Email me at hackd@chairintheair.ca
This is the Bandit GSF1200S advertisement that first caught my attention in 1996, from the Suzuki Canada 1996 sales brochure. sales brochure
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Acquisition of the Bandit:

During May 2000, fresh from my return from Deal's Gap, I was caught in a moment of weakness after having experiencing mechanical difficulties with my '78 Suzuki GS1000 during the trip. While ordering yet more parts at the shop, one of the sales people spotted an obvious potential sale, and before i could utter 'sold', I had purchased from Cycle City in Burlington Ontario, CA a gently used 1999 Suzuki GSF1200S in bone-stock condition with a grand total of 2300 kilometers on the odometer. To be completely fair to the sales people at Cycle City, I was ripe for the plucking, as I had been spotted quite a few times over the past few years looking at several other bikes sitting on the showroom floor, but had always plead poverty when approached. This time they nailed me for a sale, when i threw out a price below the sticker price, not expecting it to be accepted. Instead, they made me sign on the dotted line for the offered price - damn, no more excuses. I guess they got real tired of wiping the drool off the showroom bikes, and needed to sell me one in the interests of improved showroom hygiene.

Rather than bore you further with details of my acquisition of the Bandit, I have linked to a text file that has a short commentary that I had written up, comparing the GS1000 to the GSF1200S Bandit. This link may be found here. It really is good reading, so I recommend that you check it out.



A photo of my old 1978 Suzuki GS1000, alongside the newcomer 1999 Suzuki GSF1200S Bandit. This is a nice contrast of the two bikes, that reveals the 21 years of evolutionary change of design by Suzuki. Both Bikes were essentially designed to fulfill the same role in motorcycling, as the quintessential all-rounder UJM. The GS in this photo is heavily modified, the GSF is bone stock, a few hours after delivery. The GS was soon thereafter sold to a new owner. If bike storage space was not an ongoing source of concern, I would have kept the old GS. 2xgslarge.jpg
Click here to see the full-sized image

Riding History:


1987 - Bought a 1965 Honda C-65 Stepthru. Took Motorcycle licence on this.
1988 - Bought a 1981 Honda CM200T TwinStar. Flogged bike for one year mercilessly. Sold it in 1992.
1989 - Bought a 1984 Suzuki GR650 Tempter. Owned bike til 1993, put a Velorex Sidecar on it at one point.
1990 - Bought my first 'project', a 1974 Yamaha TX750. Bike was infamous for poor motor design, but it ran fairly well considering. Sold bike in 1994.
1991 - Bought my first dirt bike, a 1974 Honda XL250. Thing barely ran. Scrapped and used for parts in 1993.
1993 - Bought my second 1974 Honda XL250. Learned how to dirt ride using this bike. Bike was sold in 1996.
1994 - Bought a 1983 Yamaha XJ750RJ Seca. This bike was also a project, requiring some work to bring back into working condition after sitting outside several years. Went through several different phases of setup, including as a dedicated sidecar unit. Sold in 1998 after an accident and repair.
1996 - Bought a 1978 Yamaha XT500. Thought i was ready to move up from the XL250's, was wrong, too heavy an off-road bike for me. Sold in 1997.
1996 - Bought a 1977 Honda XL350. Immediately stripped the bike down and had motor rebuilt, converted bike over to dirt-only use. Lost interest in the bike over time, sold bike in 2000.
1996 - Bought two 1978 Suzuki GS1000 basket-case bikes, rebuilt both into one good bike. Sold in 2000.
2000 - Bought the 1999 GSF1200S Bandit.