Honda VFR to 2008 Busa

[Busaman5000]

Ive been a happy 2001 VFR owner for a while now and have logged about 31,000 miles on the bike. But the new 08 Busa has been calling and the thought of having all that power is very appealing. I also love the look of the bike.

One thing im concerned about is ergonomics. Ive set on the 08 Busa and it felt comfortable although my legs did feel pretty squinched up. The VFR is a very touring friendly bike. I can ride hundreds of miles with out getting tired. Also, I have hard luggage for the bike that I use for over night trips. How good is the new Busa for touring and are there any after market luggage available for it.

Also my bike has been rock solid as far as reliability. I know the 08's are redesigned but have there been any major problems with first gen Busa's that I should be worried about?

 

[BusaFan00]

I'm sure others will chime in, but yes, the Busa is a great touring bike, I've taken mine for several hundred mile days, without much trouble. Just a little cramping. '08s of course are new and don't have all of the aftermarket quite set up for them yet, but I'm sure luggauge will not be hard to find.
The first gen Busas are practically bulletproof. nearly a decade and all the kinks have been worked out. I haven't heard about any problems with the '08s at all yet. So overall, yeah you want a good sport touring bike, I'm sure the '08 will be everything and more than you want.
I want one myself.....

 

[DaCol.]

Many of us Tour on the Busa and it makes a great platform. I moved to it from a Ducati ST4 (real close to your VFR) and find it different, but as comfortable. Of course that was after I added Heli-Bars, lowered the pegs (1/2"), and put a Tobin seat on it. I have found that IF your body accepts it, you'll be fine. Some do, Some Don't

. Example: I find a GOLDWING very uncomfortable  

because it makes me sit straight up and that makes my back sore. Others of course see the GOLDWING as the Ultimate Tourer. Go figure

!

On the problems side, well it's new, BUT it's really just an evolution improvement and NOT a NEW Bike. So, problems should be small if any. My suggestion is if your comfortable riding with a slight lean forward, and with your feet up slightly, you'll do fine. And I will NOT go into the PERFORMANCE Difference

, because there is just NO COMPARISON

 --- PERIOD !!!

 

[Busaman5000]

Yeah Heli-Bars would be must for me as well. I didnt really think about lowering the foot pegs. Doesnt that decrease how far you can lean before you scrape or will the exhaust hit before the pegs?

Yeah, performance, lol. Honestly I rode my friends 2001 Busa the other day and thats what really got me thinking hard about it. I swear when I got off his and got on my VFR it was like the VFR just lost about 60 horse power. It was like I hit the gas and nothing happened, im like WTF? It was a humbling experience to say the least. lol

 

[DaCol.]

Unless your racing

, lowering the foot pegs by 1/2" will not do any draging. My question is do you drag your VFR pegs

, cause to drag the Busa's , you've got to really lean over  

!

 

[Busaman5000]

Yeah, I do drag the foot pegs from time to time on the VFR.

 

[kml]

Corbin makes bags, Givi fit the Busa as well. I have the GP pegs. http://www.1tail.com/sa/c/GP_Pegs.htm They lowered my feet about 3/4 inch with no loss of ground clearance. The Buell peg mod will drop your feet even further (do a site search). The only real disadvantage to the Busa as a sport touring bike is it's propensity to eat rear tires.

cheers
ken

 

[chrisjp]

come to the dark side lol

 

[Bird Hunter]

I just did the Buell peg mod, and you drop your feet about 2 inches, and lose zero clearance from the stock pegs.. I have had a Black Bird since 2002, which I absolutely loved, until I bought an 08' Busa.... HOLY SH*T, what an awesome bike....

 

[Big Red]

VFR'S are sweet bikes; they tempt me everytime I go to the Honda Stealership.

 

[GMbusa]

I'd recommend investing in some aftermarket rearsets such as Vortex or other with adjustable peg positions. Get some good grips and a doublebubble windscreen. A good seat is a must too.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

VFR to Busa convert here. when I got the need for more power I switched to the busa. never had a second thought about it. VFR is a sweet bike. but it is different animal.

 

[Mr Bogus]

the ergos on the busa are for riders <6' tall IMO After raising the bars, adding the buell pegs, life got a lot easier on the bike for me.. went from a 200 mile a day ride to 500 without knees binding up..

 

[P-Willy]

I just did the Buell peg mod, and you drop your feet about 2 inches, and lose zero clearance from the stock pegs.. I have had a Black Bird since 2002, which I absolutely loved, until I bought an 08' Busa.... HOLY SH*T, what an awesome bike....

You lose zero clearance on the pegs but keep in mind that you feet will be 1.5 inches closer to the ground. I have size 14's and when I ride casually I tend to rest the center of my feet on the pegs instead of the balls of my feet and the side of my toes will scrape when I make a turn. You get conscious of it really quick though. Now I automatically switch to the balls of my feet when turning. Great pegs though.

 

[Busaman5000]

Well, I got to ride the new 2008 today for about an hour. I took it down Hwy 178 into NC. I gotta say I cam back impressed by alot of things by it. It was very smooth, it handled better than expected. I couldn't get on it because it was still in its break-in period so I tried to stay below 6 grand. I'll admit though after that short trip, my arms, my neck and my butt all hurt. The heli-bars and foot peg mod will defiantly be first on the list if I decide to buy one. On the other hand, I was hurting pretty good when I first bought the VFR before I got used to it. I love the instrument cluster on it!

 

[ocechap]

Amen on the 14's!!! My first ride on my 07 was 275 miles. I'm 6'5". Ouch, now Heli's and Buell pegs. No long ride yet but just short runs are way more comfy. Gel seat and some bags and it's ON!! Well after my knee and ankle heal from hitting a tree about 5ft in the air on my dirt bike!! Ha! That sucked. Thank goodness it's December!

 

[SAMBUSA]

Had a spinal fusion and 4 months later I did a 600 mile 1 day trip.  Was a little sore at the end of the day but that's got to be expected.  I just got the staples out earlier that week.  Just this last June I did a 3 day 1200 mile trip(about a year post surgery).  Again, I was a little sore at the end of each day.  I've got a completely stock ride, other than pipes and PC.  The butt got a little tired of sitting on the stock seat, but the nice thing about the Busa is she is stable enough that you can move around on her.

There were 2 VFR's in the group w/ us and they were just as sore/tired as I at the end of the day.

 

[Revlis]

I dunno, I was trying to choose between the Interceptor and the Busa when I was looking for a new bike last time. I've always been a fan of the Interceptor/VFR/Interceptor, and was pretty sure that was what I was after. But when you look at the two of them now on the showroom floor, the Honda just doesn't make that much sense, for the money they are asking for a 800cc machine, with silly V-Tec BS, and some other other goodies? You can get a lot more bike elsewhere... It's frustrating.

Anyhoo, the Busa and the VFR are pretty similar really, it's just that the Busa is making that extra 70HP. They are both Bloated and over weight, neither are going to set a track on fire, and with some Heli-Bars, lowered Pegs Etc on the Busa, they both make good "do it all" machines that you can ride all day.

Still though the VFRs Motor has real character and unique sound. Even if Honda kinda ruined it going back to chain driven cams.

 

[ocechap]

My buddy has a 2000 VFR. Great engine, about the same body position as the Busa I feel like. Like Revlis said, a lot less hp.