Scott’s Suzuki Bandit 1200

Scott has other bikes but this Bandit is the one he likes best: just an engine and two wheels. He’d bought a load of Motogadget parts and fitted the battery in the tail unit. All I had to do was join everything up.

In the end it was a bit trickier than that, because the stock Suzuki ignition box refused to produce a spark. I’m not sure why – there is possibly a resistor it needs somewhere. We decided to do what I always do and get a new ignition from Jiri and Blanka at Ignitech in the Czech Republic. Voila – the engine ran like a dream.

Scott is in the car bodyshop business so he’d painted the Bandit a BMW blue, and fitted the tail/indicator LED inside the rear loop. There was still a fair bit to organise at the front: make spacers and mounts for the keyless ignition and horn, mount the M-Unit, fit the push-button switchgear with through-the-bars wiring, and find a way to hide as much of the wiring as possible.

It was a real pleasure when it fired up with the Ignitech, and Scott was absolutely delighted to see the bike when he came to pick it up. He’s got a few more jobs: find a new throttle twistgrip and choke mechanism to replace the originals that are part of the OEM switchgear; source a headlight; finish fitting the seat/tail unit; and find a mudguard. On top of that he’s got plans to add more trick bits.

With a bit of luck we will see the finished bike in a few months.