Honda CB-1 vs Suzuki Bandit 400

[mrbones]

Has anyone ridden a Suzuki Bandit 400? How does it compare to the CB1?

[mirror man]

no,hope that helps lol

[mrbones]

no,hope that helps lol

Are they as popular as the CB-1 in the UK?

[ptlcb1]

Way back in the day, one of the US magazines, did a test with our CB-1 against a Bandit and if I remember correctly, our CB-1 beat it in every test.  I did have the opportunity of being on the track once with a Bandit and I smoked it all day long  

[Drewski]

There's no comparison, the Bandit was a budget bike and is reknown for it's unreliability whereas the CB-1 was highly engineered and revolutionary with hardly any expense spared on it's design. If you're having to pick between the two, it's a no brainer believe me.

[ptlcb1]

I agree with the man above!   

[91cb-1]

I am in complete agreement, my cousin had four bandits, each one a different year because each year there was a different manufacturing fault! plus the bandit components were not interchangeable between years!
CB-1 all the way

[a_morti]

I had the misfortune to work on a bandit 400 once.

I will start by saying it had seen a bit of neglect in its time. But I will also say I have never seen a motorcycle that rough and hopefully never will again. Rusty bits and fixings *everywhere* and although it has nice double discs, the calipers are junk and were corroded to shit. The paint just won't stay put on the wheels. The trim is shoddy and largely not even fitted on very securely. The off centre tank filler boiled my piss just to look at. Who came up with that, and what were they smoking?

If it's true to contemporary Suzukis I've also worked on, the electrical wire will also be sub-standard to what you are used to on a Honda.

The lesson is, if you are comparing the two bikes there is only one to consider seriously. The other important point is there were only a handful of 400 bandits ever imported to the UK so they are even worse to get bits for than the CB-1, which is getting harder now as they get toward 20 years old.

[rupert55]

We race a CB-1 in the vintage classes. There is one guy runs a bandit 400, our bike laps faster but there is only one of each so who knows?

[X.A.]

We race a CB-1 in the vintage classes.

Waah! A guy from Montreal, very interested with details about CB1 Vintage Racing.
Tell us all the story!

X.A.

[rupert55]

OK, I found the bike on Kijiji in Brantford. Guy had made a new , bolt on rear subframe with a really neat ducati style under seat exhaust. Seat has a proper key release.  Battery is up front inside the TL/SV1000 fairing. He made an aluminum pan to shield the two little Hindle mufflers and topped it with a Ducati race seat. It's very well done, had lights and everything for the street which we had to remove to sadly for the track. The bike is now in the hands of my sixteen year old daughter who seems to be making a name for herself on it. She competes in the Honda CBR challenge in the Nationals on the 125 and also rides the CB-1 in local events. Unfortunately I don't have any spares for it at all. Looked at the local Honda dealer, most stuff is on three month back order, maybe not available. An extra pair of wheels would be nice so we can have rain tires. She dropped it on the left side and nearly went through the cover, no luck finding one. I won a couple of races on it in the spring, cleaned the Bandit off pretty good and just managed to get the Yam. I weigh 200lbs, she's only 110 so we are expecting good things once she is up to speed!  I'll try to get some pics up on Photobucket.

[rupert55]

Here are some pics if it works http://s580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/rupert55/CB-1/

[91cb-1]

Here are some pics if it works http://s580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/rupert55/CB-1/

Fantastic, Fair play to you and your daughter great lookin bike more incentive to get those wheels over to ya if it's not too expensive!!! Again great to see it!

[X.A.]

Ohh! Merci beaucoup !!!

I will take a close look on the nice rear section.
All my best wishes of success in racing, the fun you already have...!

X.A.

[a_morti]

Here are some pics if it works http://s580.photobucket.com/albums/ss241/rupert55/CB-1/

Looks great!