Posted: 1/19/2023 7:35:55 AM EDT
[#5]
Quote History Quoted:
I have owned over 20 motorcycles, everything from a Honda Grom to a CBR1000rr, so I might have just a little basis for my statements. And I actually put miles on, my 954 had over 30,000 miles when sold, the rest use to get similar miles put on. After all those bikes, a KLR650 and the Gen 2 Busa will be staying. Both have upgraded suspension and brakes. Both are not the fastest or the quickest, I really don't care, because they are the bikes that make me smile every time I get on them. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quote History Quoted:Quoted:
No, ridden 3 of them. I am a high time superbike pilot with 17 bikes, mostly superbikes, under my belt. Doing “an awful lot right” and “pulls from as low as 2500rpm” are relative observations on your part. There are better touring bikes, better sport touring bikes, and definitely better sport bikes. Anymore, about all the Busa has to offer is that is relatively easy to ride and stable for the job it was designed to do, which is to fast in a straight line. Even in 2005 my GSXR1000 (still have it btw) was faster than a stock Busa, I’d hate to think how bad a Busa would get shellacked by my R1M in a straight line and rectally violated by my wife’s Street Triple 765 RS in anything that looks like a corner and I’d take that bike;s comfort and drivability over the Busa’s any day.
When it came out in 1998, the the first gen Busa was really something. It was 30hp or so up on my then new R1 and after 3rd or 4th at about 140mph the Busa would just walk away like it was easy. 1998 was a loooong time ago, and a lot changes in 25 years. Busas sell on reputation-they aren’t horrible bikes when stock, but other bikes just do it better.
My Dad and I both had ZX-11’s when they were hot shit in the early-mid 90’s, that was dad’s last bike and he’s blissfully convinced that nothing is as good or fast as that bike was. I remember a heavy behemoth of a bike that suffered horrible compression damping, had mediocre brakes and an engine that was only happy when you were beating the dog out of it. It’s all relative to what you know and what kind of experience you have and are looking forward to. My wife and I both do 700+ mile days on rides with our sport touring club. I can ride a superbike hard enough to flex the frame, a Busa is the wrong bike for sport touring unless you like wrestling with a 600lb bike and being tired when you get to the hotel, and the leg room and reach to the bars is fine for around town but I’d wish I was on something else 2 hours into a ride at a moderate pace.
Again, it’s all relative. ARFCOM at large has never ridden a Busa and would probably need therapy after a 3rd gear pull to redline on one but to people that know bikes and have ridden them, they are a rebadged quarter century old bike that never got the real refresh and updates the bike deserved over the decades. I have owned over 20 motorcycles, everything from a Honda Grom to a CBR1000rr, so I might have just a little basis for my statements. And I actually put miles on, my 954 had over 30,000 miles when sold, the rest use to get similar miles put on. After all those bikes, a KLR650 and the Gen 2 Busa will be staying. Both have upgraded suspension and brakes. Both are not the fastest or the quickest, I really don't care, because they are the bikes that make me smile every time I get on them. I hear you. I've loved every mile weaving through these mountains on my Gen 2. It's a blast scrambling up through the hills and running river roads. I understand that all bikes have trade offs, that is why I have so many. Like guns, some days it is the .22 and some days the 06 comes out. The Busa gives me perma grin.
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