'busa as st bike

[clearwaterms]

okay...

I am hoping to purchase a new bike in the next 6~8 weeks and am looking at almost exclusively the GT/ST bikes. The Hayabusa, the FJR, and the ST1300 from honda. My question is, I have read all about being able to add seats like the tobin, and bar risers from places like genmar or helibar, different pegs, etc. I am aware that there are lots of options for side luggage for a busa. My question is how does a properly equipped busa compare against the likes of a stock FJR. I realize it's faster, and it's more of a sport bike.

 

[BUTTER2BOY]

 

[clearwaterms]

what does that mean?

 

[wizeguy]

what does that mean?

pretty much that the busa pokes fun at the FJR.

I had a chance to ride with an FJR this past saturday on a poker run. We messed around with a couple of roll-ons from 45 mph. Everytime I would put massive distance between the bus and the FJR. The FJR is deffinantly an impressive machine but was absolutely no match for the performance of the BUS. This surprised the FJR rider. He said that he thought that because the FJR is a 1300 like the busa, he would at least be able to read my license plate.

I also noticed that the FJR is slower in the curves. Not because of clearance issues but it seamed he couldn't throw it over as fast. I think this was probably because of the seating position.

The FJR did have alot of neat toys on it though. Electric windshield and heated grip, removable bags. At the end of our 200 miles, I was ready to get out of the saddle and take a break but the FJR dude was good to go another 200. I guess both bikes have their strengths...and the Busa's is deffinantly in the performance realm.

 

[clearwaterms]

what does that mean?

...and the Busa's is deffinantly in the performance realm.

this was never in question... the question was... while 200 miles on a busa is a good day, and 400 miles would be a good day on an FJR. Is it possible to make the busa do a 400 mile day comfortably? or more importantly, how close can you get a busa? How comfortable is a tobin seated heli barred, buell pegged busa when compared to an FJR?

 

[USMCBUSA]

I have ridden several 350 or so mile days and the bike is very comfortable. I don't even have risers or a tobin seat but it has never been an issue with comfort. You can go back and forth over which one is more comfortable and it will eventually come down to personal preferance. What maybe a good ride for you will be different for me or another rider. The busa is a great bike and it is also comfotable as you will see that most people here will agree.

 

[clearwaterms]

I have ridden several 350 or so mile days and the bike is very comfortable. I don't even have risers or a tobin seat but it has never been an issue with comfort. You can go back and forth over which one is more comfortable and it will eventually come down to personal preferance. What maybe a good ride for you will be different for me or another rider. The busa is a great bike and it is also comfotable as you will see that most people here will agree.

i have several 400 mile days on an SV (not comfortable, no wind protection, light weight, gets blown around, ALOT) and that doesn't mean I would put the SV in a catagory anywhere NEAR the FJR... I am curious to know how far off the 'busa is from an FJR, especially one that is setup to tour...

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

what does that mean?

...and the Busa's is deffinantly in the performance realm.

this was never in question... the question was... while 200 miles on a busa is a good day, and 400 miles would be a good day on an FJR.  Is it possible to make the busa do a 400 mile day comfortably?  or more importantly, how close can you get a busa?  How comfortable is a tobin seated heli barred, buell pegged busa when compared to an FJR?

My first ride home on my new LE was 460 miles up 1 and 101 on the California coast. Completely stock and I had no problems with riding it that far. I happen to be a LD rider anyway and frankly, a 4 to 600 mile day does not seem to be a problem for me or the Busa. I have very long arms so I don't need risers or heli bars. I also don't like the (fat) look of even smallish side bags so I use top bags right on the seat behind me.

 

[hbr]

Risers, Buell pegs, wind screen, Tobin or gel seat, some bags and it's REAL close to an FJ for 500 mile days. 2 up touring FJ wins hands down, IMO.

 

[USMCBUSA]

If you want just a touring bike then you should get the FJR. The busa is the best of both worlds touring and speed. As far as the similarities to an FJR I don't know. Is it comfortable? Yes. Can you make long trips on it? Yes. Is it fast? Yes. It is a bike that you can ride hard and fast on or just sit back and cruise. That is about the best I can tell you.

 

[sageronin]

I rode the Honda ST1300 before my first Busa. For straight-up touring there's no comparison ... get the Honda or the Yamaha. ... maybe Pashnit can shed some more light on this.

 

[Stealth_Busa]

The Short answer, What is the difference between Night and Day!

Ok, Had to say it.

Now Seriousley,

I have an 02SE with 29K on it. I live in the DFW Area and have traveled to;
Key West, Twice
Dayoyna Beach
Myrtle Beach
Deals Gap, twice
On all of these trips, Daily Mileage was 500 - 700 miles. The Banzi Run was from Orlando to DFW in one day, 1000 miles.

I am 6'2", 230.
I have the Genmar 1.25 Risers, and use a Zero Gravity Sport Touring Screen on the Road. ZG Double Bubble otherwise.

No Buell Pegs, No special Seat, Just a Tour Master Tank Magnetic Tank Bag, and tail bag.

I ware a full Joe Rocket Mesh Suit.

I am in my mid 40's.

I get a little Monkey Butt, but baby powder does wonders.

I am sure the Yam is more comfortable, But I find that I can ride all day with my setup and do just fine.

I love the acceleration on the interstate when passing cars.
So from that perspective I think it has a larger fun factor than the Yam or Honda.

Stealth

 

[clearwaterms]

The Short answer, What is the difference between Night and Day!

Ok, Had to say it.

Now Seriousley,

I have an 02SE with 29K on it.  I live in the DFW Area and have traveled to;
Key West, Twice
Dayoyna Beach
Myrtle Beach
Deals Gap, twice
On all of these trips, Daily Mileage was 500 - 700 miles.  The Banzi Run was from Orlando to DFW in one day, 1000 miles.

I am 6'2", 230.
I have the Genmar 1.25 Risers, and use a Zero Gravity Sport Touring Screen on the Road.  ZG Double Bubble otherwise.

No Buell Pegs, No special Seat, Just a Tour Master Tank Magnetic Tank Bag, and tail bag.

I ware a full Joe Rocket Mesh Suit.  

I am in my mid 40's.

I get a little Monkey Butt, but baby powder does wonders.

I am sure the Yam is more comfortable, But I find that I can ride all day with my setup and do just fine.

I love the acceleration on the interstate when passing cars.
So from that perspective I think it has a larger fun factor than the Yam or Honda.

Stealth

thank you this answers my question...

 

[bigoltool]

There is enough talk about Sport touring on the busa lately there ought to be a seperate forum for it. The first mods I did to my Busa were all about comfort! Most of which have already been mentioned above. My 40(ish) year old carcass deserves a little of that. But what I didn't want to do is ruin a perfectly good sport bike doing it. Sucessful so far! I rode my buddies FJR and a Triumph Sprint just before I bought my Busa so I had a pretty good frame of reference. I can honesly say I would not hesitate to do 400 mile days on mine now. When I first started looking at new bikes I even looked at a Ducati ST4S and Aprilia Futura. These were quickly ruled out on the basis of performance. The FJR was cool with the adjustable windscreen and hard bags but I hate Shafties! The Triumph was just weird! The Hayabusa is the perfect bike for those who are looking for something more on the Sport end of the sport touring spectrum and the FJR is more on the touring end. Can't make up my mind on Luggage yet and am having second thoughts about the Throttlemeister but otherwise my bike is comfy, my old tank bag serves me well and my plan is coming together nicely!

 

[Tree]

First off, I love the Busa. But..... After she is bagged up for a multiple day trip, I have no room to move. This is just with a tank and tail bag. Cramped up bad after about 80 miles. Trip was then canceled. I have done many 500+ mile days with no problem. Even taken the wife out for ice cream 2 up afterwards.

I am moving to a ST1300 later this year. Plenty of baggage, a back rest for the wife, and Honda reliability.

Any bike is better than no bike.

Later,

Steve

 

[JINKSTER]

To answer your question?...I have "Two Tales To Tell"...one "Old" and one "New"...as follows....

"THE OLD TALE"

About 17 years ago....just months before marrying what is now my wife?...I owned and rode what was about my 7th bike in life...and an all-time favorite...my beloved '86 Honda NightHawk "S" Model....(scanned pic..don't pay any attention to my niece riding my old rotty Kodi...R.I.P.)...

and I loved that bike...cause it made me love riding it...6 speed tranny w/ LCD gear Display...shaft drive...hydraulic self-adjusting valves...and bulletproof....abused the he11 out of it for 27,000 miles and never a problem...and when I finally got my non-riding wife-to-be to take a ride with me?...she discovered that it wasn't all that bad...actually?...she rather enjoyed it but stated that..."If only it had a backrest and more wind protection."...I said: "Say no more dear."....and got this...

Now that's my wifes mother on the back (she came to town for the wedding) and my wife snapped the pic at about 80mph out on I-95....as at age 31?...I purchased a brand new '89 Goldwing...with lotsa toys...including am/fm/cassette w/ Muted Intercom system, Riders Backrest and Highway Footboards....and as for the first six months?...I thought I was cool digging on Ted Nugent in the Tape Deck and cruising my A$$ off! LOL!....the first touring bagger I ever bought and ultimately?..that goldwing proved to be the last freaking bagger I will ever buy...as six months later?...I knew something was wrong....something was missing...and I couldn't put my finger on it...until while stopped at a light some dude on a GS1100 came zipping through the right turn lane full pancake showing me his oil pan and that's the exact moment I wished I had my old '86 Nighthawk "S" model back...as I faced the realization that in '89 I paid $10K+ dollars for the most boring freaking motorcycle I ever owned and it felt like I was riding 1/2 of a honda accord....sans roof and a/c.

As I thought....Never!!! Ever!!! Again!!! annnd....

...the worst kind....at myself.

"THE NEW TALE"

Now....Roll the clock forward about 17 years to "now" and one '00 ZRX1100 and one Yami FZ1 later to my current Hayabusa daze....as just this past weekend I rode with fellow Hayabusa.org member Ride_Or_Fish on his '06 Black/Red Busa and my old bud Blackbird Jim and his friend FJR Rob...(who also owns and R1)...

We had breakfast abd decided that we'd take some backroads out too sebring....about 100 miles one way...

well....when we got there?....we found ourselves gasing up just a few blocks away from this psuedo track known as "Point 6".....ROF was down.....even Old Blackbird Jim was down and I was defianantly down as there was no way in he11 that I'd ride that far and be that close and NOT go to the track....but guess who was kicking themself for not bringing their R1 and was visually reluctant to go here?...

that's right....FJR Rob didn't wanna torture himself knowing that he was 100 miles away from home (and his R1) while aboard his FJR that was basically incable of roostering such a track loaded with zippy squids on 600's and liter class RR's...but?....my busa?...

hung....

Just fine!

ROF and I headed home afterwards as Jim and Rob went on to see how many more straight, flat south florida miles Rob could log on his FJR's odo...BTDTGTTS and don't want no part of it anymore...as....if I wanna tour?...give me a freaking SUV with Leather and A/C...but if I wanna ride?...whatevers between my legs better excite the Pi$$ out of me or I ain't interested...learned my boring lesson in life and...screw a bagger...or?...give me the other freaking 1/2 of that honda accord! LOL!!!

Moral to the stories?...only you can answer this question for yourself....me?...I found out the hard way...experience....lessons learned?....

1. "I" ride and brave the elements for..."THE EXCITEMENT"

and...

2. If I'm gonna be bored and just tour?...at least give me a/c, CD, leather and a roof. LOL!

Hope that helps and...L8R, Bill.

 

[A'Busa'd]

I'm holding out for the yet-to-be-released BMW K 1200 GT. Want to check that one out.

I rode an FJR a couple of months ago. Wasn't impressed. Buzzy motor, 5-speed tranny. Not what I was hoping for.

The Busa does so many things so well, it's hard to be satisfied with another bike that does one thing very well (such as comfort) but falls short in other areas, like performance.

I'll be with my Busa for a while.

 

[BusaWhipped]

My riding buddy has a ST1300.  Nice bike, but doesn't have the down low torque of the Busa.  In the twisties, the ST1300 handles extreamy well.  You wouldn't think a 650lbs bike could be tossed around like it can.  Could have something to do with the 170 tire and high center of gravity.

Sock seat for stock seat, I can outlast him in the saddle by several hours a day.  He just spent big bucks on a Russel seat, so we'll see if he holds up any better next week.  We are riding about 450 miles round trip to get a hamburger.

Having the moulded in luggage is nice when you want to carry stuff, but the bike looks stupid with the bags off.  They make body panels to replace the bags, but they look pretty ugly too.  

I'm 6'3, 235 lbs.  I have a 1 1/4" GenMar riser and modded the stock pegs to remove the big rubber block off the top. Cruise control on the Busa also helps while in touring mode.



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[DaCol.]

Long Story Short, ya need to know what you want the bike to do for you. I am changing now from a Ducati ST4s to my new Busa for LD Rallys (1000 miles per day). Just got back from a test run of 650 miles with no problems. I did change the pegs (to TL1000R Pegs) and a Tobin Seat. The seat is great, but the reason I changed was because everytime I hit the go button, the acceleration would make my butt go back 4" into the hump

and then when I was trying to pull my carcass forward I would always twist the Go Grip

. Other than that, it's basicly stock and will stay that way except for some other Rally equipment needs I require.

 

[Tio Loco]

If you don’t like the busa as is don’t buy it. Yes you can add a bunch of crap to it to make it more comfortable but why just buy what you need. For what its worth the FJR1300 is hardly lethargic and definitely looks better with bags on.