Bandit 1200 - Just a few mods

[98tls]

, and sounded PORN, why would anyone buy one?

Funny you say that,i still reckon the 2 Bros cans they dished out with the TLS sound better than any aftermarket setup including my new M4 full system.

[Drew]

Funny you say that,i still reckon the 2 Bros cans they dished out with the TLS sound better than any aftermarket setup including my new M4 full system.

I was going to say something similar. But given that the exhaust changes you've made on your bike are valued around three times what my bike owes me, I thought I'd keep it to myself.

[98tls]

I was going to say something similar. But given that the exhaust changes you've made on your bike are valued around three times what my bike owes me, I thought I'd keep it to myself.

Am well aware of the madness re my TL Drew,dont ride the thing as much as i used to but every time i do i enjoy every penny,its an enjoyable thing full of character and goes well enough to make me chuckle every time,when parked amongst a sea of the latest n greatest it gets more than its share of attention though many probably wonder why anyone would....

[Drew]

Am well aware of the madness re my TL Drew,dont ride the thing as much as i used to but every time i do i enjoy every penny,its an enjoyable thing full of character and goes well enough to make me chuckle every time,when parked amongst a sea of the latest n greatest it gets more than its share of attention though many probably wonder why anyone would....

I don't question you bro. I love the TLs, and wouldn't question anyone tinkering with their bike...Unless you put a Harley motor in it, then we'll know you're gay...Two brothers pipes or not.

[roogazza]

Got some more pics of that setup gaz?

Thats the 3 that I have 98. I don't know if he makes them anymore but you could search him out. (Bob Carpenter)

Yes Drew, seemed a lot to me too when I was researching and there could be some doubts there. Although those figures were collected once head work and cams were in place so who knows ? The figures came from Dale Walker who was one of the original Bandit fiddlers. But the weight difference was impressive.

Dale Walker is a friendly fella and even answered my emails with his hard earned findings. That surprised me . This was 8yrs ago and I believe he is now modding 1250 Bandits.

[98tls]

Yum....nice stuff.Cheers.

[AllanB]

It the 80's you could wack on a aftermarket 4-1 onto your Jap IL4, raise the needles a notch or two (or rejet if you were serious...) a actually get a good 10% extra hp. They did not event have to be really good systems, can't remember the NZ maker that was popular (read cheap) but they were pretty basic stuff.

[Drew]

It the 80's you could wack on a aftermarket 4-1 onto your Jap IL4, raise the needles a notch or two (or rejet if you were serious...) a actually get a good 10% extra hp. They did not event have to be really good systems, can't remember the NZ maker that was popular (read cheap) but they were pretty basic stuff.

Raising the needles does fuck all for wide open throttle power. So 10% power increases at part throttle? That must be hard to measure.

[AllanB]

It was a lazy way to richen the carbs! I did state jets etc. Engines were a lot different then, easy to get cheap power out of. Darn things are so well made now you would be better off dropping a few k on some super light wheels.

[Drew]

It was a lazy way to richen the carbs! I did state jets etc. Engines were a lot different then, easy to get cheap power out of. Darn things are so well made now you would be better off dropping a few k on some super light wheels.

Yeah, I was just being a cunt for old time sake.

Light weight wheels is universal in performance upgrade, but I get what you're saying.

[T.W.R]

It the 80's you could wack on a aftermarket 4-1 onto your Jap IL4, raise the needles a notch or two (or rejet if you were serious...) a actually get a good 10% extra hp. They did not event have to be really good systems, can't remember the NZ maker that was popular (read cheap) but they were pretty basic stuff.

Sagar exhaust and if your pockets were a bit deeper you'd get a megacycle unit from aussie

[Vinz0r]

Can't fault Danmoto on their shipping times, exhaust arrived in NZ today, awaiting customs clearance now.

[98tls]

Light weight wheels is universal in performance upgrade, but I get what you're saying.

Best thing ive ever done with mine though if the intention wasnt to keep it a long time theres no way i would ave.

[98tls]

Can't fault Danmoto on their shipping times, exhaust arrived in NZ today, awaiting customs clearance now.

Was quick eh.look forward to seeing it on.

[Vinz0r]

Soooo.. courier turned up at 7.30 this morning with the exhaust. I had an appointment at 10 and wanted to get it on before then so I could take it for a ride!

To start with I checked the difference in ID between the factory and new link-pipes. The new one was quite a bit bigger, woo!


I then proceeded to swap them over but ran into a slight problem.. the new link pipe didn't come with the sleeve to enable it to fit nice and snug.


I had a look at the old one as I thought that maybe I could just use that, it was rusted on there good and proper.


40 minutes later, my good friend WD40 and I had managed to get the bastard thing off. Screwdriver and hammer were required to slowly tap it down around the edges.



Got it onto the new pipe, everything bolted up nicely.


I then noticed that my center stand seemed to be a bit higher than usual, oh shit. The stopper bung for the stand had been attached to the old link-pipe.. now it was springing back and resting on the bottom of the rear shock. It looked a little too close to my chain so I took off the center stand

I'll find somewhere else to mount a stopper bung, there are plenty of viable places. Center stand is far too useful to leave off.

After looking at the bike for a bit longer, I decided she'd look nicer without the pack rack bars (I don't use them very often anyway), so off they came.

Took her for a good run, was a little too lean down low but felt bloody excellent up top. I think she'd been running a little rich on the stock exhaust with the needle position and jet size I was using and this seems to have cleaned it up nicely. A slight mixture screw adjustment took care of the lean condition down low.

On the way back home I saw some poor chap with a 250 Keeway broken down on the side of the road. Seemed like a fueling issue so whipped the carb apart to see what was wrong, they're quite an odd setup: the accelerator cable is hooked straight up to the jet needle and raises/lowers it mechanically instead of using a vacuum diaphragm.
Turns out there was a slight blockage in the main jet, so blew that out and everything seemed fine.

While we were stopped there, 2 other bikers stopped to help/have a chat. Turned into quite the party.

I am really happy with how it's running (and looking).
I haven't had a chance to do a dB check and video yet but will get onto that ASAP. If I was to describe the change I'd say that it sounds similar at idle (maybe slightly louder) but the exhaust note when accelerating is now higher pitched and a lot more.. growly is how I'd describe it. Instead of the low pitch rumble it's a higher pitch growly scream. Sounds like a big IL4 should.
This is without the dB killer in.

Sorry about the shitty photo, will get some better ones up a little later.



EDIT - Added more photos:

Some outside photos.