Suzuki Bandit 600, from road to track

Bunged-up jets, grumpy cables and a crap rider still combine to create big grins

-  Dave Manning

After Pembrey, I didn't feel that I had much to do in the way of maintenance or changes but, as is the way with race machinery, my feeling was entirely incorrect and the Bandit needed cosseting and fettling, which echoes the sentiments of the 'No Leisure' half of this column's title.

I'd intended to give the Bandit an outing at the Suzuki Live! weekend at Cadwell (as sneaky practice for the final round in September), but when I fired up the bike the day before, a chronic low rpm misfire showed that the pilot jets were gummed up in the carbs (all four!), so needed pulling off and cleaning out. Modern fuel is renowned for this if a bike is sat unused and, as the accompanying pic shows, it also has an effect on the rubber seal used on cheap aftermarket petrol caps...

I'd realised that the super-grippy nature of Pembrey had encouraged some more lean angle, and the bellypan was starting to touch down at the rear right-hand side, and I'd had a couple of occasions where it felt like the bike was understeering and running wide on the exit of a corner. My inexperienced mind thought that both of these factors could be addressed by increasing the rear ride height (please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong and you're an experienced road racer). The YSS shock that Paul at Black & White Bikes provided is length-adjustable, so I gave the adjusters about an extra turn-and-a-half, which should equate to just shy of 2mm extra shock length. This sounds minimal, but you need to remember that the shock linkage exaggerates that and thus gives about 10mm extra ride height at the rear.