FinnBusa
Registered
Hi everybody,
As some of you might remember, about a week ago I wrote about getting the Busa as my first bike. Well, after 3 weeks of waiting I took delivery of a '03 silver/grey Busa yesterday! Here's what's happened so far:
I was planning on testing a smaller bike before getting the Busa since I've never ridden a bike in my life. Unfortunately that wasn't possible because of cold weather and unexpected snowing during the last week or so. Certainly I could have waited a couple more days for the weather to clear up for another test session but I was just too anxious on getting the Busa as soon as it was ready for delivery.
Yesteday the salesguy called me and said the bike is all set up for delivery. Luckily the roads were dry and clean so I decided to go ahead and get the bike right away. I was given a good and thorough demonstration of the bike and I felt I knew just about everything I needed to know about the Busa. No amount of extra information would make it any easier to ride it. So we shook hands, he wished me luck and went back inside...
There I was, all alone with this monster bike, knowing that people were watching how I would do. You won't believe how scared I was at that point... Oh, one more thing: I'm now on the west side of Helsinki and I have to ride this bike back home which is on the opposite side of the city about 20 miles from here - and it's the 4 p.m. rush hour. So here we have a rookie motorist riding a Hayabusa through the capital of Finland in rush hour on Friday. Now that's a pretty stupid thing to do, right? (and I remember writing something about me being sensible and careful and therefore qualified to ride a Busa...)
So I climb on the bike, start it, gently trying the throttle response - and almost redlining it! Now I'm thinking : Oh hell, I'm going to rocket myself right through that wall in front of me. I say my prayers, VERY gently release the clutch, add some throttle and...I'm on my way! Very smoothly and slowly to my suprise. The first thing to do is to fill the gas tank. The gas station is right across the street. I manage to slowly wobble in that direction without problems. I wipe off some sweat, fill the tank... and make yet another smooth exit - which is good because everyone is looking at the bike!
I spend the next hour in the neighbourhood practising breaking, turning and generally getting used to the weight of the bike. Slow speed manoeuvres are tricky at first and definitely need more practice, the bike feels pretty heavy - at least compared to my bicycle, ha!
Time to head for home. There's a four-lane road called Ring 1 connecting different parts of the city and at this hour it's packed with cars travelling from west to east. Speed limit is 50 mph but the actual speed during the rush hour is about 10-20 mph. As I enter Ring 1 I'm able to pick up some speed and find myself cruising at 50 mph (no traffic jams yet). Wow, I never dreamed a bike can be this stable! Everything is so easy and smooth, I'm not believing this! There's a huge cross-wind but I can hardly feel it. The second thing that surprises me is the massive torque at low rpm's! I thought that even the mighty Hayabusa needs something like 5000-6000 rpm's before it really moves. Here I'm cruising at less than 3000 rpm's and I can still feel massive acceleration at the slightest turn of the throttle, now I'm really starting to like this bike. This is what I was looking for! I bet the acceleration is close to explosive at higher rpm's but this is just fine for me now. I'm keeping the revs below 5000 and just enjoying the ride! I had to stop at the lights a couple of times but had no problems accelerating from standstill. I got home safe and sound and with a huge grin on my face: I knew I made the right decision in getting this bike!
Now, after 200 miles of riding, I'm feeling more confident (but not over-confident!) about myself and the bike and I'm enjoying this more and more every minute I'm on the bike! The Busa is definitely the right bike for me. I'm so glad I didn't get a smaller one. I'm planning on making some long trips in Finland and abroad next summer and I'm certain the Busa is perfect for them. I'm under 6 feet tall so I feel very comfortable on the bike and the wind hasn't been too much of a problem so far.
Excellent stability, tons of torque, more performance than I probably ever need. And I'm sure this bike will feel even more fantastic after I get some practice (track days, safety courses etc.) and develop skills to ride it the way it should be ridden!
I will post some proper outdoor pics later on. These are just quick snapshots taken in the garage with my S45.
Can't wait to ride the bike again tomorrow!!!
Pete
P.S: Sorry for my crappy English but you don't want to read Finnish text, believe me
As some of you might remember, about a week ago I wrote about getting the Busa as my first bike. Well, after 3 weeks of waiting I took delivery of a '03 silver/grey Busa yesterday! Here's what's happened so far:
I was planning on testing a smaller bike before getting the Busa since I've never ridden a bike in my life. Unfortunately that wasn't possible because of cold weather and unexpected snowing during the last week or so. Certainly I could have waited a couple more days for the weather to clear up for another test session but I was just too anxious on getting the Busa as soon as it was ready for delivery.
Yesteday the salesguy called me and said the bike is all set up for delivery. Luckily the roads were dry and clean so I decided to go ahead and get the bike right away. I was given a good and thorough demonstration of the bike and I felt I knew just about everything I needed to know about the Busa. No amount of extra information would make it any easier to ride it. So we shook hands, he wished me luck and went back inside...
There I was, all alone with this monster bike, knowing that people were watching how I would do. You won't believe how scared I was at that point... Oh, one more thing: I'm now on the west side of Helsinki and I have to ride this bike back home which is on the opposite side of the city about 20 miles from here - and it's the 4 p.m. rush hour. So here we have a rookie motorist riding a Hayabusa through the capital of Finland in rush hour on Friday. Now that's a pretty stupid thing to do, right? (and I remember writing something about me being sensible and careful and therefore qualified to ride a Busa...)
So I climb on the bike, start it, gently trying the throttle response - and almost redlining it! Now I'm thinking : Oh hell, I'm going to rocket myself right through that wall in front of me. I say my prayers, VERY gently release the clutch, add some throttle and...I'm on my way! Very smoothly and slowly to my suprise. The first thing to do is to fill the gas tank. The gas station is right across the street. I manage to slowly wobble in that direction without problems. I wipe off some sweat, fill the tank... and make yet another smooth exit - which is good because everyone is looking at the bike!
I spend the next hour in the neighbourhood practising breaking, turning and generally getting used to the weight of the bike. Slow speed manoeuvres are tricky at first and definitely need more practice, the bike feels pretty heavy - at least compared to my bicycle, ha!
Time to head for home. There's a four-lane road called Ring 1 connecting different parts of the city and at this hour it's packed with cars travelling from west to east. Speed limit is 50 mph but the actual speed during the rush hour is about 10-20 mph. As I enter Ring 1 I'm able to pick up some speed and find myself cruising at 50 mph (no traffic jams yet). Wow, I never dreamed a bike can be this stable! Everything is so easy and smooth, I'm not believing this! There's a huge cross-wind but I can hardly feel it. The second thing that surprises me is the massive torque at low rpm's! I thought that even the mighty Hayabusa needs something like 5000-6000 rpm's before it really moves. Here I'm cruising at less than 3000 rpm's and I can still feel massive acceleration at the slightest turn of the throttle, now I'm really starting to like this bike. This is what I was looking for! I bet the acceleration is close to explosive at higher rpm's but this is just fine for me now. I'm keeping the revs below 5000 and just enjoying the ride! I had to stop at the lights a couple of times but had no problems accelerating from standstill. I got home safe and sound and with a huge grin on my face: I knew I made the right decision in getting this bike!
Now, after 200 miles of riding, I'm feeling more confident (but not over-confident!) about myself and the bike and I'm enjoying this more and more every minute I'm on the bike! The Busa is definitely the right bike for me. I'm so glad I didn't get a smaller one. I'm planning on making some long trips in Finland and abroad next summer and I'm certain the Busa is perfect for them. I'm under 6 feet tall so I feel very comfortable on the bike and the wind hasn't been too much of a problem so far.
Excellent stability, tons of torque, more performance than I probably ever need. And I'm sure this bike will feel even more fantastic after I get some practice (track days, safety courses etc.) and develop skills to ride it the way it should be ridden!
I will post some proper outdoor pics later on. These are just quick snapshots taken in the garage with my S45.
Can't wait to ride the bike again tomorrow!!!
Pete
P.S: Sorry for my crappy English but you don't want to read Finnish text, believe me