Fazer or Bandit?

[Afro]

Think you can get a not so old Z750 for under 3k.

Supposed to be great bikes and lots of nice upgrades available…

[400_yes_400]

hornet is fun to ride, only consideration is tank range still quite small (150mile max) before reserve, but a great fun bike to ride i’ve had mine 3 months and done 3500mile still loving it. nippy about town (through moving width restrictions also known as cars, and bending back roads.
would comfortably say you wouldn’t regret buying a hornet unless you spend most of time on dual-carriage ways/ motorways due to lack of screen.
which ever you go for just enjoy riding.

[eezyrida]

Bandit 1250SA all the way. Never ridden a Fazer or Hornet so can’t comment on them. What I can say is I bought my B1250 for just over £5k last August, have done 11k miles on it and loved every minute of it. The engine has bucketloads of torque, it delivers power so effortlessly and smoothly. It’s got fuel injection, ABS as standard, and is a dream to ride.Negative points are it is on the heavy side (220kg) and it comes new with sh*t tyres (change them for Michy PR2s). But it is a helluva lot of bike for £5.5k

If you’ve not test-ridden a B1250SA, I recommend you do so.

Click here and read Rich Brear’s post of 26/06/2008 at 9:31pm:

http://www.suzukiownersclub.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=60854&PN=2&TPN=2

[Ratty46]

repiV (02/07/2008)

Johnse1 (01/07/2008)

I think there was something wrong with your one…my new one which is still very tight and only just run in has already recorded 130mph on the speedo (…on a private closed road obviously;) ) - I realise that speedos are not necessarily the most accurate, but I am quite experienced at speed and it felt about right:)

Top speed on the one I had was 122 indicated flat out in sixth gear…also brand new.

The good thing about it though was that it was perfectly comfortable at this speed, whereas 122 indicated on the Fazer for any length of time and my helmet’s being ripped off my head by the wind.

133 indictated on mine…K4-S model,
REVi-off the lights its quick as most thanks to the torque (god bless V-twins), and it handles very well, teh only thing i dont like is at speed it can get twitchy over bumps. but i weigh sod all so maybe thats why;) mines gonna get treated a steeringdamper!!
its a good bike, i love mine, sometimes it isnt fast enough, whenyour with bigger bikes it will feel slow, but they are good for 135 odd, what more do you need really? oh last but defo not least, have heard an SV with a proper can on it? :w00t:

[Chenster]

get a black zx10r…

[Johnse1]

Ratty46 (02/07/2008) [hr
only thing i dont like is at speed it can get twitchy over bumps. but i weigh sod all so maybe thats why;) mines gonna get treated a steeringdamper!!

Mine doesn’t do that… maybe you should follow my eating plan…that would solve it:)

[Ratty46]

Chenster10R (02/07/2008)

get a black zx10r…

no…dont…:D:P

[Ratty46]

Johnse1 (02/07/2008)

Ratty46 (02/07/2008) [hr
only thing i dont like is at speed it can get twitchy over bumps. but i weigh sod all so maybe thats why;) mines gonna get treated a steeringdamper!!

Mine doesn’t do that… maybe you should follow my eating plan…that would solve it:)

hahaha belive me i eat some!! mega fast metabolism!

needs a damper;) will get one too!

[repiV]

Ratty46 (02/07/2008)

133 indictated on mine…K4-S model,
REVi-off the lights its quick as most thanks to the torque (god bless V-twins), and it handles very well, teh only thing i dont like is at speed it can get twitchy over bumps. but i weigh sod all so maybe thats why;) mines gonna get treated a steeringdamper!!
its a good bike, i love mine, sometimes it isnt fast enough, whenyour with bigger bikes it will feel slow, but they are good for 135 odd, what more do you need really? oh last but defo not least, have heard an SV with a proper can on it? :w00t:

It was the '07 model I had…I was about to say the difference in top speed is quite odd, but then you said you weigh sod all and I’m nearly 15 stone so that probably accounts for it. I know if I stick someone of average weight on the back of my Fazer it knocks almost 20mph off the top end.

It is a nice bike, and I had a lot of fun with it, but I wouldn’t own one. The riding position is far too uncomfortable for me to be able to consider it an all-rounder - if I was going to get something that crippling I’d go for a proper sportsbike. I also find the ultra-flat torque curve of the twin pretty boring, I prefer the elastic band feeling of the IL4…but naturally each to their own and I think that torque curve is one of the things that makes the SV such an accessible and friendly machine. Realistically the Fazer, touching 100bhp, is probably a little too powerful for the beginner bike it’s often promoted as.
That said, yes, the SV sounds amazing with a proper can.

To the OP, I really think you shouldn’t overlook the older Fazer. It’s a much better bike than the new model in almost every aspect and for the entire length of time they were in production they were the undisputed king of 600cc streetbikes. Save you a wad of cash, too.

[Franko]

[quote]
repiV (02/07/2008)

Ratty46 (02/07/2008)

To the OP, I really think you shouldn’t overlook the older Fazer. It’s a much better bike than the new model in almost every aspect and for the entire length of time they were in production they were the undisputed king of 600cc streetbikes. Save you a wad of cash, too.

When you say older - which model? This is interesting. In what way do you say theyre better?

Im thinking of going for a spanking new one as they’re all on 0% finance at the moment (and look very pretty).

[repiV]

Franko (03/07/2008)

When you say older - which model? This is interesting. In what way do you say theyre better?

Im thinking of going for a spankingnew oneas they’re all on 0% finance at the moment (and look very pretty).

The ones made between 1998 and 2003, known as the FZS600 rather than the FZ6.
The new Fazer is a completely different bike that just happens to take the same name. The older bike is more powerful, less revvy, more fun…just better. Imagine the fun factor of the Fazer you’ve ridden with the immediacy of the Bandit or Hornet and more punch than any of those bikes. Get a test ride on one and you’ll see what I mean.

The '02 and '03 models are best of all because they have much better headlights, a bigger tank and a much nicer front fairing. The earlier bike is pretty ugly, there’s no escaping that.

'98 - '01:

'02 - '03:

[Johnse1]

repiV (02/07/2008)

Ratty46 (02/07/2008)

133 indictated on mine…K4-S model,
REVi-off the lights its quick as most thanks to the torque (god bless V-twins), and it handles very well, teh only thing i dont like is at speed it can get twitchy over bumps. but i weigh sod all so maybe thats why;) mines gonna get treated a steeringdamper!!
its a good bike, i love mine, sometimes it isnt fast enough, whenyour with bigger bikes it will feel slow, but they are good for 135 odd, what more do you need really? oh last but defo not least, have heard an SV with a proper can on it? :w00t:

It was the '07 model I had…I was about to say the difference in top speed is quite odd, but then you said you weigh sod all and I’m nearly 15 stone so that probably accounts for it. I know if I stick someone of average weight on the back of my Fazer it knocks almost 20mph off the top end.

I don’t think it’s the weight of the rider…I’ve had 130 on the clocks of my '08…and sadly it’s been a while since I’ve been the right side of 15 stone

[Franko]

Hey everyone. Thanks a lot for all your input into this. Some great advice and you convinced me to test drive the hornet!

All 3 are great bikes. Just to let you know what I finally plumped for…

I put down my desposit on a Kawasaki Z750 yesterday. Dunno where that popped up from. Rode it and loved it. It had all the good points of the other 3 bikes in one.

Thanks a lot all. See you on the road!