1991 Suzuki Bandit Project; A Phoenix from the ashes?

So a new bike followed me home a couple weeks ago! I have been intrigued by the Bandit GSF400 since they first came out, so I figured I should finally pull the trigger. Be warned, hang onto your eyeballs; the paint job is horrific.

In good news, Ronald McDonald was a softie, so I got it for $600! In all seriousness, the seller was cool guy who helped his son fix up the Bandit before the son wrecked it on one of his first rides.

The good:

-I'm the third owner!

-Clean title

-Recently rebuilt head

-Recently rebuilt carbs

-Michelin Pilots have about 50 miles on them

-New clutch cover, gasket, and various o-rings and hardware included.

-Spare bottom end case included

The bad:

-Not many sold in the U.S. means fewer bikes being parted than say, CBR600s or something similar

-Right foot peg mount is toast and scarce on eBay at the moment

-Potential metal bits from the cracked case in the sump mean a tear down is in order

-The right side of the frame took a beating in the slide across the pavement; repair? replace?

My initial thoughts are to do a repair/rebuild/minor restore to get it rideable and make it look a little bit more tame, and go from there. I have really enjoyed my return to motorcycling over the past year and a half after a long hiatus. I love my DR350SE, and while it is an incredible machine for exploring backroads and backtrails, it isn't the the best for longer distances on the pavement, plus a bunch of my buddies have been branching out from the dual sports to also include small sport bikes. There are times I would like to join the boys on a ride and they are breaking out the CBRs, SV650s, FZ600s and the like and all I have is the DR...

Here is a closeup of the frame damage, as requested in my Sprockets thread:

My first thought was to source some 1.5" OD tubing of the same wall thickness, and slice off the outer 15% of a length to weld on as a "patch" of sorts over the existing damage, and then grind the bead down to a point where it wouldn't look worse than the crash damage and certainly wouldn't be weaker. When compared to an undamaged frame, the flattened and scraped section isn't quite straight, it has slight bends at both ends, as well as overlapping with a motor mount towards the back of the bike and nearing a junction with another tube near the front of damaged portion. Hmmm...probably won't be completely cutting out a length of tube and building a new length of tube to weld in. Then there is a small issue of the overall frame alignment post-crash. Not likely to be waaay out of shape, but it would suck to put in a bunch of work before confirming anything one way or the other.

While pondering all of this, I looked around for right footpeg mounts, a very large, very thin, fairly complex piece of cast aluminum that also incorporates the rear master cylinder mount and the heel guard. The steel attachment point underneath the broken cast right footpeg mount is also bent, but might be repairable with a heat/bend job, or if not, the cut/fab/replace isn't too hard. I spared a moment to wonder what heartache a couple small knobs of machined nylon might have saved on this bike if the previous owner had installed sliders!! I made a mental note not to crash, but also to investigate GSF400 frame sliders. Hell, I have a lathe and can make my own if needed!

The right footpeg mount is available new for $175-ish, which translates to $125ish before shipping with some shopping around. A member on here found me a pair of NOS left and right in Guatemala for $115 before shipping, but the ETA was 6 weeks, so I kept looking.

My next few thoughts lead to some poking around on eBay, and next thing I knew in the first week of ownership I got a few replacement parts on the way to repair the damage:

-Frame with title, and with both right and left footpeg mounts, plus some other useful hardware, and a simple straight red paint job.

-Red front fender (not essential, but so cheap it sold me on not painting the yellow one with the bike.)

-Front master cylinder with lever, hoses, and caliper (the front M/C with the bike appears functional, if weepy, but is ground-down enough on the outer corner I won't run it, and the lever is bent.)

-Right footpeg with rear brake lever

-Throttle assembly and righthand switchgear

-Complete stock exhaust system without bending/grind marks

-Three turn signals (only the right front is cracked, but the faux carbon, smoked-lens, low-profile, can't-be-seen-for-E36 M3 ones currently on the back of the bike have to go!)

-Stock tool kit

-All plastics for the tail piece in faded red...not essential, but there are a couple tiny cracks in the ones on the bike, so now I have something to put on while I fix the cracks plus the paint of the existing bodywork.

Family in town the past few days has been fun, but means work on the Bandit is limited at this point.

Outstanding! Intelligent decision making looks cool-I'll have to try that one someday.

I might have some pegs. Are the 600 the same size?

GRtechguy, thanks for the offer! I am not sure on the pegs (they might be the same) but I already have pegs. The tricky bit is the peg mounting bracket, which appears to be GK75A GSF400-specific. It looks something like this:

It is HUGE and really thin. From what I can see in pictures online or on my buddy's 1200, the 600 and 1200 follow a similar aesthetic with totally different dimensions. The good news is that the replacement frame includes a pair right and left! More pics coming later in the week!

Wheelsmithy, thanks for the kind words! After a couple decades of not-so-intelligent decision making, it feels good...but I don't want to rest on my laurels, I am sure tomorrow will present dozens of new opportunities for me to berkeley up. After all, I am the guy still clinging to an AE86 project car!

Straight frame arrived today, complete with title.

Now I need to get started on disassembly.

Two words "Frame sliders". I seem to be going the way you are with smaller displacement bikes. More into the 2cylinder kind but this one looks very intriguing. Good purchase and have fun with the rebuild with the new frame.

I've made good progress on procuring parts considering I've only had it a few weeks. Not pictured are the sidecovers and the spare bottom end case that came with the bike. I got the spare frame stripped off all the little brackets and fasteners and cleaned the grime off. There is a little surface rust here and there, so I am struggling with the fact that if I put it together without painting, I will probably never get around to it.

Well, I might have derailed myself a little bit....

I am taking delivery of this over the weekend or early next week:

You don't get a chance to buy one of these every day. Yep, that is a titanium exhaust. Yep, that is a flat-slide FCR, and yep, that is a Fox remote-resevoir rear shock! In good news, it is more beautiful than I ever could have imagined, and I can't wait to slice up some backroads. In bad news, the Bandit may become more a "let's ride it next spring" project and less of a "let's get it done for a ride or two before the weather sets in" project.

I'm usually pretty good at identifying Suzukis, but I don't recognize that one - what is it, a GS500?

Close...it is a JDM 1992 Goose 350! A hopped-up DR350 engine in a lightweight trellis frame from the same guy who designed the Gilera Saturno Bialbero.

ae86andkp61 wrote: Well, I might have derailed myself a little bit....

WOW! I remember seeing those in Cycle World years ago-looks awesome. Nice score!

Man, that is a sweet little ride. I approve of this derailing!

Also, put this thing on some scales. I want to know just how light it is.

Thanks guys! I will be putting the bike on some scales. I am hoping for somewhere between reasonably light and ridiculously light!

I am throwing my money at 285 wet. He he he... Also, if I ever find myself in your area, I want to see this beast in person.

I would be OK with 285 wet. My DR350 is somewhere just north of 300 with the same basic engine, heavier frame, longer travel, steel exhaust and muffler, but the DR has a plastic tank. Hard to say for sure with electric start, cast vs spoked wheels, different sized sumps, etc.

I am going to stick with "light" and therefore I won't set myself up for disappointment. If you are ever this way, I would be happy to show it off.

It is silly to get derailed by a bike that hasn't even arrived yet, especially when I have most of the parts I need to work on the other one.

I started by checking over the spare bottom end case and found it to be in decent condition with the exception of the oil filter cover studs, which were bent and one of them nearly broken. If I couldn't get them out easily it would change my course of action from here, so a little heat and a little careful persuasion got them out without any further trouble.

The teardown commences:

Someday, somewhere, a used motorcycle will change hands with a tidy, well-loomed wiring harness...I just haven't been around to experience it. Suzuki gives you all these handy little rubber-coated guys all up and down the frame for keeping the wiring where it should be. They are flexible enough to be bent out of the way for access, but rigid enough to stay in place under normal use. Of course on the Bandit three quarters of them weren't really in use. Below is one I removed from the bike without bending at all! Someone made up for it with some ugly splices, some dangling electrical tape, and a few poorly-placed zipties, all of which probably took way more effort than doing it properly...sigh!

Where we stand at the end of last night: Bodywork removed. Hideous homemade "fender eliminator" made with stock plastic, razor blade, hacksaw, and zip ties is now history. Wiring has been removed up past the front of the former battery box. All the bracketry and small parts stripped from the subframe, exhaust is gone. I think once I tackle the airbox, radiator, and chain I will be ready to drop the engine! My plan is to leave it as a roller until I get the engine sorted so it is easier to move around the shop. Once the engine has been gone through and buttoned-up, I will finish the frame swap.

To continue the derailment, the Goose has landed! The seller called before shipping it out in a mild panic. The Keihin FCR 39 is having slight issues, and the shipper had just arrived. I told him to ship it, and he tossed a new battery in as a consolation prize. It will start/run briefly, but won't handle a load or open throttle. So I get to learn about Keihin flat-slides...how hard can it be?

For the curious, the bike balanced precariously on two old bathroom scales, neither of which was calibrated, read 160ish each (I was holding the bike up while reading the scale) with oil and 3/4 tank of gas.

Well, work has been steady, if not too exciting. By the end of last week disassembly was trudging along and we had arrived about here:

Today I lured a fellow GRMer over to shop to help. It isn't like these parts are that heavy, but sometimes the moral support and second set of eyes/hands can be a big help. Before too long the engine was out! The wiring was a hassle to say the least...I think I might add a connector somewhere between the main harness that largely runs down the frame and all the piddly E36 M3 that is buried inside the engine case, like the stator, neutral indicator, kickstand switch that has wiring running through the engine, etc.

Before the end of the day my phone battery had died, so pics are limited, but here is one indicator of our progress:

By the end of the night, the engine was drained and on the workbench awaiting further disassembly, the wiring was in a box on the floor, the wrecked flame-job frame was stripped, and the red frame had suspension and wheels and was rolling around the shop.

Nice Bandit! I love my 97 Bandit 600S, basically converted to a naked Bandit. Perfect all-rounder. I bought it from a college buddy, whose wedding I will be attending today, who rode it out to Colorado and back at one point. Wanted to ride the Bandit to the wedding so bad, but the gf wasn't too keen on the idea

Ok, got a big chunk of the way into engine teardown/case swap. The carbs, head, block, pistons, starter, stator are off. Still have the water pump and clutch to go before splitting the bottom end case.

The head, cams, and pistons look great, and I cleaned everything I pulled off plus the replacement case in the solvent tank. The intake and exhaust valve seats are solvent tight.

I haven't gotten out the micrometer, but the bores look and feel quite good. Should I hone/re-ring? The only component I plan to replace is the case, the bores, rotating assembly, and head are all staying as a matched and run-in set. This top end was supposed to have been apart less than 100 miles ago.

Got confirmation from the previous owner that the head and carbs were redone, but the pistons and bores are original.

I also got further into disassembly, pulling out the clutch, starter gears, oil pump, water pump, shifter shaft, seal retainers, bearing retainers, circlips, and all that kinda stuff from both sides of the bottom end.

All that I have left now is to pull off the sump, split the case, and lift out the crank and transmission shafts for cleaning and inspection.

Here's the rolling chassis. I still think the yellow wheels might have to go. Back to stock white, or should I go bronze?

Bronze.

Y'all are gonna make me get a bike....

My two cents-Yellow=YUCKY

Bronze would be nice, black or dark grey would hide grime, lube, etc. I'm not too keen on white wheels myself. Really, anything but that yellow would be a marked improvement.