“I covered 9000 miles on my 1997 bandit 600n and was over the moon with it, went to Scotland, Silverstone for the moto gp and had no problems.
My modifications:
Small fly screen, not really worth it but it takes some of the wind blast from you chest and moves it up to your chin.
Simmi performance exhaust, makes the bike sound amazing, quite loud but it's a beautiful sound, seems too help the engine breathe better as a result.
Tail tidy, don't bother with one of these as it just lets the water spray all over your back.
Braided HEL brake lines front and rear, made the world of difference as the standard brakes seem to be nothing at all or completely locked up, they really help your feel and confidence with the bike.
Rental bars, good because it's a more comfortable ride as you don't have to lean as far forward and bad because when your more upright you get more windblast.
Not really a mod but I replaced the tyres with Michelin pilot road 3's and I've never felt anything like them before, I came off another bike in the wet previously and it took me a couple of years to get my confidence back but with these on I've had the pegs down on both sides in the wet getting carried away on a nice road. They are excellent in the winter with the cold, greasy roads as they warm up fast aswell. In my opinion the are the only tyre you'll ever need and when you try them they'll be the only ones you'll ever want.
Overall a fantastic bike plenty of power, fantastic sounding engine with an aftermarket can on and a cheap reliable bike that can do the daily commute, track days and a European tour. My bike never broke down, the only parts I had to buy were chain and sprockets, new tyres and new clutch. The only negatives are the standard brakes are fairly rubbish as they have no feel and suspension feels saggy when your two up, but it'll be absolutely fine if your a solo rider. Also, the bike could do with a fuel gauge as you have to do it the old fashioned way and give it a shake although if you buy a later model they come with a fuel gauge. The only reason I sold mine was because I wanted to try a fully faired sports tourer as I've never had one before and wanted to try a v4 engine otherwise I would have kept the bandit. For the price they are 10/10.”
“Love my Bandit 600, some don't and say they aren't fast enough. She pulls nicely in every gear, works great around town and built up areas and is all day comfy for long rides etc. Plenty of grunt to get out of the way of arse hole car drivers that want to try and ignore the growling 600cc naked bike next to them. Would happily own a Bandit for the rest of my days, even as a back up once I've got my dream bike, ZRX 1100 or the 1200.”
