First Impressions of the new to-me Hayabusa...

02BusaMark

02BusaMark

Registered
Well, had a chance after tinkering with the bike for the last couple weeks to really get a good first ride in tonight. Maybe did 50 miles on a mix of highway and street- no curves or country. Few things I noticed right away- 1. Great touring potential (comfortable but could be improved) for a 2000 mile trip. 2. The last owner either just went straight or did tons of burnouts. 3. There is always another gear on this bike...

The rear tire and chain/sprockets need to be replaced. It has a Sportmax 200/50 with a flat spot in the middle. Yeah, made it feel like the rear was all over the place. Riding over road snakes or breaks in the asphalt makes the bike feel loose. Front isn't as sloppy, but no real comfortable opportunities to push it. I know the bike is big, but it can handle much better than it feels right now. Would like a tire with a good mix of sticky and durable. Leaning more towards sticky, but I forsee that rear going real quick. Nice cruising rpm at 70, but some sort of cruise is going to be necessary.

Oh yeah, the bike is a hot rod- there is no questioning this. 2nd is geared strong- peel outs with each twist of the throttle at speed. A little jerky, but just grab a gear either way and coast. I have to keep telling myself that its not a honda or a connie. Good low end torque, but it is a vibrating machine. Crazy how the bike almost feels carburated. I'm starting to wonder what type of mileage I may get on a tank. Is 220 out of the question? Also like to see how I can stop the vibrating in the cluster. Speaking of, I was cracking up when I realized that 50 mph is at 9 o'clock on the speedo, lol. Used to seeing that somewhere else.

All in all I'm happy with my new bike. It's not perfect, but neither am I. Wanted an aggressive bike with decent handling and touring potential. Chain, sprockets and tires are next. Was waiting for my spools to come in to put it on a stand, and get back from vacation before I started worrying about drive train, but I found out some of the things I needed to know tonight.
 
Dunlop Q2's are great sticky tires for this bike. Oh, and I don't think you'll EVER see 220 miles on a tank of gas....more like 180...
 
Only 180 on a tank??? I could almost do that on my last GSXR 1000.

Getting a hold of the tire guy today. Last set I bought were Roadsmarts. Gonna see what he recommends...
 
Guess it depends on cruising speed but I have gone over 200 miles on 1 tank full
 
What year bike are we talking about? You should be able to get 220 out of a tank, my 05 would easily do that. My 09 not so much, maybe 200 out of tank. These are great touring bikes, both generations I have owned would carry me and the wife all day.
 
I got 190 miles and still had a gallon in the tank on my 09 so I don't see any reason why you couldn't get 220 by staying off the throttle. This was before my exhaust was installed so I don't know if it has changed at all.
 
You can get 220 on a tank, if you're a real good boy you might see 250. The sweet spot on your bike is 4K for mileage. Rear tire might need air. I run Avons. If you like cornering, go with a 180 or 190 / 55.
 
I like the roadsmarts for a sport/touring type tire. They seem to wear well for me in the centre, but still provide some good grip for the fun stuff.. If you're in to touring but want to stay away from the typical touring machines, I think you'll find the busa to be a great bike :thumbsup:
 
It's an 02 with full Akrapovic, stock air filter no power commander. I'm thinking I can get upwards of 200+ if its a 5.3 gallon tank.
 
Is that 200 indicated miles on a tank of gas? Remember that, unless you have a speedohealer, the speedo is probably showing around 8.3% faster than actual speed with stock gearing. This also means that the miles are racking up 8.3% more than actual mileage.
 
02BusaMark said:
It's an 02 with full Akrapovic, stock air filter no power commander. I'm thinking I can get upwards of 200+ if its a 5.3 gallon tank.
Click to expand...

This might be debateable, but if you have a full system, get a tune and a power commander. Your mpg will improve. My 05 had a full M4 and stock filter, but it was tuned.
 
Mileage depends greatly on how you drive, just cruising the fuel ligjt comes on at 208 miles if i race it does good to get 120 on a tank lol.
The vibration in the cluster was on mine too, i traced it to the windshield. Took it off and put a piece of felt on the bottles ear and problem solved.
If you plan on cruising and don't like the vibration you may want to consider going up a tooth on the front sprocket. It helps improve fuel economy lowers rpm at cruising speeds and I only lost a tenth at the drag strip.
As fat as tires everyone has their own opinion. It's going to depend greatly on what you want to use the bile for. I like dunlops dual compound tires made for street. Can get 10k out of them and sticky enough to roll rubber in the curves
 
I swapped my sprocket on my Gen II down to a 39 to increase MPG and now get 52 MPG on a regular basis. I usually fill up at 235-245 mile mark on the odometer and this is with corrected speedometer via speedodrd.

If you are looking for a good touring/sport tire, check out the Michelin Pilot Road 2. I have a set on the bike that has right about 14K miles on them. I have another set of PR2's that should be here today or Monday for the new riding season. I ride 120 miles round trip to work, so the miles add up fast. Although, they are a great interstate/touring tire, I have 100% confidence with them in the turns as well. I have been to the dragon, blood mountain, blue ridge parkway, etc and they have never let me down.
 
Talked to the tire guy yesterday. He recommended both Michelins and Dunlops and has both in stock. He also recommended a 190/55 rear for a mix of sport and touring.
 
Let's see who would I ask for advise on tires for my hayabusa? The tire guy or a group of hundreds of hayabusa riders who have tried and tested practically all the tires on the market? Hmmmmm guess I'll go with the tire guy, he's even got those he recommended in stock, yep I'm sticking with the tire guy :whistle:

Just pulling your leg brother, those are great choices you got a good tire guy :laugh:
 
Matte_Black said:
Let's see who would I ask for advise on tires for my hayabusa? The tire guy or a group of hundreds of hayabusa riders who have tried and tested practically all the tires on the market? Hmmmmm guess I'll go with the tire guy, he's even got those he recommended in stock, yep I'm sticking with the tire guy :whistle:

Just pulling your leg brother, those are great choices you got a good tire guy :laugh:
Click to expand...

Yeah, he turned me on to both Pilot Powers and then Sportmax RoadSmarts for my GSXR-1000 after telling him the type of riding I planned to do. I'm not opposed to trying something I haven't used, but $$ is a concern right now.
 
I picked up a set of PR2's from sportbiketrackgear for $270 shipped last week. The PR2's are on sale at most online retailers because the PR3 recently came out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ChronosWS
First impressions
Replies
6
Views
657
jwcfbd
jwcfbd
N
first impression
2
Replies
21
Views
1,336
AJAY
AJAY
E
First day - first impression
Replies
11
Views
700
exharleyguy
E
Earthdog
First impressions / pics
Replies
7
Views
924
BURN1
B
WuzzaCBXRider
New LE First Impressions
2
Replies
33
Views
1,643
hemroid
hemroid
Back
Top