New to Suzuki's, Wrench in hand

Hey All!
I'm a musician from Malibu CA, discovered how great riding is about 2 1/2 years ago when my honda civic's wiring was eaten out by rodents thus totalling the car due to repair costs.
 My first bike was a KLR650 and I learned to ride it street in the canyons around Malibu. Yes I was lucky! 1. to survive the learning curve. 2. to get to ride such awesome roads as mulholland, trancas, PCH, etc on a nearly indestructable machine.
I recently moved to France to get mairried and bought my second bike, a 1996 Bandit 1200S.
Now I'm just as lucky to live in the Rhone Alps. Lots of twisties here. So of course I had to buy another bike! The Bandit.
Bad news though... although it is basically new 17,000 km, it sat in a garage too long and the seals suffered. So my first experience with the bike was oil in the case from rotten carbs, and fouling plugs, hydrolock; the works.
I am hoping to talk with some veterans and get some advice regarding carb rebuild, then to share my experiences as I ride this area, and maybe post some videos to help others with repairs and maintenance.
Thanks!
Slimm

hi Frito , welcome and i will help where i can

Hi, there should be no end of good advice forthcoming about your bandit, plenty of people have owned them...I have a '97 1200S in mint condition, bought it three weeks ago with 2252km on the clock...am unpgrading the suspension, have put a 14 tooth front sprocket on it to liven it up a bit, and it goes very well. getting the carbs balanced next week, so should run perfect...runs 99% now...good luck with yours.
Paul. Dorset UK

Hi Paul , with regard to the Sprockets , i went the other way 17 Front , 42 Rear , for South African highways it made more sense , the bike gives me 75 mph at 3500 rpm so the set up is more for touring yet she will still run 140 mph in 5th at 6500 rpm , my bike doesn't often see a traffic light as the wife and i mostly do long trips

wow, talk about long gearing, have geared my bike so it will reach its top speed. bandits love to be revved as the motor is pure GSXR, not sure what the long term effects would be on the bike with such high gearing. with standard gearing I was getting only 120mph in fourth gear, not sure at what revs, and it wouldn't do anything in top gear, my old bandit I owned 17 years ago would do 140mph in top gear, would rev to the redline, and would get to its top speed fairly quickly too, much quicker than a standard bandit...I'm all about going fast you see...as are most suzuki riders, as the engines beg to be revved...each to their own I suppose...