Hey everyone, today I want to talk about my experience with my 1998 Suzuki 1200 Bandit. I got this bike a while back, and man, it’s been a journey.
When I first got it, the thing wouldn’t even start. I mean, nothing. Turned the key, pressed the starter, and just… silence. After scratching my head for a bit, I decided to check the spark plugs. I pulled them out, and they were pretty gunked up, and no sparks at all. I swapped those out for some new ones. That did solve the problem, because I heard that the majority of bandit starting problems is the condition of the spark plugs.
But even after getting it to start, the bike was running rough. It felt like it was struggling, especially at lower speeds. It was a little bit better when I opened up the throttle, it ran like crazy, but in the lower rev range, it was not smooth at all. I did some reading online and saw that the pilot jets could be the culprit. So, I took apart the carbs and, sure enough, those jets were clogged. I cleaned them out, put everything back together.
After that, I took it for a spin. It was like a whole new bike. It was pulling hard, running smooth, and just felt amazing. I did notice that it seemed to be burning a bit of oil, which I heard can be a problem with some of these older models. I’ll need to keep an eye on that, but for now, I’m just happy to have it running well.
Another issue I noticed was with the gears. Sometimes it felt like it was missing a gear, especially in the lower range. It was kind of clunky. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s something I’ll need to look into eventually. Maybe it’s the valve timing or something with the valve springs, I’m not sure.
Overall, I’m really enjoying this bike. It’s got a ton of character, and it’s a blast to ride. I’ve heard these things can last a long time if you take care of them, so I’m hoping to get many more miles out of it. I guess they are usually good for 100K miles if serviced and looked after.
- Checked spark plugs, replaced them, and saw improvement.
- Cleaned pilot jets, which made it run smoother.
- Noticed some oil burning, which needs monitoring.
- Experienced clunky gear shifts, will need to investigate further.
So yeah, that’s my story with the 1998 Suzuki 1200 Bandit. It’s been a bit of a project, but totally worth it. I’ll keep you all updated on any further adventures or issues I run into. Ride safe, everyone!
