Bandit Turns 100

I got my '01 Bandit used in '04 with only 4000 miles, for a reasonable $5k OTD. After nearly 12 years of daily commuting it finally rolled 100k!

Not bad for an old air-cooled dinosaur. But it hasn't been without effort. In addition to the usual tires, oil, and chains here are a few of the various services I've done:

• 15k - replace head gasket due to slow oil leak
• 80k - replace brake lines, rebuild brake & clutch master cylinders
• 90k - replace carb float needles & seats
• 98k - replace cam chain tensioner due to excessive cam chain noise (write-up coming soon!)

And I've replaced the fuel petcock at least 3 times and the suspension and brakes are completely worn out at this point. But overall I've been very happy with this bike. It's reliably taken me to to work & back 55 miles a day, every day, Alaska, 2 Canadian provinces, and numerous trips back home to the California Central Coast to visit my folks. A lot of people have told me "Jap crap" isn't durable or reliable but this proves them wrong. I'm hoping for another 100k out of it!