Busa Touring Mods - got any?

S

swamplizard

Registered
I know most of you guys are half my age and probably do very little "touring" but I am an old married guy, toured the west coast, great lakes, smokies, new england, austria and the alps with my wife on the back of the bike. It is the riding we like - spirited but with some luggage and far away from home.

My quandry is that I don't like touring bikes, shaft drive or 700 pound lumps so my last bike was a punched out Katana 1100 (1300) with taller screen, slightly raised bars, improved seat....great for touring. Now I want to upgrade to a Busa but mod it for touring. We are not tall or big people so it shouldnt take much to make the thing a long hauler.

Anyone done it? Got pictures and part lists?

Many Thanks!

old man rivers ;-)
 
What Rock said...

checkout - he's done a lot of touring and has a bunch of hints, tips, tricks to make the Busa a worthy tourer...
 
(omslaw @ Jul. 17 2007,08:23) What Rock said...

checkout - he's done a lot of touring and has a bunch of hints, tips, tricks to make the Busa a worthy tourer...
Click to expand...
Pashnit lives and makes a living on his Busa-
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I guess you must be in your mid-80s. Cool that you still ride at that age
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I do a little touring on the Busa, as a few of my fellow H.org friends can attest to
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I ride 1 up, so luggage is a backpack strapped to the rear seat. If needed, I'll wear a second one on my back. But there are quite a few saddle bags out there that will fit the Busa. Just depends what you are looking for. The Venture system is a bit pricey, but nice. Corbin Beetle bags if you are looking for something more permanent mount.

Touring mods to my Busa:
GenMar 1 1/4" risers
Electronic Cruise Control
TL1000 foot pegs
Double bubble windscreen.
Grip warmers
 
I'm and "old" guy too -- I just got back from a 4 day 1450 mile ride to Minn.  Busa is a great sport tourer with some very minor and inexpensive mods.  

I have:

Risers (Heli-bars)
Adjustable windscreen (MRA Vario touring)
Throttle rocker (best $10.00 ever) (T-meister would be good too)
Magnetic Tank bag (Nelson Rigg)
Cortech tapered saddle bags -- plenty of room for a week worth of clothes.
(both tank and saddlebags have seen well over 150 mph and have not budged).


Risers make it so I can just sit up straight and drive with one hand.  Stock seat is fine for me.  I prefer to do 400-450 mile first days  
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 and 300 mile or less second days.  Shoulders and neck are hurting by then......
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Was running between 70-90 most all the way and got 37-41 MPG.

Not too many bikes out there where U can sport tour for a week, pull the bags off and hit the drag strip on the weekend and turn 9.5 @ 150
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Welcome aboard! I met a man from ohio that is close to 80 and rides a busa. (he was at the hoot and came by the Time Warp Tea Room) his only mod was beetle bags! I tour on my '04 limited. I did about 13000 miles the first year and my mileage was between 38-43 @ 90 mph plus! I have helibars,throttle rocker and throttle miester,zero gravety double bubble windshield (I wish I had a taller one) a tank bag and a tail bag. I added a center stand so tire and chains can be adjusted no matter where I am. I have saddle bags, but have not used them yet. I would buy the beetle bags if I were RICH! I don't use my hump because it limits how much stuff I can take. I traveled for 3 or 4 days with this set up, staying with friends so I have not used the tent (I'm poor so I travel cheap). I also run a valentine 1 radar detector in the tank bag with a remote display on the dash. Also use an autocom system for music , bike to bike, and rider to passenger communication. Not much more on mine. It does fine just like it is!
 
I just came back from a 3500 mile ride.    The Busa makes a great sport touring bike.  I averaged somewhere between 500-750 miles per day.   As far as touring mods, I added Heli-Bars, and a ThrottleMeister.   I installed a centerstand to help with any maintence I would need to do while on the road.  (It only needed chain lube)  I replaced the stock windscreen with a taller version available from Suzuki.   To help out with the handling, I added 1.0 fork springs, and raised the rear of the bike with modified dogbones.
The stock tires were replaced with Pilot Roads.    These tires worked well on my last bike, and seem to be a pretty good compromise between grip and mileage.   They have around 5500 miles on them, and should be good for most of another thou.    Looks like the front and rear should wear out about the same time.

A properly adjusted headlight, along with a Phillips Vision Plus bulb in the low beam help when riding at night.

For luggage, I use an RKS magnetic tank bag, and a rear luggage system from Ventura.
 
I think that if you do a little searching on here you will find tons of ST mods for the Busa! My list is fairly short but effective! As you can see most of my mods are Comfort oriented, because if it isn't comfortable you wont ride it!
Heli bars
Genmar Riser
Dual star heated Grips
Throttle rocker
Throttlemeister
ZG ST shield
Corbin seat
Buell Pegs.
Eclipse Tank bag
Galfer +2 lines
EBC HH pads

If I had a bit more change in my pocket I would get rid of both my risers and Buell pegs and add the Cycle Cat Rips Bars and Pegs! They are completely adjustable and first rate gear! The Corbin seat is not for everyone but it is perfect for me! I always wanted to compare my shield to the MRA Vario shield as well. Good luck with your decision!

post-6-23366-DSCN0185.jpg


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Last edited by a moderator:
(swamplizard @ Jul. 17 2007,05:52) Now I want to upgrade to a Busa but mod it for touring.
Click to expand...
Swamp - the Busa can make a great sport-touring machine, and many an owner have orientated the bike in that direction. The busa community is split three ways really- the travel guys, the super-custom guys, and the speed/racer/drag guys. And everything overlaps!

The page folks are referring to is this one:
Wrote this to give others a chance to see all the stuff I've done over the years. Although I prefer the stock bars and lowest windscreen which may see a bit odd.

I travel a month out of the year on mine, and do a lot of 1000 mile weekends leading guided tours around the state. With the Tobin Seat, the bike is like a couch really.
 
I did an article for Sportbike Magazine a short while back where they asked for something about the sport-touring mods.

SportbikeMag_1.jpg
 
I do a fair amount of touring on mine. I've made the following mods.

Gen Mar 1 1/4 riser
Gel grips
Protec pegs
Fast idle mod
Throttlemeister
Throttle rocker
Beetle bags(either you like 'em or not)
Tank bag
Rear seat RKA tail bag(not used for two up)
Gel seat(replacing with a Corbin)
Puig double bubble, I prefer the stock windshield, but use this on trips, for more weather protection
Center stand for chain maintenance

Here it is at the Gap last week-

BusaattheGap.jpg
 
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