Buying another bike....

[customizedcreationz]

Looking at bikes again. Obviously I have to have something atleast somewhat fast.

I found a really cheap Bandit 1200 for $1800..... 11,000 miles stock

ZX12r 8000 miles slip on and pc 3 beside that stock $3500

Gen 1 Busa 24,000 mile $4500 slip on and lowered

ZRX1200 6000 miles with a decent amout of work done to it $3200 obo

I know the Busa and ZX will be the fastest. No doubt. I will be racing the bike at the track for sure. Those are easy 9 second bikes when I get the groove down on them. The ZRX is probably a 9 second bike also , or atleast a easy 10.0x bike. The bandit is probably the slowest of the bunch , with being an easy 11.0x and with a pipe and jet kit probably a mid to high 10's.

I will ride this bike ALOT across the country this year I believe, or atleast try. I know out of all of them the Busa is probably the best sport touring bike. I really wanted to stay under $3500. The Bandit seems to offer the cheapest price, and probably a decent around town bike, but probably not so great on the open road. Same for the ZRX, no bikini fairing on it and I don't think I like those all that much anyways, but I wouldn't take it off if it had one. The ZX12 more sporty than the Busa, and from my understanding ****** on fuel mileage. Most cases atleast as good as the Vmax Gen 1, which is probably better than the Gen 2 by a mile from my understanding ( mileage wise from what I ve seen and heard others here complain about ).

Vmax Mike is probably one of the only guys here that truely knows how I ride and what I look for. But you guys have heard me squawk about what I like to do. But basically my end goal is always an 8 second street bike. Which none of the above will do without major work. So my next purchase is either this. One year off of wanting the fast bike, buy a cheap "quick" bike to do some longer riding on, and then next season look for a bad ass bike again. If I buy another turbo bike it will be already done, I don't think I ll build a bike, just too much money. I ve seen plenty of 250-300 hp bikes for $10,000 that run well into the 8's and are still daily riders. So its not a problem finding one. I know where I can get a few right now. Its the money. I just sold 3 of my bikes to buy my laser machine. Now I am earning the money back.

So my decision to buy a cheap fast bike for now is either buy something really cheap like the Bandit. Go cheap ass and just have a good realiable oil cooled gsxr motored naked. Put a pipe and maybe a jet kit on it and call it good. Have $2250 invested into the bike. Or I go with the ZRX for a $3000 ( I am sure I can get it for that ) and just hop on and ride it. I am sure it would be somewhat fun and a decent all around bike. The ZX12, I spend a few bucks more, get alot more power, but possibly not a great touring rig. Which honestly the other two bikes probably aren't much better with each having its pros and cons. Or I spend atleast $1500-2000 more than I really want to spend and take my pick of 50+ busa's out there that would be ready to go.

My last and honestly not in the picture option is to buy something in the spring after I set aside a little more and spend around $8000 and get a Gen 2 Busa.

I don't think I want to go that route because I want to build my Dakota a little as well.

But I ve found a few decent bikes and I think my Xmas present to myself is calling my name....:biglaugh:

So anyone with Bandit 1200 or ZRX or ZX opinions please chime in. Or just give me your thoughts. I already know the Busa I would like. But Busa's hold their value better than most bikes.

The most I would like to spend and budget myself is $4000. But if the right Busa came along I would spend $5000. I really want to pay my new laser machine off and I am moving along nicely at doing it. Hence the reason I don't want to spend that much. But you know how it is, only $500 more, $1000 more..... $2500 more......

The Bandit would probably be my best decision, but I would hate to have it and not have "alot" of fun at the track with it. Which I guess is relative to how much time on the street I would be on it. I might be able to squeeze the Bandit down to $1500-1600 or so.... than it woudl be a steal.......Throw a pipe and jet kit and I am at $2000 tops... not the fastest thing, but still somewhat fun.....

Someone just donate me a Busa.....:rofl_200:

 

[one2dmax]

The ZRX's won't be a 9 second bike without a lot of work. They make the same power as the Vmax but they are much lighter. MAYBE a high 9 if you're light enough. It's a great bike to run around and have fun with though and probably the best overall bike if you want to carve canyons.

Ton's of parts for the Gen 1 - Busa (and decent selection on the 12).

There are turbo kits for the Bandit and they have held up to severe abuse quite well.

Of course I know where an 8 second drag bike is that is still for sale lol!

 

[srk468]

Sean is right about the ZRX, got a friend who has one and he's a decent rider (about my capability) and my Vmax is quicker in the 1/4 but he'll run me down after that but it's also a pretty uncomfortable ride. The Busa or 12 will probably touch high 9's with some practice but the Busa is a much more comfortable rider, I don't know anyone with a Bandit so I can't attest to their performance. If your planning on doing a buildup with a power adder later stick with the gen 1 Busa because the engines are more durable. These are just my personal experiences with the guys I know and race with.

sent from my HTC Rezound using tapatalk

 

[customizedcreationz]

I am thinking the Bandit would be a food choice. Not a barnstormer but a good cokpromise. I can't spend some money on the truck and have a bike and if things go well in the spring maybe I ll buy something else also.

But I have to have a dual purpose bike. Cant just be a drag bike or a plain slow street bike .

I am going to make an really low offer on the bike and see if they bite. If they do I ll own a Bandit I think.

Todd

 

[cgswss]

Bandit 1200 Would make you a real nice sport turning/street bike. They have a great torque curve which makes them a ball on the street. But at the strip, they are 11 sec machines UNLESS you want to open up the engine and do some major work. As far as sale prices, the Bandit has been the red headed step child on the sales floor. I bought one as a two year old new bike from a dealership. Fun, but no where near 'busa fast. totally different engine. I had planed to do the usual engine build on mine, but was talked out of it by some of the guys I used to race against. The opinion as too much money needed to get to where the 'busa STARTED. I understand they a much better head on it after 2007 and much better power up top if you wanted to build one.

Of course if you wanted to go to a bottle, they are plenty strong and you could get the race times down that way.

 

[customizedcreationz]

Craig,
Thats what I was thinking as well. A bottle fed Bandit would probably get me in the mid to low 10's pretty easy, still have a good sound base engine to ride everyday. The only think I am leaning more towards as well is fuel injection. That would be nice. But at under $2000 find a fuel injected bike with power is going to be impossible. So Carbs I can live with as long as they run good. The Bandits have a really ****** can on them and I ve talked with owners and seen the dyno reports of 4-9 hp increase by just changing the can. After that a jet kit for 2-3 hp and from there is a head , gsxr 750 cams and big bore kits. All of which can get you into the 130 rear wheel horse range pretty easily. From what I ve seen 115-117 hp at the rear wheel is the norm for a can and jet kit. 470 lbs, its almost 150-175 lbs lighter than a Gen 1 Vmax. Probably at the stock to piped exhaust horsepower level of the Gen 1 Vmax. Which I can only surmise as being able to run Possibly mid 10's on them as such. But even at that rate , high 10's I would be happy with for a season. I would probably get bored with it fast, but as long as it would roll out burn outs and some nice second gear power wheelies, I would be able to manage for the summer lol. I also see that the average tank is around 150 miles curise range. While thats not great, I guess is better than 110-120 mile per tank.

I read that the ZX12 got 70 miles on a tank running a consistant 120+ mph lol. While obviously I wouldnt be doing that, but crap 70 miles...... I hear most of those get around 120-150 miles per tank. While I already know a Gen 1 busa can go easily 150-200 miles per tank depending on how your right wrist is.

So my though would be cheap Bandit, pipe, jet kit and just play this summer with it. I can still build my Dakota up some as well. Come the following year, I can look for an 8 second street bike and either I ll keep the Bandit as a secondary back up bike or I ll sell it and put it towards the 8 second bike.

The ZRX sold that I was looking at. Kinda sucks, but oh well. The Bandit is still avialable as far as I know and the Busa and 12, are also still available. Its winter time, 16 degrees out this morning, these bikes should literally be free.....

Todd

 

[one2dmax]

Or, look for an old Fazer. Classic looks, light weight, and coupled with the 1000cc motor swap is a very fast bike (we ran low 10's with it).

 

[mr.maxx]

the bandit is a great bike. in stock form its gutless at low rpm tho....keep the engine singing and it dam fast tho. a friend of mine had one with a jet kit and pipe and it was a beast!! some 99 and 98 years had oil burning issues tho.

 

[cgswss]

Wait! I could do FREE! <BMFG> I'd still be pulling the bike down (I mean you DO have all winter. Why wait until spring to find out if there's anything bad in there. A set of gaskets and rings wouldn't bankrupt you and that would give you a great chance to look around. While you have the head off, I'm sure you know someone that has a mill <G> and you could do the valves, cc the heads, then take a very light cut to make sure every thing is square and flat. Of course (assuming you know someone with a mill( it would cost about nothing to deck the block while your at it. Of course when you put it back together, put in some HD Suzuki
Head Studs. If I remember right you can use the ARP head studs for GSXR 1100. That way when you have it back together you will have new rings, and head gasket and studs that can take the pressure of NO2 if you decide go to the bottle.

Pipes and can will make a big difference on the 1200 because we have to remember that they build and tuned the bike for low end torque not for HP. Of course the BIG factor is the cams. Again this was originally made for TOURQE not power. When I was going to build mine, there was not much around to hop up the 1200 but the cams for the GSXR 750 worked well to move the power up the rpm range. I'm guessing you already know this, but 1100 Katana, or 750 or 1100 GSXR engines are direct bolt ins for the Bandit . just mentioned it because from time to time I see guys will really built GSXR 1100 that are wrecked but the motor is good.

Damn, shouldn't have started this thread. Now I'm thinking how much fun it would have been to build a 1200 bandit Q ship. By swapping some GSXR stuff and carful work, that could be a 140 hp motor (which is saying a lot because the stock motor is closer to 90hp) (and Suzi's are a lot easer to build then certain Yamahas I love so much.

 

[cgswss]

the bandit is a great bike. in stock form its gutless at low rpm tho....keep the engine singing and it dam fast tho. a friend of mine had one with a jet kit and pipe and it was a beast!! some 99 and 98 years had oil burning issues tho.

I assume your saying it was gutless at low RPM AFTER he put the pipe on it. the showroom stock bandit 1200 I had (with only 600 miles on the clock) pulled OVER 50 ft/lbs of torque at 2000 rpm! In fact it pulled more torque until about 7--- rpm thrn my best buddie's FZ1 That Bandit ran out of air about 7000 and hit only 92hp. (the FZ1 went up to 120 on the same day, same dyno) Drop the can (without rejet) and the bike fell on it face off idle and didn't "catch" until about 3200. That simply a carb problem-more then jets as once it got into the main jet it ran fine and pulled about 8 more HP even thought the mixture was way lean. The Bandit 1200 pulled like the old 2 valve 1100s. Thats what I loved about that bike because Torque not HP is what is fun on the street

 

[cgswss]

Or, look for an old Fazer. Classic looks, light weight, and coupled with the 1000cc motor swap is a very fast bike (we ran low 10's with it).

Wow to have money like I used to... the Fazer got no respect back in the day- how cool would it be to have a 10 sec Q Ship dressed up like the lowly Fazer. A few years ago (when I worked for a living) I would have bought that bike from you just to see people's faces when I ripped them a new one on it! Of course if I had that kind of money you would be building me a 1500cc "stock" Vmax right now! I dream about that very thing... right after I hit the lotto.

"Hey Sean! here's my bike and at $10,000 deposit to start out... you can have it done by March, right?" Then the dog wakes me up by licking my face...

 

[customizedcreationz]

If I pick up the bandit the most I would do would be a pipe and jet kit. I don't think I would go beyond that. The next bike I will. If I went beyond that I would just buy the ZX 12 or spend a little more on top and get the gen 1 busa again.

 

[run990]

if your after hassle free performance its the busa ,bomb proof .the zx12s ride better as a sports bike but occasionally the crank spits out its dummy & wrecks the cases.the zrx12 is quick but a bit like a vmax in its dynamics without the carisma.the bandit is just dull but fit the gsxr1100 cams & a few tweaks liven them up cheaply .the fazer 1000 here in the uk is a good sleeper bike ,older r1 engine in a slightly wooly chassis,goes very well & cheap to buy .one bike you dont mention is the honda 900 hornet,is it available in the usa ,fireblade streetfighter quick & handles .

 

[mr.maxx]

I assume your saying it was gutless at low RPM AFTER he put the pipe on it. the showroom stock bandit 1200 I had (with only 600 miles on the clock) pulled OVER 50 ft/lbs of torque at 2000 rpm! In fact it pulled more torque until about 7--- rpm thrn my best buddie's FZ1 That Bandit ran out of air about 7000 and hit only 92hp. (the FZ1 went up to 120 on the same day, same dyno) Drop the can (without rejet) and the bike fell on it face off idle and didn't "catch" until about 3200. That simply a carb problem-more then jets as once it got into the main jet it ran fine and pulled about 8 more HP even thought the mixture was way lean. The Bandit 1200 pulled like the old 2 valve 1100s. Thats what I loved about that bike because Torque not HP is what is fun on the street

I drove a stck 1200 bandit ....I don't recall the year....I think it was a 99....compared to the v65 magna I was riding at the time it felt weak down low. and the jetted bike was a whole diff beast . but really came alive at 4k to about 7k... the stock bike also was very cold blooded as I recall. i just didn't feel the grunt like I have on big v4 bikes. just my impression. regardless of hp and torque figures. I did like the bandit however and to me it felt every bit as strong and quick as the kawi 1100 zrx I owned a short time later. I have read that the newer 1260 bandit is areal treat to driveunk:

 

[customizedcreationz]

Yeah I just think I am going beater bike and doing the bandit. Cheap and reliable. Unless a busa falls in ny lap lol. I ll ride it 2014 and when 15 comes around I ll look at a new bike that will fulfill my street race needs.

Todd

 

[AMechEng]

Todd I thought you had a Turbo Busa. Did you sell it?

 

[customizedcreationz]

Yes I sold three of my bikes to help fund a new machine in the shop. Now the machine is helping me buy a cheap bike for next year.

 

[cgswss]

BTW- did you talk to Busa-mike... I mean Vmax-Mike? Just wondering if he was pulling my leg...

 

[jagco1]

I would go for the ZX12 I had the blue 05 it ran low 10s with 4 in to1 exhaust and
jet kit. But a vmax 1st gen can hit 10s if you hook it right.

 

[AMechEng]

I see. I remember pics of that Hayabusa. Really nasty. How about a ZX14 or a Gen 2 max?