Touring Bike ?

[givenscg]

I've been in entertaining the thought of getting a sport touring bike, and I'm looking through the options. The three choices are:

Yamaha FJR1300
Kawasaki Concours 14
(and of course)
Suzuki Hayabusa

Is the busa worth putting the extra money into compared to the already set up Yamaha and Kawi?

 

[fallenarch]

Depends on what you want. The Busa is a SPORT-touring bike even with bags and stuff. The other bikes on the other hand are made for long roads and turning with your butt in the middle of the seat, sort of sport-TOURING bikes. What do you want to do with it. As for the Yamaha and the Kawasaki, I would go with the Kawasaki all day long.

 

[nosbig]

Not sure if it was done intentionally but you list seems to be in order of touring to sport. I know that the FJR is popular with the IBA crowd. The busa is a go fast bike that can be ridden long distance, and the Connie fits in the middle.

 

[Busabim]

LSL on busa and hard luggage better then the others except for the shaft which is great in the rain.

BB

 

[givenscg]

What kind of hard bags are those? The only bags I've seen on busa's are the beetle bags by corbin.

 

[givenscg]

Depends on what you want. The Busa is a SPORT-touring bike even with bags and stuff. The other bikes on the other hand are made for long roads and turning with your butt in the middle of the seat, sort of sport-TOURING bikes. What do you want to do with it. As for the Yamaha and the Kawasaki, I would go with the Kawasaki all day long.

I'm partial to busa's obviously, but I'm just looking for opinions. Because of the extra money need to set up a busa for longer trips.

 

[tedbull]

To me the Hayabusa is the best all around motorbike. It does everything so well. I can take it to the track, commute to work on it, and then pop on a rear seat and some saddle bags and go touring with the wife or my boy. The touring mods I have done include: Zero Gravity tall touring screen (I removed it, did not care for it), Top triple clamp spacers to get bars up a little, Mirror spacers so I can see past my elbows, Corbin rear passenger seat, Givi luggage rack, Give keyless bags. Buell pegs to get the feet lower are next. There are a lot of other mods to make it even more of a touring machine.

 

[BadNasty08]

For the poll I had to go with the FJR1300, but The Absolute Best Sport Touring Bike On The Planet is The BMW K1600 GT.

 

[Getn off]

Spent 1500 miles in 4 days a couple weeks ago. Ironically, my buddy with the BMW complained the most about soreness, followed by the Ultra Glide, than the Stryker, then me. I was really comfy, believe it or not.
For the money, a Busa with added bags et al is the way to go. Just paid $10,500 2 months ago new for her. If you are looking at msrps, than it is not truly accurate. Couldn't get Kawi to budge at all on a 14R. Not sure what Yamis actually go for.
Even if the cost was the same all said and done, I would go Suzi... Hell of a lot better looking ride.
Shaft drives are awesome though!
Troy

 

[Tufbusa]

To me the Hayabusa is the best all around motorbike. It does everything so well. I can take it to the track, commute to work on it, and then pop on a rear seat and some saddle bags and go touring with the wife or my boy. The touring mods I have done include: Zero Gravity tall touring screen (I removed it, did not care for it), Top triple clamp spacers to get bars up a little, Mirror spacers so I can see past my elbows, Corbin rear passenger seat, Givi luggage rack, Give keyless bags. Buell pegs to get the feet lower are next. There are a lot of other mods to make it even more of a touring machine.

Did you buy that black 08 gixxer 1K new? That is a sweet piece of artillery. I'm in Olympia, how far are we apart?

 

[RedBusarider]

I've been in entertaining the thought of getting a sport touring bike, and I'm looking through the options. The three choices are:

Yamaha FJR1300
Kawasaki Concours 14
(and of course)
Suzuki Hayabusa

Is the busa worth putting the extra money into compared to the already set up Yamaha and Kawi?

So explain - do you have a Busa now? Are you looking to ADD a bike or replace the bike you have now?
If adding a bike - are you thinking new or used? How much can you spend?
How far do you want to tour?

 

[GsxrBots]

I tried and tried to make my Busa into a Concours.


I bought a Concours a month ago.

Soooo much more comfort. Bags are better designed, back no longer hurts, neck no longer hurts, knees no longer hurts.

My '08 Busa had Corbin seat, helibars, Buell pegs, Givi V35 bags, Shad topcase, etc etc. Loved the bike, my body did not.

 

[GsxrBots]

Also what most people don't realize is just how close they are to size of each other. Sitting by itself the Connie looks huge, next to the Busa, and they're the same size.

 

[GsxrBots]

So many touring benefits to the Concours over the Busa. I can't speak on behalf of the FJR since I've never even ridden one, they are too small for my build, and I really don't care for the looks of them nor not having a 6th gear.

Here's a few of the benefits:
The 6th gear on the Concours is a TRUE overdrive. I'm literally never above 3500 rpm on this bike at speeds I'd be way higher on the Busa.
Power windshield.
Removable bags with no bracketry remaining
Bags in general, well thought out.
TPMS
Shaft drive (without the usual shaft "lift")
Larger fuel tank
Useable rear rack, bungee attachment points
VERY neutral steering. I actually find myself riding the same roads faster than I did on the Busa
ABS/Traction control if you want it.
More cockpit real estate for mounting gps/phone/radar/whatever you want
FUNCTIONAL MIRRORS first bike I've ever owned that the mirrors WORK on. I'm not looking at my elbows, I can see the road behind me. Plus they don't buzz..


The list goes on the more I ride it.

 

[tedbull]

Yes, bought it new and watched as they removed it from the crate. Sadly I sold the bike after I bought the Busa. I loved that bike. We are a couple hours apart.

Did you buy that black 08 gixxer 1K new? That is a sweet piece of artillery. I'm in Olympia, how far are we apart?

 

[Trout]

...Because of the extra money need to set up a busa for longer trips.

The Busa has been the cheapest bike I've set up for longer trips.

I'm less than $300 for a used Corbin, ZGST shield, and Heli-Bars.

I made the rack and use a dry bag with a tank bag. This has worked for several week-long trips.

 

[orenp]

Guess it all boils down to your definition of touring. Car guys could have the same argument; my best trip ever (honeymoon!!) was in my Porsche 930. That was 25 years ago. Others would have argued that the Porsche was anything but a touring car -- should have had a 6 series BMW or a 500SL Mercedes. But my definition of touring is more minimalist. If yours is too then the Busa is best. The more you move in the direction of comfort, hauling all of your needs and desires, wind protection, connections for all of your electronics, etc, etc, the more you move towards the true touring bike. At the extreme you'd be considering a Gold Wing or a BMW 6 cylinder.....
That being said, the Connie does seem like a nice bike for the 'more than minimalists' amongst us. And it's getting quite the following with law enforcement. The California Highway Patrol is now using them. Our local PD (Riverside) is using them. Guess it says something if they think they're great bikes to ride 8 hours on. After all, they aren't riding Busas!

 

[busafan08]

I voted for the FJR its cheap and very popular with the sports touring crowd as much as i like my busa you would have to spend a bit of money to turn it into a proper touring bike here anyway also sometimes you can't change a bikes design brief principle that is why i have a couple of other bikes for different aspects of riding good luck anyway