My Suzuki Bandit 1250

Well, here's my latest bike, which is a 2008 model Suzuki GSF1250SAK8 (ABS model).  The base model should look like this:

When I bought it, it looked like this:

It had a Yoshimura TRS, Scottoiler, factory lower fairing, GiPro ATRE, Rad Guard radiator guard, Fender Extender, headlight protector and a BMC air filter.  It also had a hugger, Vario screen and a tail tidy, so most of the big money was already spent.  I never liked the tail tidy, as I ride all the time and felt too much water was being splashed out the rear.  I didn't much like the tiny rear indicators either, so I managed to source a replacement fender and indicators.

The Rad Guard is nicely made and very solid:

The Scottoiler was also nicely tucked under the seat in a vertical position:

So what's been done now?

The first thing was to get a top box and some luggage.  The Givi PLX side racks and Monokey plate for a top box was the way to go:

This needed some modification of the Yoshi TRS rear mount so the muffler sat a little lower, or the right hand case didn't clear it. A piece of aluminium strip soon sorted that:

The Yoshi also got a noise insert as it was a bit too loud for 5.30 am starts:

I also sourced the red side panels for the cases and red top box insert.  The case also had the internal light and brake light kit fitted.  I also managed to source the genuine "Suzuki" badges to replace the Givi ones on all three cases.  The setup is 50mm narrower than the Suzuki factory setup:

The personalised plate surround made a nice touch.

A set of heated grips (Oxford Sports) helped with cold fingers during winter.  You can see the controller and the centrally mounted Gi Pro between the instruments.  Also visible are mirror extenders (SW Motech), which help reduce the view of your elbows, and a carbon fibre yoke cover.:

A stainless steel, rubber covered cigarette lighter outlet allows for things to be charged.  I also plug my trickle charger into the same port to charge the bike's battery if needed.

A Stebel Nautilus air horn is mounted under the left fairing inner.  These should be fitted to every bike and are far better than any car horn:

A set of crash posts (GSG) also help protect the investment:

You can see them in the first photo as well.  They mount onto a specially designed set of mounts due to the lower fairing.  A nice piece of kit.

A set of BikeVis bullet light LEDs was fitted.  They are the yellow pieces under the fairing and are extremely bright.  I also replaced the headlight bulbs (Narva Platinums) and the marker lamps in the headlights for LEDs to provide a more pronounced visual signature to car drivers.

Performance has been enhanced with a Dale Walker Stage 1 kit (www.holeshot.com).  The bike already had a better breathing BMC filter and Yoshi pipe, so the essence of the mod was the TFI box, plugging the PAIR line to prevent popping on deceleration, cutting a hole in the airbox lid and fitting an O2 sensor plug.  Easily done by the average handyman, and what a difference.  Much smoother, revs right through to redline, no impact on fuel mileage and a lot more power and torque that you can feel.  The heart of it is shown below: