I read an intresting article the other day while looking through a stack of mags I had sitting on the counter I havent yet had a chance to read. I believe it was in Sportrider, and they compared several bikes - some this years model, and the other were models of about 3 years ago of the same bike.
Now, there is no denying that the current bikes are awesome, but the reviewers made a few intresting comments. First off, for the street the reviewers would opt for the older bike for street use rather than the current version. When comparing the last 3 generations of the Yamaha R6, the previous (Not current) generation model had much more usable low end torque for the street than the current version. The older seat was much more comfortable, where the current version was compared to something like a board with some cloth on it.
Seems like the current generation bikes make ample HP, and torque, but at such a high RPM that its really not useable on the street. Infact they said the current R6 was more like a 125cc DirtBike on the street compared to the previous generation (I believe 99 to 03 year) R6.
I guess its not that bikes are getting too fast, but I think the big 4 are making their current bikes to suit the track and not the street. People think because something is new, its the best...but the best for what...the street...the track?
Now, as I see it, this is why they havent changed the Busa in so many years. The Busa is the Ultimate - Perfect bike for the street. It does everything well, and has gobs of down low torque us street riders love to exploit. Look at the new ZX-14...great bike, but the Power-band doesn't really kick in until 6K rpm...lets face it, for the street 6K is just a little high to start tapping into the power. And lets not even get into the 600's or 1K's....lots of power, but there again at such high RPM's its really not useable on the street unless you have a death wish or just continually lucky.
The Busa is the Ultimate street bike for sport bike riders, lots of low end torque, gobs of Hp for the top end, all day comfort for rider and passenger, and built like a tank (Pardon the pun on the weight...lol). Is the Busa too Fast for the street, well I guess that depends on your right wrist and your ability to control your impulses to play Johnny or Jenny Rocket in traffic. The Busa is just like a Bullet, it won't go off unless the user pulls the trigger.