It’s a Bandit, and as such it carries the tradition of upright seating, sumptuous seat and perfectly placed footpegs and one-piece handlebars. Suzuki haven’t changed the chassis too much from the old (k6) model, just beefed up the GSF1250 Bandit's frame rails and revised the suspension damping and springs. Big difference, though, the Suzuki GSF1250 Bandit now steers faultlessly, stable and hides its weight well.
With nigh-on 80ftlb of torque delivered to the rear wheel at 3700rpm, the Suzuki GSF1250 Bandit’s new six-speed gearbox needs little provocation. The GSF1250 will cheerfully pull from 3500rpm in top gear and run on to 140+mph. That gearbox is typical Suzuki: precise, perfectly spaced ratios. And, hoorah, no sign of any fuel-injection stutters or flatspots in its performance delivery.
The old defunct Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit has a reputation for extreme reliability and a genuine all-rounder. There’s no reason to believe the new GSF1250 Bandit will be any different; Suzuki is aiming for existing Bandit customers to upgrade while attracting new customers with its revised performance. As the redline has dropped 1000rpm and a sixth gear has been added, there’s no danger the new GSF1250's motor will be stressed.
A 1255cc machine that can be used for touring, scratching or as a genuine workhorse should be an expensive piece of kit as it’s many motorcycles in one wheelbase. But no. Suzuki have pegged the price to just £250 more than the old GSF1200 Bandit. For £5549 MCN considers the Suzuki GSF1250 Bandit to be a bargain – its even cheaper than its Honda competition the CBF1000F. Find a Suzuki GSF1250 Bandit for sale.
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There are two versions of the Suzuki GSF1250S Bandit – non ABS and with ABS, but Suzuki GB is only importing the ABS kitted version. This isn’t a problem as the ABS is a refined set-up and leaves a lot of the braking up to the rider before cutting in. Suzuki GB will do its usual trick of releasing limited versions of the GSF1250 Bandit (touring, GT etc), but until then a ruck of accessories (topbox, panniers etc) will be available separately.