1996 Suzuki Bandit 1200 – Muscle Bike

Built for Power and Passion

Muscle bikes are for a special breed of rider, by no means a super popular style of machine but those that love them are die hard. We love to dip our toe in this genre of custom, as usually these bikes are built with performance in mind, not so much style - but why can’t you just have both?

During our initial conversations with our client it was evident he knew what he wanted out of the bike, and wasn’t afraid of the cost to get there. No corners cut, in terms of performance, aesthetics and finish quality was the brief, and the steps to get there were left up to us. The only thing not set was what bike we would build it on, so Pete went searching. Checking out all manner of big capacity four cylinders he settled on a Suzuki bandit, and to spite my best effort went and bought a bike that had been previously modified and “Rebuilt”. Those quote marks will make sense later.

From Track Days to Custom Builds: Pete’s Bandit Story

Pete is an Avid rider, and during the time his Suzuki bandit was in the making he took up racing and got thoroughly hooked. This love of speed drove his build to new heights as we searched for horsepower out of the big bore Suzuki 4 cylinder. The GSF1200 is a hugely popular bike in the UK, with a strong engine that fares well with performance upgrades and is known as a great base for a custom build.

As part of Purpose Built Moto’s ongoing commitment to doing whatever we like with as little boundaries as possible we took on the challenge of building Pete a brutal performance custom, so pretty that you wouldn’t be afraid to take it home to mother.

Where Style Meets Structure

Our start point was a set of Core moto forged wheels, on the advice of our mate Joe at ride dynamics. A super light, and perfectly performing wheel set that would up the styling of the bike while we were at it. Wrapped in some Pirelli Rosso 4 tyres and the stance now set we got to crafting a curvy subframe and seat section to compliment the shapely engine cradle and tank.

The subframe is shaped from a lightweight chromoly tube that snakes its way rearward and houses inside it a set of our omni lights hidden in the tubing, using the open end tubes as a set of brake lights. Those of you that have been here since the beginning will notice a very similar tail and frame design to our very first CX500 build all those years ago. Reduce, re-use, recycle right? This time I’m a bit better on the tools so instead of a carbon fibre composite tail, it's hand shaped aluminium.

Fine-Tuning the Ride Dynamics

With that in place and a seat pan roughed out it was time for a visit to Ride dynamics. Unfortunately the USD front end that had been previously fitted to the bike was pulled from a wrecked bike and while it looked good on the outside, it had some severe damage on the inside with some nasty surprises for Joe. Most parts were swapped out before the parts were re-finished in an anodised black fork tube and black nitride lowers.

The dark horse was taking shape. The forks were re-fitted to a set of cognito moto triple clamps and HEL radial callipers as Joe set focus on the rear.

If you’re a bandit fan you’ll know off the shelf performance upgrades for the rear shock are pretty thin on the ground, but when you’ve got one of the best in your corner that’s not much of an issue. Joe sourced an Ohlins TTX fully adjustable rear shock with remote reservoir and rebuilt it to be perfectly suited to our new lightened Suzuki Bandit 1200.

Inside the Engine: Uncovering Hidden Damage

Once back at our shop the engine was pulled for rebuild, we were cautious of what we would find inside as the rest of the modifications previously completed were pretty sub par. Unfortunately, our fears were confirmed as the engine was opened up to find a mess of mistakes, and ill performed modifications.

The only thing salvageable was the bank of Mikuni RS carbs, and the upgraded cam that hadn’t done much time in the bike. Among the damaged parts needing attention were a damaged oil pump, worn rockers, marked crank journals and just about every important internal bolt overtorqued.

This meant a host of new parts and time intensive thread and crank repairs. This on top of these engines becoming hard to find parts for made for a challenging rebuild. It could have been half assed but that’s not what we do at PBM.

Performance Upgrades and Engine Rebuild

Now for the fun stuff - the performance upgrades. Starting at the bottom the Bandits crank has been knife edged by RPE in Bathurst, with a set of NOS OEM conrods fitted and balanced to suit the Wossner High compression Big bore kit that brings the GSF1200 up to 1305cc at 9.5:1. This takes some intensive machining to fit new cylinder sleeves and clearance the crank cases to suit the new set up, as well as requiring an external oiling system to feed the top end. The performance cam shaft from a GSXR has been lightly surfaced before being re-fitted with new rockers, and oversize valves from Abuso racing.

The head itself was aggressively ported to let this monster breathe. With all of this work complete we thought it wise to keep her cool with a full set of Teflon hoses and a HEL upgraded oil cooler.

Learning Through the Build Process

We’re learning a lot of lessons quickly on performance builds as we delve deeper into building engines, mistakes will always happen. The important thing is that we assess how they happened, adjust our process and learn by pushing forward.

As re-assembly started, an oversight on our end led to some complications with the crank main bearings that needed some attention to get tolerances right before the cases were closed up to fight another day. This coupled with a new oil pump, upgraded clutch and ignition system, and some specially made DNA performance filters would ensure this bike would steal attention away from the other much more modern and powerful bikes in Pete’s stable.

Crafting the Custom Exhaust Design

With the engine re-fitted to the frame, attention turned again to styling this bike out. With a lot of flowy lines to this frame we made the call to lean into this and build and exhaust to suit. I came up with an idea to split the tail pipe in two and run 2 x 76mm (3”) stainless tubes built with internal mufflers. The slight radius used was achieved by roll bending a few sections of the large diameter tube so our custom exhaust would get some subtle but definitive curves.

The challenge was getting the internals shaped to suit that curve and fitted in place so we would get a straight pipe look, but with that perfect muffled note. We persevered as we always do and nailed the design that was completed by some honeycomb mesh welded to the muffler tip - very Moto GP reminiscent.

Bringing the Build to Life with Sound and Style

You’ll hear this bike in our test ride video on youtube and man it sounds good. A big bore, high compression 4 cylinder pulls like a freight train through the rev range and sounds incredible from Idle to redline.

Our final jobs before paint design were fitting the 5.75” PBM Flashpoint headlight and mounting kit, Shaping up a bikini fairing to house the gauge cluster and welding up a clean and functional front fender. The fabrication was complete and the conversation started with Pete about paint design.

We landed on an old Enduro colour scheme used by Suzuki in the 80s and 90’s Black, red and white. Laying lines on the sheet metal until something clicked, and complementing it with some track inspired detailing and a Japanese Suzuki logo on the tail. Simple lines that compliment the work we created by hand that lets the shape do the talking. Perfectly Executed by Nathan at Livin Loco Garage that laid down the paint on this build for us.

Final Touches and Finishing Details

Final assembly was underway as we decked out the handlebars with PBM Push button switches, mirrors and brake fluid cups. Front indicators are our new Omni lights, mounted in with the bar end mirror kit (a prototype for a future product) a bit fiddly but the ultra clean result speaks for itself. Complemented by a full suite of HEL brake equipment from clutch and brake masters to front and rear callipers, this big girl stops on a dime and has amazing brake and clutch feel.

The electronics are handled by the Purpose Built Moto Black Box module that controls the lighting and cuts power to the upgraded Dynatek Ignition when needed. As we pressed on edging closer to that first ride, Jamason from Timeless auto trim blessed the seat with a second skin style Alcantara seat cover that fits so good it looks like it's sprayed on.

Bringing the Bandit 1200 to Life

The aggressive lines of the Bandit 1200 were really starting to shine as the street presence of this machine became evident even on our work bench. As we rolled it off and primed the oil lines for its first start the whole shop was excited at the prospect of this machine. Even Cody our resident chopper lord and Gio the italian bike aficionado, no one can deny a well built muscle bike.

The key was turned, the launch button pushed and with a pop and a rumble the bike roared to life for its first heat cycle. After some run-in procedures we started venturing further and faster on this bike, making sure each piece of the machine we had crafted was doing its job.

When Performance Meets Control

The ride on these bikes is always an interesting one. If executed right a bulky lump of an engine book ended by some incredible suspension can feel feather light and handle with ease. I’m not the fastest rider but I know when something feels right, and the ingredients on this build have yielded an impressive road feel. Its demanding from low revs with a torquey feel, the engine just pulls right through to the top end. Performance street suspension is direct and removes the doughy feel these bikes are known for, creating a much more confidence inspiring ride as you point it through corners and get to deleting those chicken strips on the Pirelli rubbers.

Lets hope Pete gives us a call when it hits the track so we can go have some fun with him and film it.

Thanks for taking time to check out the blog, if you need parts for your build hit up the “Shop by build page” and get shopping.