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Very nice!!! That looks like a fun bike. I always did like the Bandits. I was just camping this week and saw a 1200 bandit and a 600 bandit, both faired and set up with a load of bags! These guys were getting some real distance. They rode down from up North (Pennsylvania I think). They looked very sharp.

How does it ride?

nice bike. Hows it ride

I dunno yet. I was hoping to see it this weekend but I called the owner yesterday and he was just leaving to go out of state. He'll be back on Wednesday, so he said that Thursday or Friday would be a good time to stop by and see it.

Only then will I unleash my incredible riding skillz upon a world that's been waiting to see them for years...

(ok, so maybe I'll actually just try to focus on not falling over when on it)

Met the seller and rode the bike tonight for a few minutes. Bike was in as good shape as he said, although I had a guy with me who said it needed new brake fluid and maybe new front/rear brake pads. Also, he (being a more experience biker than I) also took it out further and got it up to speed, he said the power band was a little odd in that the RPM's slowed at 6000 and then kicked in hard. He said that this is just how it is with some bikes (although he may be able to tweak it so it doesn't happen, but I dunno yet).

I think I'mgoing to try to talk the seller down to $1450 at least, hopefully $1400 as he's asking a bit more than I think it's worth.

Hopefully I'll have wheels of my own in the next few days though, w00t!

kabob983 wrote:Also, he (being a more experience biker than I) also took it out further and got it up to speed, he said the power band was a little odd in that the RPM's slowed at 6000 and then kicked in hard. He said that this is just how it is with some bikes (although he may be able to tweak it so it doesn't happen, but I dunno yet).

What you describe is normal for the Bandit 400's powerband. The stock bike has a flat spot at midrange, then it goes like a bandit from 7K to 13K.

I think by "odd" he meant he just wan't used to it. He rides a V-twin Hawk GT with a pretty steady powerband, no jumps, so when it the bandit's power did kick in, it suprised him a lil' bit.

Is this really a good starter bike? Sure it's 400cc but it's a high-revving 4 cylinder engine, which is supposed to be bad. Sticky posts on this very site say so.

It's a high-revving 4 cylinder bike with lower horsepower and torque. The power is about the same as the GS500 and just slightly less than the Ninja 500, both of which are "high revving I4's" but are known as being fantastic starter bikes.

kabob983 wrote:It's a high-revving 4 cylinder bike with lower horsepower and torque. The power is about the same as the GS500 and just slightly less than the Ninja 500, both of which are "high revving I4's" but are known as being fantastic starter bikes.

huh? according to the specs linked, Bandit has 54hp / 28 lf.ft. That's a little more power than ninja 500 ( 49hp / 30 lf.ft ). Neither ninja 500 nor gs500 are "high revving I4's". They are twins, so they will not rev up to anywhere near Bandit, and have a more flat powerband.

Sorry, I am mistaken. You're right, both are V-Twins. For some reason I thought they were I4's...oh well.

My source said the Ninja has 60hp/33.9lbs torque though, it may be incorrect though. Either way, I would prefer the flatter powerband of a V-Twin to learn on, but I simply cannot find one within my budget range. I've been looking since November, and this seems like a pretty good alternative for me.