Any one got a restricted bandit 600?

[mikesaa309]

We finally got my Bandit 600 on the road this Tuesday and took it out for a ride. From what people have told me I was expecting it not to perform well but I was surprised. Even in 6th gear at 30 it pulls even with my fat bulk on the back of it.

We went down the A43 and overtook most of the cars on there before turning off. Each time it accelerated quite quick and when we turned off dad slowed down and said all that was in top gear, I was like what? He still isn't used to it enough to really rev it through the gears but considering most of the time he goes no lower than 5th gear it accelerates well, not sure if it has anything to do with the Viper exhaust system on it or whether at some point it's been bored out but certainly wasn't expecting it to be as quick as it is from what people have said about it.

Anyway sadly for me I have to have it restricted to 46.6 bhp. I've passed my mod 1 just gotta do my mod 2 obviously, but just wondering if anyone has a restricted bandit 600 and what it performs like. What's it's top speed and acceleration like? I have spoken to people who have bandit 600's that are suppose to be restricted but haven't bothered, I'm tempted not to but not sure how easy it is to police it and if I ever crash it I'm fucked.

[Az]

I rode my bandit 600 for 3 months unrestricted (on private land of course) and then 2 weeks a go I decided to put my 47bhp restrictors in to see how much slower it was.

It's surprisingly not that much slower, the difference in power is noticeable at higher revs but it still pulls extremely well. Top speed is 110mph when restricted and it still accelerates pretty quick, enough to entertain me and it'll feel stupidly fast if you've just come off a 125.
I've actually found myself having more fun pushing the bike to its limits while restricted than cruising along while it's full powered. For those reasons i've decided to keep my restrictors in as it's just as fun, if not more fun in my case, as the bikes power is ideal for my riding ability (it may well be different with you) and of course you're riding legally. I know there's a slim chance of being caught but in my case 47bhp was more than enough and perfect for me so i've decided to keep them in. With the bike restricted it's still very easy to overtake and stay ahead of traffic and I'll most likely keep my restrictors in until I can do my full A license.

As for difference in performance, I found the bike to be no different before 5k revs, as an example in 1st gear @ 5k revs it does 20mph, 2nd gear @ 5k revs it does 30mph, 3rd gear @ 5k revs it does 40mph and so on when both restricted and unrestricted, it's just lost most of that power higher up in the revs but as i said, it's still feels fast and gets to 80/90mph pretty quick but the power starts to fall off around 95mph and then its a little wait before it hits 110mph, where as when it was not restricted it pulled to 100-120mph pretty quickly and was then a push to do 125-130mph (125-130 indicated, I doubt the bike was ever doing 130 in real speed).

All of the above speeds were tested on private land and I have always ridden within the restrictions of my license

[Rogue_Shadow]

Not a Bandit but a SV650, so very similar.
I'm restricted to 33bhp & I've kept mine restricted for the entire term of my "probation" or whetever they call it.
Long story short I can honestly say I've never had a dull moment or considered removing it. The bike is still eager off the line & more than enough for me to handle at my current level. It might be down to SV's working well with restrictions or maybe I'm easily entertained.

Good luck with Mod 2 & don't worry about being restricted.
Other than unfortunately limiting your choice of bike, you won't be disappointed

[MotorbikerTom]

I'd say definitely restrict it. So many people don't, but i'd rather not invalidate my insurance and be riding around uninsured.

I kept my GS and Hornet restricted for 2 years '(got the hornet after a year into my restriction), that was only with 33bhp and they were fine, got a bit bored but that just happens. I imagine with 47bhp you will be more than satisfied for the two years. All the best
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CBT: 19/02/11 - Mod 1: 27/03/11 - Mod 2: 01/04/11
'97 GS500E > '03 Hornet 600 > '16 Street Triple 675

[Robby]

How does this new licencing law work then? Do you now have a 46bhp restriction period instead of 33bhp, or is there some time that has to be spent on a 125 first?

Taking a Bandit down to 46bhp shouldn't make too much difference in normal riding, you still have more than half of the original power output.

[mikesaa309]

not too bad then restricted. I guess anything has got to be better than a 125 to be fair lol.

Yeah the new laws now state that if your between 17 - 18 you can only ride a 125, you can pass your test to take pillions and go on motorways but 125 is the max CC. Then when you're 19 - 20 you can take another test on a 500cc bike which allows you to ride virtually any CC bike but has to be 92 bhp or less and then it has to be restricted to 47 bhp (well 46.6 technically) then when you're 21 and over you take another test but on a 600 that hasn't been restricted and once you pass this test you can ride any bike you like any CC any bhp.

I didn't do the 125 test didn't see the point, I have no intentions to take people on the back of a 125 it pulls shit enough with just me on it, let alone someone on the back too. So 3 tests needs to be taken before you can ride whatever bike you like, and it's the exact same test but on a bigger more powerful bike each time which is just pointless IMO. I

If people need to be slowly introduced to powerful bikes because they don't understand the concept of throttle and clutch control then they shouldn't be riding at all. Not to mention that whilst doing lessons and tests even on bigger bikes you can't go over the speed limit so you don't actually learn to control a powerful bike at higher speeds anyway it's just pointless and another money making scheme.

[Kickstart]

Hi

The restrictor acts much as though the throttle is just not opened fully, and that has far more effect at low revs than high revs (ie, whack the throttle open at low revs and the carb can flow far more air than the engine can process). Bike magazine have quite often done dyno tests at full throttle and at 40% throttle, and they tend to show very little difference between those runs at low revs.

[defblade]

Spent 2 years riding my 650 bandit @33bhp, and 2 years since unrestricted.

Bandit engine is not especially fast anyway, but is pretty torquey, will pull happily from 30 in 4th restricted or not.

@33, it didn't like revving the last 2,000 from 10k to 12k much - better to change up - and the acceleration rate dropped much above about 85mph.

So the two main times the restriction really made a difference:

1) a full bore acceleration run... well, you don't want to run it all the way through first anyway from sheer mechanical sympathy, and by the top end of third you're well over any UK speed limits, so actually it's really just for .5 secs at the top of 2nd gear that it makes a difference.

2) If you want to run above about 85mph a lot - not always sensible in the UK...



So OK, yes, it is a little bit faster all the time once the washers are out, on the other hand my mpg dropped about 10% almost overnight too

The change from 125 will-I-die-overtaking-this-50mph-git, oh-my-god-I-hate-70mph-roads to 33bhp bye-bye-suckers was MUCH bigger than 33 to 66 or 77 or whatever I'm supposed to have now, in my real world riding.


(My plan is to add about 100bhp extra for the next bike, see if that's a bit more noticeable )
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Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[TheSmiler]

Interesting thread, considering a faired bandit for my next bike.
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CB125>CG125>GN125>ER5>K100RS>R1100RS>K100RS
A2 completed 23/07/15 Ready for the Golden Crisp Packet

[-Matt-]

I had my ZX6 restricted from 114 to 33bhp for 2 years. Many people said it would be slow/boring/not pull the weight. It really wasn't from my experience

Having come off a 125 and even after riding a couple of bikes unrestricted briefly it never felt remotely slow or underpowered day to day. Personally i'd just restrict it and ride it 'all legal' etc and enjoy it as i'm sure you will. Its good practice. Two years flys by.

I enjoy it unrestricted now - but again, day to day half the time its irrelevant.

[j.silvs]

Licenses don't automatically upgrade unfortunately.

Will be interesting to see when the 2 years are up and people take the A test to see if the DSA know how to process it all.

I quite like bandits myself. If your on a restriction you may want to consider changes the sprockets? As your high end is capped you can get even more out of the low end with doing this. May need a speedo healer tho... Just a thought

[mikesaa309]

[XanderZZR]

Perception of speed depends on what your experiences are. Bandits are a good first big bike choice, reliable, cheap to run and forgiving

Yours looks really tidy, the silver is nice.
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2013 ZZR1400 : current bike

[j00pY]

People and mags say that they are slow and boring because they are now on technology that is 10+ years more developed. These bikes were hailed as cheap, hooligan toys when they first came out. That hasn't changed. You can still have loads of fun on them. You won't have anything to worry about with the bandit and restriction, you'll just have a blast riding it and learning how to ride a slower bike fast.

In 10 years time, everyone will be saying that the MT-07 is the most boring bike ever etc...

[MC]

Check the previous MOT's online, gives you an idea of the mileage its coverage, although if its had an engine change its anyone's guess. Had a similar shock when I got the V5 back for my 125, saw 10 previous owners & thought hmm... forgot to check that. Think its always worth doing a text check, they also check for colour changes.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[mikesaa309]

[krarkol]

First week I got mine I had it without restrictors. Then when they arrived a week later whacked them in and I hated it.

I was just getting used to full power and then suddenly took most of that away.

Although I didn't actually need to, I always got the urge to slip the clutch when setting off from lights when it was restricted. I think the general sluggishness made me feel like it was labouring?

It was still pretty quick looking back and probably saved me and a friend when the back stepped out on a bend with a shit load of salt grit piled in a streak on the only line available through the bend (right in between parked cars and oncoming traffic) if it was full power chances are it would have high sided us both.

Topped out at an indicated 105 while restricted.

It's currently dead and I'm awaiting the outcome of a claim, so I'm thinking of just sitting out my restriction till its up in November and then using bikes being cheaper in winter to my advantage and getting something like an '05 R1.

I've been tempted with a 600 due to better flickability but I'd never be a cornering god anyway so I'd like something that can excite me on power out of corners instead

Bandit was dyno'd without restriction at 82bhp after fitting a loud as fuck Delkevic slash cut stubby. Before that it was around 77-78.
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[defblade]

[rhys1005]

I heard this one guy has a unrestricted thundercat on 46(47?)bhp law and has had no issues. Infact it feels quite sluggish even though it's 100bhp! I'm glad said guy took them out because 33bhp on such a big bike is ridiculous.

I will say though when it ate two spark plugs, the 2 miles I rode it I actually had quite a bit of fun.. There's something about being able to thrash a bike and go through the gears without hitting silly speeds. But I wouldn't trade it for being able to sit at 130+ in comfort.

Still want to try a thou. First gear on the thundercat IMO (and probably most 600s if they are anything alike) is too short and the bottom end power is too low. Any shorter gearing it would annoy the fuck out of me and any taller gearing would just make it pull away from low rpms even slower.

Off topic but.. I've heard 'range of power' mentioned before as the reason why v twins pull so well from low rpm.. Not their torque. But would their higher torque help pull taller gearing at low rpm?

[CaNsA]

[Fisty]

[Kickstart]

[haroman666]

Restricted my Bandit 400 when I first got it. They were out within a week. But then I did tend to ride with the throttle pulled right back to the stop everywhere... The 600 being heavier and not much more powerful, i'm certain it will be as quick and nimble as a pissed up Boris Johnson contending on Takeshi's Castle.
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The mistresses: 2000 Honda CBR600f, 2000 Honda VTR1000

[Pol Anorl]

[Rogue_Shadow]