Naked Bandit 1200 v. R1200R

[volgunner]

Narrowing down to these two. Will anyone with experience with both comment on how they stack up against each other?

thx

[dbrick]

No info here, never ridden a Bandit. I imagine it'd be smoother and faster than the BMW...and that most of us R12R folks like how the boxer twin feels, in both engine and suspension operation, and that's why we chose it.

[PrinceBooger]

I, like dbrick, have not had the opportunity to check out the Bandit. That may change at some time because I have a recently gotten together and rode with someone with a 1250 Bandit (water-cooled). As dbrick mentions, we chose the Roadster/BMW because of the quality of its' engineering. The suspension, ABS, shaft drive, air-cooled (read simplicity), and comfort (I can't speak well of the stock seat however) and riding position are all a plus. I have told non-Bavarian riding buddies that it would be hard to move back to a non-TeleLever front end. Virtually zero front end dive while braking and setting up for a turn is one plus, also you can upgrade the level of performance and damping by buying an aftermarket shock as opposed to a far more expensive and involved fork assembly or fork internal swap. I had Ohlins mounted on my former 02', RT, and I can vouch for the improvement.

I have to say that on the power production of the 1200 Roadster, I don't think a stock Bandit will be watching you in its' mirrors. Mine hauls butt! The Hexhead motor has definetly stepped it up over the Oilhead before it. The powerband is clearly different and it truly has a top-end hit! I also like the way the Boxer engine lays down that power. Very controllable. I roll onto throttle while upon exiting an apex and I can say a twin can best a four in this quality.

I looked quite hard at a Bandit when I decided to move into a lighter, more nimble (fogive me RT, I would never call "you" a slug!), and more powerful bike. I have a 83' GS1100E with 45K in my garage as well. I think alot of the Suzuki line, but, the German engineering wins!

I've only got 4K on my 09' Roadster (purchased new 8/10, wrist surgery followed 2 weeks later) and next Friday my wife and I leave for a 2 week tour to truly meld with our baby. The handling of the BMW is its' strongest suit. Intuitive for me.

[dav]

Mate, the two bikes are totally different breds of motorcycle. The R1200R is a air/oil cooled flat twin shaft drive & the Bandit is a water cooled inline four with chain drive (but you already know that).

I owned the Bandit's bigger brother for 6yrs, '02' then a brand new '06' GSX1400 (air/oil cooled), done roughly 90k's between the both of them. But you could tell it was a Jap bike (not saying jap bikes are no good or anything, hope you know what i mean) the brakes were good but not great, the front end was the same, she loved to dive. The overall finish of the bike, was well mass produced, like all the alloy parts had a clear coating finish but over time the clear coat used to chip away which made the alloy parts look rough.

Then there is the R1200R, the brakes are rock solid, they feel exactly the same today as the day i rode it out of the dealer & thats 35k's & 2ys ago, i LOVE these brakes. There's no front end dive & it turns in like its on rails. The flat boxer twin is a delight, you either like it or hate it, but iam sure you like it otherwise you would't be looking at the R1200R.

Mate, just test ride both & give them a good workout & go from there. Plus there's the price difference, there's a big dollar difference betwwen the BMW to the Suzuki, & you'll know soon find out way once you test ride both.

Good luck with your search.