I looked at a lot of bikes before choosing the Bandit 6. As a Motorbike Instructor I had a lot of criteria to fill - reliability, control, ease and cost of maintenance, and of course, the fun factor.
The Bandit has all this in spades - the engine is bulletproof and responsive, there's plenty of feel in the ride, parts are easily available, and it's ideal for hooning about on the twisties on my days off.
But what has surprised me the most about the B6 is it's response to tuning! The Yoshimura race can instantly made the bike more throttle responsive. The Ohlins progressive fork springs combined with the rear jack up bars allows me to keep up with the sport 600s, taking a tooth off of the rear sprocket has made the bike pull away like an animal and with a few choice styling mods the bike looks more evil than Satan the day before payday!
Fair enough, it's not all been paradise, I have had the front brake calipers rebuilt 5 times in the last 2 years - my local Suzuki dealer says the B6 is notorious for this, though mine is a touch excessive, and I can go through a back tyre in 2000 miles - but then I do go for sticky rubber and ride pretty hard.
As a return to biking it would be a good move, though maybe too heavy and tall for the shorter rider. As a next step from a 125 after passing your test it's perfect - a great 'real' bike at a great price. As a b-road blaster - you might do better with something more sportier, but spend a few quid on the B6 and you'll find yourself with a monster!
And don't forget, when it comes to upgrade time, the B6 can be rebored to 850cc!
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Sep 15th, 2003
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