I rode my first 600 today

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OB_Kirk

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A 2000 GSXR600 with the cowl on. It was like a mountain bike. I got nothing resembling forward thrust from the throttle. I had no Idea the difference was so great. No wonder people recomend these things for beginners. Now I understand why all the guys I ride with talk so much about how to get the front end up, and all I want to know is how to keep it down. I had to draft a buddy who was riding a ZX-9 to make any kind of a move, and sitting up just killed any progress. I pulled out and rode up next to the ZX-9, and when I topped out at about 160 indicated, I made motions with my feet like I was pedaling a bicycle. He nodded up and down. You can whack the throttle any time, in any gear, without getting hurt. I revved the whee out of it, and it didn't seem to help. The brakes sucked too. Maybe I shouldn't have ridden it back to back with my Bus.
 
Deal. Cute little bike, I just don't think it's for me, and I am so new to this, I didn't realize there was such a big difference from the seat of the pants.
 
WHAT BEST SAID.
I ain't giving my lil 89 gixxer750 up for nothin. Hayaboogie will fly, but I can't lay the monster down in a corner like lil gix, he's just built for it where momma boogie aint. Next time I go to Deal's Gap I'm taking both, bet I ride the lil one more...dang, maybe i oughta crank it up sometime...
 
Yesterday my friend and I swapped rides for awhile, my '00 Busa and his '97 GSXR750. We both roadraced an F3 on an endurance team last year and we're pretty evenly matched for skill. At the track, running ten-tenths, 600's can be a handful and 750's downright intimidating. In the twisties, however, he said he couldn't let his bike fall under 10,000 rpm the whole time he was behind me or I'd disappear on corner exits. Riding his 750 all I kept thinking was "what a gutless turd" (flickable yes, but power felt gutless). Funny, that bike would likely end up highsiding me into the next county at the race track; but in the unmemorized, fly-by-sight world of the twisties, there was no substitute for the monster torque of the Busa which could pull from any rpm and make gear selection almost meaningless. This thing ought to be one sick puppy after I put it on a diet and free up even more power.
 
This brings up a question:
Is there such thing as lugging this motor?

I rode a particularly nasty, twisted, 15-30mph kinda road yesterday that lasted about 20 miles. (The west side of Skaggs Springs.)
The 'Bus was making all the power I needed at 2500-3000 RPM.
I wasn't whacking the throttle WFO from 2500-3000rpm, more just gently nudging it.
The motor never stuttered nor felt like it was straining down low...
What gives?
 
I just finished a 1/2 day with Kieth and his new GSXR750, and although he is a little harder to shake than before, he asked me to stop taking him down those "goat trails"...if I find you out on the road on them girly bikes, you are gonna get seriously Buserized! Don't coun't on ANY curves to save you, unless you can find some 15mph ones....the only way you will get a leg up on Hapo and his Busa in the twisties is from tire wear....maybe on a track your little girly bikes would carry the day, but you guys that think a Busa "can't" corner just fear flinging a big heavy bike around....very likely a healthy, rational fear it is too, but don't think that NO ONE can...unless you want to Play for Pay! Then just think what you want and bring your wallet! Ask duc over at LABusas....he eats most of the girly bikes on the Streets of Willow...so think what you will, just get the *** outa my way!
 
Love my blue busa but I also have a '00 ZX-6R which has a stock can with shimmed needles. Sweet machine, looking foward to taking it to our track day next month at Kershaw, SC. Yes I give up alot of exit torque, but I way quicker entering which is just as fun.

Is there such thing as (1) perfect machine?

Michael Lee
 
I had a similar experience a couple of months ago. I was by myself on Mt. Palomar when a young guy(20ish) showed up on a nice F-3. He was interested in learning some more roads in the area.

I followed him down the East Grade; could have passed him at any time. He followed me over Montezuma Grade and Yaqui Pass, and I waited for him several times.

We switched bikes for a few miles on #78 through the canyons, and any desire I might have had for a 600 in my stable vanished forever. It did feel slightly lighter and more agile, but the lack of acceleration drove me nuts. Even above ten grand it felt about as thrilling as watching paint dry.

His comment on getting off the Busa was:"Awesome, but I'm not ready for this."

I took the Busa and smoked Banner Grade, then waited for him.

The moral of this story is not that I'm particularly fast, or that he was slow, but that the common assumption that 600s rule in the twisties is not always true.

The Busa does give up a tiny bit in the tight stuff, but nothing that a little bit better rider can't overcome.

My recollection of the F-3 is mostly about holding the throttle wide open and waiting and waiting, and nothing happening, even at high revs. Boring.

I got back on the Busa
 
I think what we are collectively describing is the difference between 45 ft lbs of torque at 10,000 rpm versus 99 ft lbs of torque at 6750 rpm.
 
The only roads that I can think of where a 600 could beat a Bus would be Lombard St. in San Fransisco, and the road to Hana on Maui. It seemed like the perfect bike for chasing the cat around the house- You know, up and down the stairs, behind the sofa.....
 
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