A new bike from the crew at ICON 1000 is a bit like a Mike Tyson uppercut: it arrives without warning, and it?s a knockout.
?Colonel Butterscotch? is the latest machine to roar out of the Portland, Oregon garage. And despite the twee name, it?s a real bruiser. Based on a 1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200, it shows the potential of a bike often unfairly relegated to the ?econo-cruiser? pile.

Like most customs that have been massaged by ICON?s design director Kurt Walter, the Bandit was a tired and unloved workhorse.
Almost two decades old and showing it, this GSF1200 was carrying weathered saddlebags and festooned with faded decals.

But, as many bikers of a certain age know, the early Bandit 1200 has hidden charms?and was regarded as a bit of a hooligan machine in its youth. The inline four is derived from the GSX-R1100, and pumps out almost 100 hp. You can boost that by another 15 hp or so, simply by replacing the stock muffler with a performance can.

There?s no way you can get that kind of easy performance boost from a Euro 4 compliant bike these days. But during the AMA Superbike glory days, Suzuki knew how to build performance into an engine.
Icon have given the motor a fillip with custom jetting on the four Mikuni carbs and free-flowing K&N filtration. The hefty stock can is gone too, replaced by a pair of simple reverse cone mufflers.

The new pipework is 2-into-2, with the left-hand cylinder gases exiting into a muffler concealed in the tail unit.
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