Ok, I have been looking at the bike under the Christmas Tree for days and finally, I snapped and had to ride it.
I have been on an old, tired and heavy Gold Wing lately.... I have never ridden a sport bike. I bought this maroon / black '06 blind to what riding it might be like...
First impressions:
* Scary, very, very scary acceleration folks! This bike is light and behind that fairing is a very powerful, "zingy" engine. If you have not ridden lately or not had any experience on a motorcycle before DO NOT GO BUY ONE OF THESE TO LEARN ON! There is no way that I can quantify with words what this bike will do and how fast it will do it! From zero to Oh My God in one heart beat. For me it was not about watching out for cars, for practice stopping or situating the bike into parking spaces or for anything else.The first hour of my ride was spent trying to manage the throttle correctly and while I am not an expert or highly experienced rider I am capable, coherent and know a good many of the ropes and it scared the hell out of me a couple of times! I have never in my life commanded a vehicle that had as its top priority, acceleration management!
*Ok, beyond that sermon, this is a precise, tight and smooth bike. I had a ball marveling at how smooth it rides, turns and stops. Not near as sensitive to imperfections in the road surface as the Wing is and believe it or not I felt a little SAFER on the Busa because I felt as though I could have stopped or otherwise evaded a traffic hazard quicker. It is scary powerful but I was equally fascinated with how nimble it is. I felt like I was riding in a high end custom sports car. LOVED IT!!!!
* All of the riders, and I do mean ALL of them that used to wave at me when I passed them did not wave at me on the Busa! Whats up with that? One guy on a what I think was a VTX looked at me like I had swatted his wife on the a**! Some sort of sports bike stigma? Heck, I always waved to all bikes, even the little Vespa thingys....
* The riding style is going to take some getting used to. I kept wanting to put my feet forward (old habit) and my wrists hurt a tick at the end of my trip to the DMV (I kept telling myself to support my weight with my body not my hands, read that here a hundred times).... Oh man, the DMV! Was a slow day there and the ladies came out and looked at the bike - not because they had to but because they were all listening to me talk to the clerk and wanted to see it! They freaked and made me give it a personalized plate! "Oh wow, thats beautiful" one of them said. I'll post a pic of the plate when it arrives. Suffice it to say that this bike draws attention - maybe thats why the cruiser riders dont wave?
Anyway, I am in love! I have a long way to go before I am going to pass my own proficiency test but I love it.
One complaint; the throttle has a good bit of play in it. You can actually rotate the throttle about 1/8 of a turn before the cable tugs on the injector. Is that typical? Quick fix ideas?
Anyway, long post, sorry. But I wanted to share my first Busa day with all of you... And please, if you are brand new to riding and thinking about buying one of these bikes go back to the top of this post and read it again...
I have been on an old, tired and heavy Gold Wing lately.... I have never ridden a sport bike. I bought this maroon / black '06 blind to what riding it might be like...
First impressions:
* Scary, very, very scary acceleration folks! This bike is light and behind that fairing is a very powerful, "zingy" engine. If you have not ridden lately or not had any experience on a motorcycle before DO NOT GO BUY ONE OF THESE TO LEARN ON! There is no way that I can quantify with words what this bike will do and how fast it will do it! From zero to Oh My God in one heart beat. For me it was not about watching out for cars, for practice stopping or situating the bike into parking spaces or for anything else.The first hour of my ride was spent trying to manage the throttle correctly and while I am not an expert or highly experienced rider I am capable, coherent and know a good many of the ropes and it scared the hell out of me a couple of times! I have never in my life commanded a vehicle that had as its top priority, acceleration management!
*Ok, beyond that sermon, this is a precise, tight and smooth bike. I had a ball marveling at how smooth it rides, turns and stops. Not near as sensitive to imperfections in the road surface as the Wing is and believe it or not I felt a little SAFER on the Busa because I felt as though I could have stopped or otherwise evaded a traffic hazard quicker. It is scary powerful but I was equally fascinated with how nimble it is. I felt like I was riding in a high end custom sports car. LOVED IT!!!!
* All of the riders, and I do mean ALL of them that used to wave at me when I passed them did not wave at me on the Busa! Whats up with that? One guy on a what I think was a VTX looked at me like I had swatted his wife on the a**! Some sort of sports bike stigma? Heck, I always waved to all bikes, even the little Vespa thingys....
* The riding style is going to take some getting used to. I kept wanting to put my feet forward (old habit) and my wrists hurt a tick at the end of my trip to the DMV (I kept telling myself to support my weight with my body not my hands, read that here a hundred times).... Oh man, the DMV! Was a slow day there and the ladies came out and looked at the bike - not because they had to but because they were all listening to me talk to the clerk and wanted to see it! They freaked and made me give it a personalized plate! "Oh wow, thats beautiful" one of them said. I'll post a pic of the plate when it arrives. Suffice it to say that this bike draws attention - maybe thats why the cruiser riders dont wave?
Anyway, I am in love! I have a long way to go before I am going to pass my own proficiency test but I love it.
One complaint; the throttle has a good bit of play in it. You can actually rotate the throttle about 1/8 of a turn before the cable tugs on the injector. Is that typical? Quick fix ideas?
Anyway, long post, sorry. But I wanted to share my first Busa day with all of you... And please, if you are brand new to riding and thinking about buying one of these bikes go back to the top of this post and read it again...
