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[
]Greetings to one and allI’ve just spent the last year riding a Piaggio X9 500. It was comfy, ran well and the lady enjoyed sitting on the back BUT…. I couldn’t get on with it. I missed a proper bike. I’d been using a Honda Deauville until it was stolen and that was when I bought the X9
So on Tuesday it was back to Mark at Bowen Moto where I picked up an 11 month old Susuki Bandit 650.
Oh joy ! I’ve got the grin factor back!
I look foreward to reading all the latest news on this site, it looks really good.
I do all my own servicing except for this bike as I have to have it dealer serviced for another year to keep it in warranty.Dave
quote:
Originally posted by GuitarDave[
]Greetings to one and allI’ve just spent the last year riding a Piaggio X9 500. It was comfy, ran well and the lady enjoyed sitting on the back BUT…. I couldn’t get on with it. I missed a proper bike. I’d been using a Honda Deauville until it was stolen and that was when I bought the X9
So on Tuesday it was back to Mark at Bowen Moto where I picked up an 11 month old Susuki Bandit 650.
Oh joy ! I’ve got the grin factor back!
I look foreward to reading all the latest news on this site, it looks really good.
I do all my own servicing except for this bike as I have to have it dealer serviced for another year to keep it in warranty.Dave
Welcome to the site, would be interested in reviews of the X9, Deauville and Bandit if you get the chance. They would be an interesting addition to the site
In the meantime here is a quick look around just some of the good threads already on here
https://bikemeet.net/forums/topic/great-posts-pics-across-the-site-part-2/
Hello Katana
Yes I got the Bandit with ABS. I’ve got a ‘Working at home’ weekend and look at the weather! Anyway, I’m going out for a ride tomorrow, cant wait !
I’ve never ridden a bike with ABS – have you had a chance to test it out yet?
See that you are in Gillingham – I lived there for 8 years (although it seemed longer). Haven’t been back in almost ten though.
I havn’t had the need to check out the ABS yet but no doubt I will. Gillingham is aweful now as so is the whole Medway area.
I used to work for Lucas and saw one of the early experimental ABS systems for bikes demonstated on a skid pan – it nearly shock the riders fillings out!
Gillingham hasn’t changed much then. If Kent is the garden of England then the Medway towns are the compost heap.
Hi GuitarDave and welcome. I like those Bandits, good solid all rounders (check my avatar!). I’d also be interested to know what the Deauville and X9 are like in your opinion. Never really read anything on those 2.
Hello All
I thought I’d respond to a couple of enquiries about the Honda Deauville and the Piaggio X9
The Deauville was an excellent bike but I found it rather too heavy for me. The shaft drive tends to add weight of course. The engine is superb if somewhat underpowered for the general weight.The silencer started to fail after 4 years and I had to fit a Motad replacement. I find my new Bandit is a more manouverable machine than the Deuville. I had a lot of problems with the carburettors on the Deuville, running weak and popping on the over run. I took it to 2 dealers to sort out as I was pushed for time then. Neither dealer sorted it out and eventually I made time to look at it. I fitted a used carburettor set from Ebay (£12) and used silicon sealant on the intake rubbers. It ran perfectly.
The next month it was stolen!
So the next bike was a complete change. The Piaggio X9 (500 cc) was comfy and had loads of storage space and really that’s the best I can say about it. Being an automatic with belt drive there was a time lag on acceleration while the centrifugual clutch started to bite. The 14″ wheels were just too small and would pick up alarmingly on lines in the road
Working on it was a nightmare with all those plastic panels held in by hundreds of self tapping screws and then you had to spring the panels apart hoping they wouldn’t crack. It would do just over 100 MPH.I’m really happy with the Bandit – it’s everything that the other bikes weren’t
[
]Cheers for that GD. Intersting stuff. The Bandit is a decent bike I am not surprised that you are enjoying it so much.
Yep, cheers for the report Dave. I get the feeling that the Deauville will become collectable (if it’s the one I’m thinking of) in the future.
]Greetings to one and all
]
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