Bandit 1200

[Guest]

Still looking for a decent Bandit in time for spring.

Was the 2000 model year engine a reliable unit?

I see in some Kijji ads that owners have had to rebuild the motors at the 40K mileage amounts

[stetracer]

The 1200 Bandits are some of the most reliable motors Suzuki ever made and will go well over 100,000 miles maintained correctly. The only problems with the motor is it has a weak clutch on the 1st Gen models 1997 to 2000 but there is some cheap fixes for that and the 2nd Gen models 2001 and some of the early 2002 models had a oil ring seating problem none of the other models had this problem. On the 2nd Gen models they fixed the clutch problem. I have 3 1200 Bandits a 1998, 2001, and a 2002. The thing I like the best is they don't cost a bunch. Got my 98 for $1500 and the most I paid was $2200 for my 2001

[1_v8_merc]

2001-2002 Bandit 1200's had the problem.
The oil ports on the pistons were too large, and the bike would burn tons of oil, eventually turning catastrophic. The only fix, is to replace the pistons with the correct ones.
Many bikes had the recall fixed, but there's still plenty floating around....which did Not. Stay far-far away from B12's with extremely low mileage(in that year-range). Most of them would see ring failure between 5-15k miles.