bandit 12 vs. speed triple

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Let's stick to early 2000s models of each for the sake of comparison - which will mean going with the 955 version of the triumph. Which is the better bike? Which handles better?

Apparently the triumph made 120bhp and weighed in at 189kg whilst the bandit put out 100bhp and tipped the scales at 214kg. Those specs look a bit on the optimistic side for the triple, I thought.

Anyway, who's owned both and how do they compare - and if you could only own one of them again, which would you prefer?
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Hawkeye1250FA]

I've only owned the bandit.......

But I'd have the triumph 🤣
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1993 RF400R - 2002 Bandit 1200 - 2012 1250 FA

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I'd have to ride both of em back to back - and/but have never ridden either. If i absolutely had to go with one or the other right now, it'd be the bandit i reckon. Although if resale value was a criterion and i could sell it on, probably the triple as i think there's an unwarranted cult around pretty much anything triumph.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Polarbear]

I've had a 955i Tiger and liked the engine. I don't know if it was detuned for that but no way was it 120 gee gee's.

The older Triumphs were way over engineered and the 1200 Bandit was built to a price. The 955i speed wasn't the prettiest of bikes either.

If the money was the same, the Triumph everytime but after saying that the Bandit wasn't a bad bike. A friend who had one could hustle it very respectably.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[chickenstrip]

Sounds like an interesting comparison. I feel I'd prefer the Triumph, but couldn't give a reason why, never having ridden either...either
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
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[chickenstrip]

[Polarbear]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[chickenstrip]

Suzuki have been in the business of building strong litre-plus engines for a long time, always popular for the drag strip. GS1000, GSX1100, GSXR1100, and the Bandit 12. They can handle a great deal of tuning.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Polarbear]

[stevo as b4]

Bit of a hypothetical (making conversation) topic, seeing as your not buying it, but I like the Triumph best for the chassis and the looks. The reason to buy an old 1200 bandit for me would be for a cheap naked ride, especially as a fixer upper.

If your after an old school customising project or an easy big engine to tune for serious power then there's two more reasons. And the fact that bandit parts will be around for decades and at affordable prices.

I'd like a nuclear red or Acid green Speed triple so much more, but there is plenty of choice of similar era and similar weight and size big nakeds to choose from if that was the sole criteria.

For re-sale value or future classic appreciation then the Kawasaki ZRX is the bike to have I reckon.

[JackButler]

The speed triple is what the Bandit should have morphed into, not the horrible tourer it became.

I'd be looking at a ZZR1100. Lots about, cheap, vastly underrated & mostly mature owners so usually in great shape for their age.
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I clean my guns with the tears of the snivelling, left wing scum.

[Kentol750]

Having ridden both, I'd have the bandit with the triple engine. The triple felt too perched on on rather than involved in the riding. But the midrange was better than the il4. Actually preferred a Daytona 955 over the speed triple. As said before though, bandits a legendary for their longevity.
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Some bikes.

[MarJay]

My Daytona 955i made 115bhp on a dyno. 180kg sounds low for a 955i Speed Triple too, but for a 1050? Yeah, and also a bit more power. If you go for a 1050 then it's a definitely great bike. I've never really rated the Bandit 1200. You can liberate more horses if you want, but I think the frame and cycle parts are a bit... eh...
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[JackButler]

[stevo as b4]

I agree with Marjay and I think that the bandit always suffered from being a monoshocked semi modern looking naked, while also half straddling the retro bike market. Take away the awesome big oil cooled legendary engine, and I think its got nothing much going for it.

When the Fazer 600 came out, yes it was a cheap parts bin special, and modern naked trying to offer as much bike as possible for a bargain price. It never had an ounce of retro appeal which I feel that the bandit was trying to capture?

The XJR was a true retro big bruiser of a naked also with a big legendary handsome looking engine but far more successful styling and probably better brakes and suspension than the bargain basement bandit.

The ZRX made the point of a modern retro naked superbike replica far better too, and showed how Suzuki missed an opportunity to make a modern Yoshi GS1000 or XR69 replica.

Nothing wrong with the bandit as a cheap bargain naked, but it never really specialised in any area which is its biggest failing IMO. On the positive side it made the aftermarket anodised tat manufacturer's a bloody fortune.

[chickenstrip]

[stevo as b4]

True the bandit was really an earlier version of what the Fazer did more effectively, but at £3999 it got loads of born agains back on the road and passing their bike test. At the time if I had £3999 I'd personally have rather spent it on a new Aprilia RS extrema or Gilera SP02 but that's just me.

For me a retro bike has to be styled on a specific earlier machine or be a replica of something in a manufacturer's back catalogue even if it uses no parts from earlier bikes.

Some retros fail miserably though like the new Suzuki Katana which is a GSX1000F with a different tank and headlight and had no essense of the original machine.

[chickenstrip]

[MarJay]

[chickenstrip]

[Nobby the Bastard]

Didn't think much of the original katana?

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.spartgsxrspecials.com/ALBUMS/lucky%207%20katana/index.html

Can be seen occasionally on the roads round bath.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[chickenstrip]

Not really. Of course, it was a powerful bike in its day, and that appealed to me, but I got used to the look rather than actively liking it.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[redeem ouzzer]

The advantage of the B12 is that it uses a variation of the 1127 GSXR engine and can be quickly derestricted using K model cams, an open can and some jetting mods. Once this is done it'll annihilate a Speed Triple and most other nakeds apart from those derived directly from modern superbikes.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[matelot]

I really like them, here's my very 90's green 955i. Did not expect it to have as much front end feel as it does.

https://cloughnm.blob.core.windows.net/moto/IMG_20191004_172227.JPG