CBandit

[rob16v2]

Now I'm just waiting on a new gasket, then it can all go back together. I'm also changing the oil and filter while it's all apart.

[rob16v2]

...gone

[rob16v2]

Going...going

[rob16v2]

Time to break out the Wonder Stuff

[rob16v2]

Cover came off really easily. Looks pretty good in there for a now 27 year old bike...

[rob16v2]

This has been annoying me for a while. I had some slight oil misting from the cooler, and when I wiped it off, it took away some of the paint. These are Yoshi magnesium covers, which come from the factory in a lovely brown/green crinkle finish. I tracked this one down first and painted it black; when I eventually found a stator cover, I left it au naturel. Time to strip it back.

[rob16v2]

Spot on, and now a doddle to park!

...plus it's nice to have another bit of the original bike on there.

[rob16v2]

The angle wasn't quite right at first, which meant some heat from my trusty blowtorch and some light hammering in my trusty vice. Plus a bit of swearing.

[rob16v2]

A job I've been meaning to do for about four years...the sidestand is off a GSXR750 and the bit you put your foot on wasn't really long enough to clear the frame rail, so I ended up bending down and doing it literally by hand. This is actually the knob from my original Bandit - I had to grind it off to clear my rearsets when I was doing trackdays, and there it stayed in my toolbox until I finally got round to asking my brother to weld it for me.

[rob16v2]

[rob16v2]

...talking of jobs, when I got home I noticed a lot of misting all down the left hand side, including on my new Sidi boots, as well as the carbs. I can't tell if it's the oil cooler union, which always wept a bit, or the base gasket, which is more worrying. I'll keep an eye on it for now and see if it gets any worse.

[rob16v2]

These cool minimalist switches are by Renard. Currently, I am running a mix of Fireblade and original Bandit switchgear, which looks a bit odd. Job for the Winter, we both agreed.

[rob16v2]

Haven't posted for a while...Chichester today to see a man about a wiring loom. I met Dan from Mono Motorcycles (www.monomotorcycles.co.uk) at the Kickback Show in April, and we got talking about doing a proper loom for the CBandit, rather than the chopped about Suzuki original. He mentioned they do breakfast drop ins over the summer, so off I went.

[rob16v2]

First proper ride out of 2025, to meet an old friend from school I haven't seen on 35 years...we used to ride out on our mopeds together! Bike didn't miss a beat...

[rob16v2]

And we're done. For another year at least. Now if only it would warm up a bit so I could actually ride it...

[rob16v2]

It's hard to see from the pic, but changing the filter is a bit of a mission. There isn't enough room between the Racefit downpipes to get it out that way, so it has to come out the bottom, which means disconnecting one of the oil rad feed pipes. Slight pain, but it only adds an extra ten minutes or so to the job.

[rob16v2]

While the weather's rubbish, I thought I'd treat it to an oil and filter. 3300ccs of semi synth 10w 40, since you're asking. I don't think I got round to it last winter, although it's only done about 1000 miles in that time, and the oil that came out was as fresh as the day it went in.