#suzukibandit

Bandit 600, December 2024.

Another Suzuki to the collection. This time a 600 Bandit.

I help co-ordinate and run a programme at the race club for people who want to go racing. The idea is that as a minimum they have to be a veteran and have never raced before. We provide a bike and help them to get their licence to compete.

This bike belongs to one of the mechanics and due to a medical condition he isn't capable of riding. He has stripped and prepared the bike but has struggled to get it back together. I've taken it on to get the bulk of the build done over the winter. All being well Dan, who owns the bike, will help me finish it prior to the new season starting.

The bike will then be used by one of the newcomers who passed his licence in October. The Bandits have their own class and it's a lot of fun and a level playing field so he should do well in his first season.

Suzuki Bandit. May 2025.

Not had much in the way of Bandit updates so here's a catch up on that. These images from May. The carbs, brakes and a tank went away to get blasted/rebuilt. I got the carbs and brakes back but the guy still has the tank. The team I work with is sponsored by Black Widow exhausts so they sent out a full system for me to build this bike.

I got the carbs fitted as well as the exhaust but it was a struggle getting it set up right without a vacuum gauges.

Suzuki Bandit, Dec 2024.

Bandit build progress. Hit a few initial snags but managed to get some building done today. Before I got the bike it was stripped for powder coating and all the bearings were removed. The middle two needle roller bearings had been knocked out of the suspension linkage but the outer races had been left in.

I took one look at it and decided they weren't coming out so bought a second hand one from eBay. I took the powder coated one to work to see if anyone there could get them out. One guy took a couple of days of welding, heating and cutting but he got them out so I was able to use the powder coated part. I'll keep the ebay part as a spare.

I pressed all the bearings in and knocked the races into the headstock which enabled me to start building the bike up. Both tanks I have are too rusty inside to use so I'll get one from eBay once I need it. The standard seat will go and a fibre glass seat unit will fit over the complete subframe with a thin foam pad for a seat.

The carbs weren't pretty when I opened the package they were in but I've cleaned them up as best I can. I will strip them further and probably get them Ultrasonically cleaned in due course.