Suzuki 2 Strokes

Some pics of my 71 with 75 tanks. I have a set out to get painted the 71 scheme

Very nice 500.

Sweet, Geck0 -- very, very sweet.

Lane

Here's some pics of Uncle H2 putting his new ride together....

The crate as it came from the shop warehouse...a little worse for wear...

The "Official Sticker" on the end of the crate with the VIN, etc.....

The unveiled Bandit with no apparent damage suffered in transit....

Hard at work getting the extraneous crate bits removed from the bike itself....

Head-scratching look of concentration trying to figure out how all the bits for the handlebars actually fit together....

Bubble, bars and controls on and bike rolled off the crate bottom with the wheels on Canadian soil (well, pavement, actually) for the first time (note plentitude of ugly "lawyer stickers" in various places)....

Posed publicity pic with me pretending to put the seat in place. You'll note that the battery is actually still on the charger in the shop at this time....

Trying to figure out the counter-intuitive choke lever (which rotates TOWARD you so you can't break it off with a ham-fisted thumb) so I can start 'er up and go for my test hop around the lot......

All loaded up and ready to make the trip home without, hopefully, ending up ON the road in the process


Unfortunately there's no pic of me removing the "birth certificate" that was taped to the sheet of packing material over the nose of the fairing. I was all by myself at that time and just grabbed it off and quickly folded it up and put it in my truck before it disappeared. The bike went in the crate on Jan. 25th, 2006 at 18:09:21 Hamamatsu (Japan) time.....at least that's the date/time on the "certificate".....Whoo Hooo....a Wednesday bike........and I also got the final inspectors' tearoff tags form as well, which was attached to the L/H turn signal stalk. It's always nice to have the paperwork...
Note the very sophisticated kick stand assist device in Pic #4 to help keep her upright....since the crate bottom frame holding the bike was about 2 inches or so higher than ground level.
Once the bike was rolled off the crate, the KSAD was sent to the Mechanical Engineer's Hall of Fame in Lunkville, Saskatchewan for inclusion in the "Extraordinarily Clever Stuff" exhibit.
Huge thanks go to Desolation Angel of the Bandit Alley Message Board for very thoroughly explaining the picture posting process in a PM to me.
All you guys that mentioned that I was camera-shy will be sorrrryyyyy from now on.....

We were asked once if we wanted to watch a video of our friends' kid being born. (Answer: Ummm -- no, thanks. Got one of the kid being conceived?)

Watching the birth of your Bandit was much more fun. Thanks!

Great photos Rick! What a cool experience to be the first one to touch your new bike out of the box....... And to have the birth cert and all the paperwork.... I love that stuff!

Thanks for the kind remarks, gents. It was kind of a kick for me too.....assembling and PDI'ing a new bike after doing the last one in 1975....
and being paid for doing it back then too, since I was in the biz at that time.
If I remember correctly, the last bike I assembled was, strangely enough, an
M model Buffalo, although I can't seem to remember the colour......although it COULD have been a red one too.......
That bike went on the showroom floor and I wonder where it is now.......
Glad you guys enjoyed my little chronicle.

That is one heck of a beautiful bike..Love the colour.
Enjoy
Mark

Beautiful bike Rick... thanks for sharing..... But, who buys a new bike and doesn't ride it home

I've been wanting one of those for a couple of years now and about the time I think I can afford one Suzuki stops importing them into the US, damn!!! I guess I can get a slightly used one or I may get a V-Strom 1000, probably be a good bike for me since I am an old dirt biker and like them tall and the sitting position straight up.

Great looking ride, Rick. I nearly pulled the trigger on a Bandit last year with the replica style paint scheme, but backed of at the last minute. I wish I would have bought it now. I liked you pics also, must be pretty satisfying, I envy you.

Enjoy it in the best of health!
Tim

That thing is squeekie clean.

Awesome!

So what all is involved in unpacking a bike?

I imagine they don't come with fuel/oil in them.

Is there air in the tires? Do they test drive them? Do you need to grease the zurks and fill up the fork oil?

Very interesting stuff!!!!

Arne:
Yes, there's about 2 litres (1/2 gallon) of fuel in the tank and it comes with the sump full of oil.
Yes, there's air in the tires...otherwise the tires would get SERIOUS flat spots in them during transit/storage.
Nope, no zerks, so no greasing required...although that's one of the things I want to change. The whole rear suspension will get drilled/tapped with about 3 or 4 zerks installed eventually.
Yep, the forks are full of oil, although I understand they've quit using rancid fish oil like they used to use back in the day. You can tell if a set of forks from the '70's have never been disassembled before just by the smell.....not recommended if you don't have a strong stomach. LOLOLOL
Nope they don't test ride 'em at the factory, but the engine is test run after it comes off the engine line to make sure everything has been done correctly......although since they've built about a zillion copies of this engine since 1986 you'd think they wouldn't worry about it too much anymore. I guess that's what makes 'em so darn dependable....attention to the little things and doing everything the SAME way ALL the time.