Ohlins, where to buy (NSW Sydney)

Yup. That was what I should have done..... :-(

Can't remember who, but there was a Pommie mob, who had good prices,
and, deducted their VAT for o/s orders.

OTOH, I have to say that I was very happy with the end result.

Frankly, tho, if you are a bit iffy about keeping the Bandit, it might
not be as good a result for you.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Well the two main things that shit me about the Bandit are:

- poor cornering capability two up particularly on rough roads, which I
had mostly put down to simple lack of ground clearance - so I've taken
off the centre stand last weekend but it's been too wet to try and see
if that makes a difference (heading off for a ride shortly to find out),
but w/end before last doing the Mac pass I noticed the problem was as
much a damping and rebound problem as anything else - hitting rough
patches it would wallow and bounce it's way down to max compression.

The Ohlins should significantly improve that.

- Second issue is the seating position, it's bearable one up but not
brilliant, but two up it sucks - the seat slides you down onto the tank

I've ordered a Corbin seat to fix that.

Both the Ohlins and the Corbin can be flogged seperately (along with the
Carbon pipe) when I sell the Bandit in stock form in 06 that should
allow me to be not too much out of pocket aside from the usual
depreciation and etc

The only other thing I'm iffy about is it's a bit truck like, but I've
decided I'm better off keeping it for two up work and getting a proper
sports bike (R1/R6/ZX6) rather than trying to get a compromise
sporty/two up bike.

JL

 

John Littler wrote:

Yes, it certainly should.

I couldn't even hazard a guess at the difference you'll get without the
centre stand, but, it _is_ a big lump of motorcycle, not particularly
designed for maximum lean angles.

Hope it works for you. I got a Corbin seat for the Suzi Intruder, and I
was very happy with the extra comfort of that, but, what it did on the
Suzi was make the riders bit of the seat noticably wider. This didn't
cause a prob for me on the very low seat height of the cruiser.

Must admit to being curious about that.

Do many "proper sports bikes" run away from you when you are riding the
KR1?

Enough to justify throwing a sack full of money into a "proper" sports bike?

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Bloody marvellous !!

I just got back from a ride, threw it hard into a right hander with dip
in the middle (getting through a light on the orange) and winced waiting
for the crunch and grind as it bottomed in the dip and... nothing !
Woohoo ! It definitely would have contacted there, so removing the
centre stand was definitely an improvement. At least an extra 3 or 4
degrees lean to the right (and going on the grind marks it's mostly the
right I was touching it, it's the peg and gear lever on the left)

I can't argue that - at 240Kg and a relatively stretched out wheelbase
and rake it's not exactly a sportsbike, stable as the Queen Mary through
a corner in fact, I did nickname it "Mack" after all !

But it should be able to be hustled through the corners a helluva lot
quicker than ground clearance and suspension has allowed to date. I'm
too short in the leg to get clearance by jacking the back up, however if
it stops bottoming out on the corners it should improve things.

Yeah I'm hoping I won't have that issue,it doesn't look any wider in the
pics on the website, and it's definitely lower as well. If it is then
I'll have to call Al Pennykid and get him to modify it for me.

Errr no On the road I have absolutely no problem keeping up with
most people on the KR1, and quite frankly if I can't keep up on the KR1
I doubt I'd keep up on an R1 anyway ! Anyone that damn quick or willing
to go that fast in a 100 zone on the straights I probably wouldn't be
able to stick with or be willing to go that fast in a straight line to
stick with.

Shhh Cam, I'm busily creating a justification for buying another bike,
don't go bringing rationality into it. And you should talk with your
shedful anyway

Kidding around aside, the KR1 while a great little sports bike is a
royal pain in the arse around town,is so hard edged a ride position I
have a maximum ride distance of about 300Km, and while it's fun at a
ride day to pit my 60hp against bikes with double and triple that (and
sometimes be faster in spite of the handicap), I'd like to be able to go
to the track and play on an even playing field.

Basically an R1 or R6 would be better for weekends through the Oxley
(one up), short day rides and hops around town and etc as well as being
a toy that I could find *my* limits at the track on, I've learnt how to
ride the wheels off the KR1, and while I'm sure a better rider could
probably go quicker on it, I've got everything learning wise I'm going
to get out of it. I want a new challenge. I know the current model
sports bikes are capable of way more than I am, so it's time to try and
lift my capability. I've been hanging off on doing Level 4 of the
superbike school until I'd plateaued and I think I'm there now. I can
definitely be a better rider than I am but I won't achieve that riding
what I'm riding.

JL