desmo
26-06-2007, 03:06 PM
Ok, bit of an odd comparision I know, but seeing that the Monster is a bit pillion unfriendly & I occassionally take my son to the BSB meetings I was toying with the ideal of keeping the Monster & buying the new Bandit 1250 (Naked version) during the winter.
My local friendly dealer let me test a brand new (350 mls on the clock) Bandit 1250 faired version as that's all they had, but the riding position is exactly the same as the unfaired, I took it on an 80mls test which included motorway, fast A roads, smaller A roads & B roads in changable conditions from perfectly dry to soaking wet.
Boy, does that Bandit have some stomp, max torque of 80 lbs ft @ 3750 rpm.
The gearbox is silky smooth, but somewhat redundant when on the move as more or less any gear will do, you can trickle along in 6th @ 30 mph with only 1500 rpm showing & it picks up as smooth as you like, amazing really seeing that the tickover speed is 1100 rpm.
At all speeds the engine is smooth & completely unstressed.
The brakes, were massively powerfull, so much so that 1 finger was enough, bad riding I know, but they were so powerfull I was nervous of overdoing it in the wet, even though it has ABS as standard, but I suppose with a pillion & bit of luggage they would probably feel ok.
The Bandit is 217 kgs but doesn't feel it, I had no problems with slow manoeuvres, holding it at lights etc, it also steered though the bends very well & at no point did it attempt to run wide.
But, I had absolutely no feedback whatsoever from the tyres / suspension, it made for a smooth ride, but on my Monster I can feel every road undulation & bump which is how I like it, I find it gives me the confidance & a feeling for what the tyres are doing, the bandit made me nervous of throwing it into a bends as I could feel nothing.
Also, because of the lack of feeling & the massive power being available at such low rpm, it made it a bit dodgy powering out of the bends, especially when the roads were wet, it would have been very easy to have spun up the rear & fallen on my ass, another problem with this as well is that the throttle action is very light & the revs rise very fast, sometimes hitting a bump in the road is enough to accidently open the thottle a small amount, which could be dodgy in a bend on a wet road.
As a commuter & tourer the bike would be good & with a pillion & some luggage added I am sure the brakes & lack of feel from the tyres / suspension would be much improved as at about £5200 new it is brilliant value, but ultimately it was fairly bland to ride solo & for the odd occasion that I do take a pillion makes it not worth it for me as I would much sooner go out on the Monster.
Desmo.
My local friendly dealer let me test a brand new (350 mls on the clock) Bandit 1250 faired version as that's all they had, but the riding position is exactly the same as the unfaired, I took it on an 80mls test which included motorway, fast A roads, smaller A roads & B roads in changable conditions from perfectly dry to soaking wet.
Boy, does that Bandit have some stomp, max torque of 80 lbs ft @ 3750 rpm.
The gearbox is silky smooth, but somewhat redundant when on the move as more or less any gear will do, you can trickle along in 6th @ 30 mph with only 1500 rpm showing & it picks up as smooth as you like, amazing really seeing that the tickover speed is 1100 rpm.
At all speeds the engine is smooth & completely unstressed.
The brakes, were massively powerfull, so much so that 1 finger was enough, bad riding I know, but they were so powerfull I was nervous of overdoing it in the wet, even though it has ABS as standard, but I suppose with a pillion & bit of luggage they would probably feel ok.
The Bandit is 217 kgs but doesn't feel it, I had no problems with slow manoeuvres, holding it at lights etc, it also steered though the bends very well & at no point did it attempt to run wide.
But, I had absolutely no feedback whatsoever from the tyres / suspension, it made for a smooth ride, but on my Monster I can feel every road undulation & bump which is how I like it, I find it gives me the confidance & a feeling for what the tyres are doing, the bandit made me nervous of throwing it into a bends as I could feel nothing.
Also, because of the lack of feeling & the massive power being available at such low rpm, it made it a bit dodgy powering out of the bends, especially when the roads were wet, it would have been very easy to have spun up the rear & fallen on my ass, another problem with this as well is that the throttle action is very light & the revs rise very fast, sometimes hitting a bump in the road is enough to accidently open the thottle a small amount, which could be dodgy in a bend on a wet road.
As a commuter & tourer the bike would be good & with a pillion & some luggage added I am sure the brakes & lack of feel from the tyres / suspension would be much improved as at about £5200 new it is brilliant value, but ultimately it was fairly bland to ride solo & for the odd occasion that I do take a pillion makes it not worth it for me as I would much sooner go out on the Monster.
Desmo.