Bandit starting issues
 

A mate has just bought a Bandit 1200 ('98 or '99 model).

He's having a bit of trouble with morning starts on it (ie it hasn't). I popper over last night to see if I could help- he was blipping the throttle as he hit the switch, so I thought he may be flooding the carbs. Battery seems to be doing the job OK.

However, it started fine last night, but once again this morning it wouldn't start- with or without choke. Kind of coughed but didn't get running.

So couple of questions before we look further into it-

Do Bandits have any issues with cold starts? I'd have thought not but....
Will it have the same choke issues as the SV- ie certain choke settings work better than others?

Aside from this, the bike looks well looked after by the owner, who didn't ride it in the wet (it's spotless!) and has been quite (tastefully) blinged up- the only other thing I can think of is that if it's been standing for a while during bad weather, or not ridden while being modded, the fuel may have gunked up a bit. (my favourite theory).

Any suggestions otherwise?

I'm going to stop by his in the morning to see if there's anything else maybe going on.

Anyway- it's a lovely bike- hopefully I'll get a go. And it got me thinking about my next bike- maybe this or an SV1000 (though the tank range on that seems a bit limiting).

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

How well does it run when its running? Tried a differant fuel (v-power)? Check the spark plugs, and maybe check for water in the petrol / carb float thingys.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

Sounds fine once it's actually going. I think the carbs are likely OK.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

If the battery isn't tip top the effort needed to wind over 1157cc of lump will mean voltage drops to below what will fire a decent spark.

The coils on all the oil boilers were a weak spot, dunno about the bandits but worth checking, though this would tend to give problems under load.

I worked on a teapot that would not start. Flat refused despite appearing to have a good spark on all 4, plugs #looked# fine. New set of plugs, started first prod of the button and ran sweet as a nut.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

Nice one- cheers YC. I did wonder about the charge required, but as it fired OK in the evening, thought maybe that wasn't such an issue.

Will see how it goes tonight and in the morning...

Hell- I've been through most of this on my SV- I should get it figured out.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

In an evening the battery will be a couple of degrees warmer than in the morning.

P.s if he gets bored of it I'll buy the engine :-P

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

Lol.

He traded a dragstar 650 in for a Bandit 600. The Bandit was not working properly (hell- what a surprise. 11 prev. owners and no service history). So he got a refund and spotted this 1200. £2k - with lots of trim- twin headlights, Bandit Forum seat (well comfy), braided hoses everywhere. Not much more on the insurance either.

I would have! It's lovely.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

And you can get about 20bhp with a pipe, filter and head skim lol.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

Nice. Hopefully I'll get a go of it tonight or soon (we're popping to Boxhill- will give the battery a bit of a charge as well, just in case).

It's got a pipe on it- but with a fixed baffle. Booo! Still sounds nice though.

Re: Bandit starting issues
 

my 1200 bandit was playing up in the mornings but cured that with those irridium plugs it has a problem in the winter with carb icing but that is fixed with a splash of dry fuel addative and is not a problem in this weather