His replacement GSX-R rim didn't arrive on time so he was forced to get his '98 Bandit out of mothballs. That old thing is a piece of work.
Mark's '98 Bandit is on the left, my '01 is on the right. The '01 got updates to the frame, front calipers, and some engine tweaks that supposedly gave it more torque, although they're notorious for burning oil that year.
Mark's bike is straight out of Mad Max. There's a big ding in the tank. He never washes it.
He has the Dale Walker Stage II kit with the K&N pod filters. The cooling fins are ground down from a crash.
Another photo of the Stage II kit.
Note the crack in the exhaust header. That engine guard is loose too.
Above the right-side passenger peg there is the beginning of what looks like a small stress fracture in the frame.
The bike is on its second engine, so while the chassis has 112k we don't know exactly how many miles are on the engine. It has to be at least 50k since the first engine went at around 60k. That's another story, not Mark's fault. Besides the Stage II kit and pipe the rest of the components are original OEM, including brakes and suspension. He mentioned he's had to replace both the head gasket and base gasket, although I don't know if that was the original engine or the 2nd.
Before examining Mark's Bandit I took for granted that my Bandit would last at least 120k or more miles as long as I took good care of it. Now, especially after seeing the stress cracks and component wear, I'm starting to wonder if motorcycles were built to run that long or if I'm crazy to push my bike that far. I guess I'll find out. Meanwhile maybe I should start saving for a new bike.
