New bike project; beside myself with excitement!

So a new bike followed me home yesterday! I have been intrigued by the Bandit 400 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 son has moved on, so dad sold the Bandit to me. He (dad) is restoring a Rickman and building a cool BEC, so he seemed like the type I could chat with for a while!

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

-Bandit parts are cheap on the used market

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?

Oh, in case anyone was wondering, yes, there is silver metal flake in the red, but not in the daffodil yellow.

I'd keep the sweet paint job

Awesome! I always liked those. I rode a CB-1 for a decade(Honda's version of the same bike, basically). It is still my favorite of the bikes I have owned.l will love to follow along, if a build thread is imminent.

On an unrelated note, you did AE 86 suspension under a KP 61, right? Did it increase front track width? Please excuse my threadjack. Boss motorcycle!

Love the 400's so smooth and flickable. Miss riding my friends 400. check for other size bandits for the foot pegs they might interchange. Cheapcycleparts.com will have the part numbers on microfishe

heres a pair for less then cost of one new.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/121706195586?lpid=82&chn=ps

right side part number is 43511-10D00

44Dwarf, thanks for the part # and the heads-up! It is one big, thin, complex piece of cast aluminum!

Wheelsmithy, I guess I will have to start a build thread! On the KP61 Starlet, not a big difference in track width, perhaps just a tiny bit wider because of the beefier AE86 hub and vented brake rotor. I used AE86 strut tubes with integrated spindle, AE86 hubs/brakes, and AE86 steering arms. I stuck with the KP61 lower control arms and ball joint with a spacer to make up for the difference between the small KP61 balljoint, and the bigger balljoint the AE86 steering arm is expecting.

T3 Adapter bushing

Are you familiar with the rough layout of RWD Toyota front suspension? Does that make sense? FWIW, the AE86 rear axle is a couple inches wider than the Starlet unit if you do an axle swap (which I didn't undertake.)

Great little bike, not so great paint job. I vote for going with something similar to the tock color combination, the red with white wheels always looked great on those bikes.

I have wanted a bandit for awhile nice score.

If it all goes south on the motor you can always put a large two stroke in there! ( although the cradle frame of the gs500 makes that easier)

Thanks AE&KP. I will let the treadjack die there. Once you are settled, closeup shots of the frame/case damage would be appreciated. My first thought would be to do a thick 1/2 pipe over the damage as a "slider", and maybe a corresponding one opposite. Is the plan to paint the frame? Thanks again for being gracious about my questions.

There is one of those engine on kijiji quebec (canada) right now....

A gsxr400 engine would fit in if you can find one somewhere in the world and I think the gsxr 600 oil cool around 91 to 94 (would have to check is the same dimensions and mounts.

If you search you will find the answer in one of those 3 sites Gixxer forum Oldschoolsuzuki Customfighters

Good luck !

Will update with more details and pics soon; probably in a build thread.

Today I thought about keeping the flames for the irony....but didn't think about it too long; I tend towards the subtle in terms of aesthetics. I will probably go more of a restoration route on this bike.

A couple of Japanese-market factory paint jobs for your consideration:

Blue and silver is much better the red and black looks to much like another big brand

I don't care for the two tone "stripes" paint jobs. IMO, paint it all one color and use the wheels and/or frame for contrast.

Yep. My favorite is all red with white wheels. I love these little bikes.

That sylver with the half fairing is really nice

Thanks guys; I created a build thread for the bike which I will update as progress occurs, hopefully in the near future!

New firey Bandit build thread