spark plugs in 85k miles and new ones didn't make it run any better. LOL
It burns about 2 ounces of oil between oil changes, and compression is the same as the day I bought it.

I have the same Yoshimura RS-3 exhaust system that you do. To start the bike when the engine is cold, use 1/4 choke and let it run for about 15 seconds before sliding the choke lever to the off position. Don't apply choke and twist the throttle at the same time. Do one or the other. Once warmed up, choke is never needed. If you try to start it when cold, it will be difficult to start without choke and also difficult with too much choke, and it will backfire and refuse to start.

Stock gearing is 15/45 and mileage averages 43mpg at 70mph. Changing to 16/44 for freeway miles or traveling will give about 46mpg at 70 mph.

On the petcock, handle pointing at 6'0clock is Run, 3 o'clock is Prime, and 12 o'clock is Reserve. From Run to Reserve, the handle rotates counter clockwise.

The cables and hoses are long enough to install higher handlebars if you remove the hose block from the triple tree and fabricate a simple flat bracket that bolts onto the tree on one end and the other end, to the hose block. This moves the hose junction higher, allowing more handlebar movement. I've had Grand Prix bars for a long time on the old girl.

I fabricated 1/4" thick aluminum block off plates for the pair system years ago. Just use the stock part to pattern from for the block off plates. Use the original bolts.

Anti seize the exhaust manifold bolts. No one likes things breaking because of frozen/rusted nuts and bolts. heh

It is full of oil when sitting on the centerstand the oil level is in the center of the sight window.

[Rijko]

I have a 2003 Bandit 12S with 85K miles on it. All except the first 800 miles are mine and all maintenance has been done by me. The bike has required nothing other than routine maintenance for 17 years.

85K with nothing but routine maintenance ? Wow.
But yes, when i ask for weaknesses most people tell me similar.
Reliable, good fun. Good to hear, they have come a long way since the GS.

[earlfor]

85K with nothing but routine maintenance ? Wow.
But yes, when i ask for weaknesses most people tell me similar.
Reliable, good fun. Good to hear, they have come a long way since the GS.

The air/oil cooled Bandits don't have a weakness. Really!, they don't. Or at least I've been unable to find one. heh
I went from a 85 GS 1150EF (was trouble free once I got it sorted out) to the current Bandit. The B12 is a lot like a upgraded 1150. Maintenance is very similar. Handling isn't though. The B12 is soooo much easier to ride. A spectacular mid range makes for a very pleasant all around bike.

I have a factory service manual for it (covers yours too), so if there is anything you are unable to find out about it mechanically, I can look it up.

Popping on deacceleration stops after you fabricate and install pair block off plates.

Everyone has told me Bandits are set up lean running. They are lean in idle range which is why when cold 1/4 choke is necessary. Once warm no choke is needed to start or idle. The plugs burn perfect color. A light brown/tan.

Just a word of warning. I found out the hard way. The spark plug cavities in the valve cover are deep and if you drop something in one , even though the spark plug is installed, It is HELL to get it out. And, if the little drop thing is aluminum, a magnet is useless. I make it a point to never remove the rubber covers while working on the bike now.
Or if I do, I always put rags over the plugs. You do not need to remove the spark plugs to remove the valve covers.

The two oil lines feeding into the rear of the valve cover have large O rings. They like to fall out and disappear when you're not looking. There is a sneaky valve cover bolt on the front top, just left of center. You cant see it, but if you have snake fingers, you can feel it. LOL

Clutch linings are tricky. There are multiple thicknesses in a specific order/position in the stack. There is also a 1.5mm JIS set screw that locks the stack together that is easy to miss if you are not looking for it. It is the first thing that has to be removed to check the clutch linings. Basically, if you can't get the stack apart with bare fingers, you have missed something. I checked my clutch lining about two years ago and it was fine, so I am now at 85K miles on the original linings.

I use Yamabond to stick valve cover gaskets in place. Avoid silicone based sealer.

[earlfor]

How many miles on it?

[Rijko]

How many miles on it?

None Just 26+K km's. Thanks for all the advice

Bandit-01.jpg

[Rijko]

The petcocks will leak and need to be rebuilt or replaced often

I was warned ... when i took off the tank today to work on the carbs,
the petcock kept trickling.

Do you guys know if this is like the GS ones - very low succesrate in
rebuilding, wiser to buy a new one ?

[Rijko]

The carbs looked way better than i expected.

To my chagrin (at first), of 6 of the 16 float bowl screws the head was
damaged badly, not re-useable.
Screws are made of very mild copper/brass like material.

My mood improved when i realized that, had these been steel ones
like in my GS carbs, the thread in the carb bodies would probably
have suffered in stead of these easily replaced screws.

Bandit-02.jpg

[Rijko]

One of the vent T-pieces is damaged

Bandit-04.jpg

[Rijko]

And i found out why the bike runs badly ...

Bandit-05.jpg

[Rijko]

same thing for all 4 ..

Bandit-06.jpg

[fbody_mike]

I was warned ... when i took off the tank today to work on the carbs,
the petcock kept trickling.

Do you guys know if this is like the GS ones - very low succesrate in
rebuilding, wiser to buy a new one ?

Yes, wiser to buy a new oem one. I've rebuilt it and had to pick and choose from the kit. The spring in the k&l kit is much weaker than the factory so I reuse the factory spring each time. The o ring that actually contacts the taper of the inlet, the one on the center of the diaphragm, is too hard in the k&l kit and I have to soak it in gas a day before the rebuild. So I should have just replaced the whole thing, but I'm hard headed sometimes.
Many people switch to pingel, but I do really like the automatic vacuum function.

[earlfor]

I was warned ... when i took off the tank today to work on the carbs,
the petcock kept trickling.

Do you guys know if this is like the GS ones - very low succesrate in
rebuilding, wiser to buy a new one ?

I have only replaced one petcock on the B12 and with a new one. I had all bad luck with multiple rebuild kits for GS's, so I went to buying new for them also.

[earlfor]

The carbs looked way better than i expected.

To my chagrin (at first), of 6 of the 16 float bowl screws the head was
damaged badly, not re-useable.
Screws are made of very mild copper/brass like material.

My mood improved when i realized that, had these been steel ones
like in my GS carbs, the thread in the carb bodies would probably
have suffered in stead of these easily replaced screws.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]59898[/ATTACH]

Bandits take care of you if you take care of them. heh

[earlfor]

same thing for all 4 ..

[ATTACH=CONFIG]59903[/ATTACH]

Ummmm, that isn't good.
I've come to conclude that sitting unused takes the worst toll on a motorcycle. Consequently, I always have Stabil in the gas tank and the longest the B12 ever goes without being run and warmed up is two or three days. The carbs never need cleaning. well, at least not in 17 years. LOL

[Rijko]

I went out today to get something to eat, did not order something here ...


Bohica.jpg