Are We Ready For A Suzuki Bandit Cafe Racer"
There are some motorcycles that lend themselves easily to cafe racer conversions?like the Hinckley Bonneville, or the Honda CB750. You?ll find a plethora of both in the EXIF archives. Then there are bikes that tend to be overlooked, or in some cases, avoided.
The Suzuki Bandit falls into the latter category. Despite being a naked sports bike, which pretty much sums up what cafe racers are all about, it?s hard to look past the dated ?90s styling and plastic bodywork.
Then there?s the oddly shaped half fairing given to the ?S? variants. It?s almost impossible to see how the Bandit could ever be a cafe candidate.
Darrick Bartley didn?t see it that way though. What the Washington State man saw in his 1996 Bandit 600S was a strong performing engine, a good-looking tubular frame and loads of potential. But he knew he had his work cut out.
?I built it in my basement,? says Darrick. ?It?s kind of a Bandit now. All that’s really left of the original bike is the tank, engine, and about two-thirds of the frame.?
His goal with the build was simple enough: tear the Bandit 600 apart and turn it into a bare bones, nimble and modern cafe racer that would suit as a daily rider.
During his search for parts, Darrick stumbled across a Ducati Monster tail end, which fit snugly to the rear of the Bandit?s fuel tank. With the bike now in pieces, he enlisted the help of Rob Hancock of Flipside Customs to tackle the framework.
After removing the stock subframe, Rob welded in a c...
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