MACH50

great going Old Fox and Xbhpians !!!!!...........but is Bandit a Superbike ??? Its more of a Sportstourer.........

Hence making it to the rocky expanse of altitude with a humongously heavy and underpowered tourer bike,where hypermotards would shine is really a great feat indeed.Great going,these deeds are what fuels us on our relatively humble events

BTW,you must be tall Old Fox
You also must have had guts of steel to put that monster through those too !!!!

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Coming soon - London to Ladakh - Watch out !!

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MG

1000cc+Slush+wheelspin+downhill. One hell of an experience.
Hats off to the whole team.

You cannot do a Leh ride without crossing those be it a 0bhp machine or a 100bhp one.

Good to see you posting and how.
Really looking forward to it.

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Subodh Konhor

Kudos to the whole team. Its an amazing experience. So Not only the bullets but superbikes can also acheive this feet.

Please also share the experience of taking the superbike and not taking bullet.

Wish if my FZ-16 can also reach such a height..

MACH50

Wow its like riding in waist deep waters of water clogged areas in our city during the heavy monsoons.No one knows what is beneath those waters-drains,potholes,open manholes !!!! For the Leh it would change to rocky masses submerged under water,slippery uneven craters,loose soil under water causing that heavy thing to stuck mid brook !!!
Water entering the bike and clogging it up is least of worries.........hence the bhp is not the question here.Its the weight-the lighter the bike,the easier is it to tackle these submerged water riding.But Bandit is a heavy one,so it required a tall person with guts to do those.I admit,with my height I could have never done that without falling a couple of times
Eventually what options could one have it is the only way of doing the ride

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omvaikul

Oh we just missed u at Ktop. We were there just 1-2 days before you reached the top...

Do super bikes also face the problem of drop in performance at that altitude!

ashwin13

Hi there.... fantastic article and bike looks well used! I ride a GSF1250 SA K8 ABS (faired) and its a fantastic machine if not let down by a few suspension niggles affecting the riding. A few things... and you can get a lot more power out of it:

Bin that dustbin of a silencer! it weights a ton and restricts the engine due to the suzuki PAS (passive air system) - get a micron Delta or full Akro system - I have the Micron Delta
Timing Retard Eliminator - TRE for the bandit 1250 (HM RAcing)
Get rid of the bath sponge of an air filter - replace with Pipercross Foam filter
Full Rider based suspension setting (preload-damp-compress) - I got mine done at HM racing, orpington, Kent, UK but it still could do with a superior system like the HyperPro progressive springs or the Ohlins Remote Reservoir Shocks. Nevertheles I get away with a bit of counter steer on heavy leans and cambered roads.
Powercommander 3 - for optimum fuel map to match the exhaust

And NOW you have a GSXR/Fireblade thrashing Bandit! with almost the comfort of a Tiger 1050 or the KTM 990SMT.

Happy riding......

UNDERPOWERED???? alas.... a true roman! Its not about the BHP but the Torque delivery! It makes peak torque at just a lowly 3500rpm!!! superbikes would need twice that to make peak torque! besides what on earth are you going to do with a fireblade/hayabusa on a rocky stretch! that would be downright stupid skulldruggery!! LOL

I do agree that an off-road based machine would be better capable of handling such environments. but a "hypermotard"??? the only true hypermotard even capable of attempting such a feat would be the current Ducati offering.

"supermotards" are simply road-biased enduro bikes with a bit more comfort! a Hypermotard is simply a brand derived extension of the supermotard thrown in with a bit more of multi-road capability.

If you want a hill-thrashing off-road bike..... its two options: GS 1200 or the KTM Adventure and currently the Yamaha Super Tenerre..... but I found it too heavy and tall on the test ride. not for me.

i dont do heads down ass up in the air bikes .... as you can only have true fun with them on a track (which i found out is not my cup of tea either) and not many can do it as i witness someone going into the barrier on a track-based day a few months ago. I am more of an SMT guy, I like my road bias, with ooooomphs of low down torque and relative comfort knowing i can see ahead of the heads down, ass up in the air guy... and take him on the next corner! while hes still looking down his crotch

c'mon guys........ride a bike by knowing a bike



Absolutely..... all bikes are affected by altitude performance and even the humidity levels in the air.

1. The variations in atmospheric pressure affect the air pressue inside the airbox module. This in turn affects how well the engine breathes. Its comparable to high altitude sickness caused by lack of air (oxygen) in the lungs due to the pressue on it from the outside.
2. The humidity levels in the air affect how well the petrol vapour-air mixture can be compressed! in ideal conditions the petrol/air vapour is compressed to 1/10 of its volume. Higher humidity will lower the ratio and you will not get optimum burn leading to lower power being transferred to the crank.

turbochargers/Turbo normalisers/superchargers help overcome this phenomenon because they are forced induction methods. in the turbo the exhaust drives the turbo vanes and air is forced into the engine (old RAM systems). the supercharger is belt driven and again performs the same function, although there is slight increase in mechanical losses but the advantage is that they are instant and there is no turbo lag that develops from the pressure from exhaust gases needing to run the turbo vanes to produce the boost.

Hope this helps.

bunnymarwaha

Hats off to you sir OldFox .
it is mind bogling to even imagin a high torque heavy vehicle in those terrain with all the slush and sno. loveley writeup.
i can even imagin riding my bike when it rains in delhi let alone in slushy snow and ice.need to take a few clases from you.

Just wanted to ask the effect of the icy water hiting the hot engine and pipes of the bandit and any risk of damage to the same?

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say.gcett

great job

rahulingle1

i can't find the word to explain !!!!

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