In the market for my first busa - going to look at an '08

Private. 2008 in the infamous blue/gold in great shape. Brand new dunlop Q3's to boot! The ride home was about 1 hr @ 0 degrees celcius. Totally worth it!

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I would love to hear your initial impressions of the bike in general and in comparison to those previously owned. Then After a few more rides/miles give us a ride report/review.
 
Damn. Someone give this guy a sandwich. @SSGT_B he needs a pie intervention, stat!
Just messing with ya Kevin.
:D Its been a long road with this back issue. I would be hit with pain that made me so nauseous. Trying to strengthening my core now. With the help of Tony Horton and nerve ablation, im doing a little better. Eating less, but healthier too.
 
:D Its been a long road with this back issue. I would be hit with pain that made me so nauseous. Trying to strengthening my core now. With the help of Tony Horton and nerve ablation, im doing a little better. Eating less, but healthier too.
Glad to hear you are getting better
 
As for comfort, for my back issues, my 14r is more comfortable to me than either a gen 1 or 2 busa. For performance, ill not go there. Your concern was fun and comfort. Ive done helibars, cut seats, lowered pegs, just about everything I can do but still the 14 is more fitting to my body style without any modification. Im 66" and 150 if that makes a difference.


does the 14r really go THAT much better? I had a chance to turn the busa on in first last night. It did not seem as intense as my 08 gsxr 1k, but I do not need that much power to weight ratio. The busa goes plenty good enough! I basically wanted adequate power with more comfort, and I think this bike achieves that goal perfectly. At 6'6 I could see how you would be having issues though....even the 14r must get on your backs nerves?
 
does the 14r really go THAT much better? I had a chance to turn the busa on in first last night. It did not seem as intense as my 08 gsxr 1k, but I do not need that much power to weight ratio. The busa goes plenty good enough! I basically wanted adequate power with more comfort, and I think this bike achieves that goal perfectly. At 6'6 I could see how you would be having issues though....even the 14r must get on your backs nerves?
How high rpm wise did you rev the Busa? It’s a different animal if taken upstairs in the rpm range and because it’s so linear in delivery it can be very deceptive in feel especially in comparison to a liter bike.
 
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I would love to hear your initial impressions of the bike in general and in comparison to those previously owned. Then After a few more rides/miles give us a ride report/review.


Initial impressions:

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! :p

Ive had a few bikes now: CB550, CBX, concours 1k, concours 14, gsxr 1k, cbr1000rr, sportster 1200, and most recently a 2018 v strom 1000 - and over the years road just about everything.

Initially the v strom was great. Very comfortable, good torque and fun ( at first). Then I took it on a 1000 mile trip to a friends place, and just felt I had to ring its neck a little too much to travel how I wanted to. even the v strom became uncomfortable after a certain amount of miles in a day. I think all bikes do no matter what , and its just part of riding ( at least for me). even my concours 14 would get uncomfortable sitting on it for extended periods.

ive chased the dragon with multiple sets of bar risers, different seats, multiple windscreens etc etc. Im done throwing money at that stuff. I just ride till ive had enough now and call it a day. to me no bike is going to be perfect in the comfort department. The busa is definitely better then the liter bikes, and thats good enough for me.

Upon first inspection of the busa, all was pretty good. little bit of road grime here and there ( to be expected), oil clean and full, coolant res nice green, and at the right level. new rubber ( awesome - now i don't have to buy it)

I think it has a new chain and sprockets. The master link is blue and the rest gold ( RK brand). don't think they did that from the factory?

Im pretty happy with the exhaust, its not obnoxious and has a nice velocity stack intake howl. do slip ons have big power gains?

He was not sure about the valves so I am going to do them before summer. Still looking for a factory service manual pdf if anyone has one! :beerchug:
 
Initial impressions:

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! :p

Ive had a few bikes now: CB550, CBX, concours 1k, concours 14, gsxr 1k, cbr1000rr, sportster 1200, and most recently a 2018 v strom 1000 - and over the years road just about everything.

Initially the v strom was great. Very comfortable, good torque and fun ( at first). Then I took it on a 1000 mile trip to a friends place, and just felt I had to ring its neck a little too much to travel how I wanted to. even the v strom became uncomfortable after a certain amount of miles in a day. I think all bikes do no matter what , and its just part of riding ( at least for me). even my concours 14 would get uncomfortable sitting on it for extended periods.

ive chased the dragon with multiple sets of bar risers, different seats, multiple windscreens etc etc. Im done throwing money at that stuff. I just ride till ive had enough now and call it a day. to me no bike is going to be perfect in the comfort department. The busa is definitely better then the liter bikes, and thats good enough for me.

Upon first inspection of the busa, all was pretty good. little bit of road grime here and there ( to be expected), oil clean and full, coolant res nice green, and at the right level. new rubber ( awesome - now i don't have to buy it)

I think it has a new chain and sprockets. The master link is blue and the rest gold ( RK brand). don't think they did that from the factory?

Im pretty happy with the exhaust, its not obnoxious and has a nice velocity stack intake howl. do slip ons have big power gains?

He was not sure about the valves so I am going to do them before summer. Still looking for a factory service manual pdf if anyone has one! :beerchug:
Won’t hurt to check valve clearances for peace of mind but they will be in spec 99.5% of the time. Just not really an issue on the ole Busa
 
Initial impressions:

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! :p

Ive had a few bikes now: CB550, CBX, concours 1k, concours 14, gsxr 1k, cbr1000rr, sportster 1200, and most recently a 2018 v strom 1000 - and over the years road just about everything.

Initially the v strom was great. Very comfortable, good torque and fun ( at first). Then I took it on a 1000 mile trip to a friends place, and just felt I had to ring its neck a little too much to travel how I wanted to. even the v strom became uncomfortable after a certain amount of miles in a day. I think all bikes do no matter what , and its just part of riding ( at least for me). even my concours 14 would get uncomfortable sitting on it for extended periods.

ive chased the dragon with multiple sets of bar risers, different seats, multiple windscreens etc etc. Im done throwing money at that stuff. I just ride till ive had enough now and call it a day. to me no bike is going to be perfect in the comfort department. The busa is definitely better then the liter bikes, and thats good enough for me.

Upon first inspection of the busa, all was pretty good. little bit of road grime here and there ( to be expected), oil clean and full, coolant res nice green, and at the right level. new rubber ( awesome - now i don't have to buy it)

I think it has a new chain and sprockets. The master link is blue and the rest gold ( RK brand). don't think they did that from the factory?

Im pretty happy with the exhaust, its not obnoxious and has a nice velocity stack intake howl. do slip ons have big power gains?

He was not sure about the valves so I am going to do them before summer. Still looking for a factory service manual pdf if anyone has one! :beerchug:
My master link was blue with thr gold chain grom factory so id guess that it's the oem. Usually ordering a new chain master link matches the chain. Nice find tho, enjoy the mods that will be coming :poke: :D
 
the one im looking at is the same color scheme. what did you pay for yours? shes a beauty...

In 2010 I paid 11k for it. Less than 1000 miles. Added quite a bit to it since then.

Brakes: Brakes are just fine unless you intend to race it. Putting better lines on (I did) is enough. Wave rotors are just bling overkill (as are Ohlins, Brembo's etc.). It's a great street ride, especially if you add helibars and/or a spacer (I did) to make it more comfortable cruising without sacrificing performance.

Dragon 140914_2a.jpg
 
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My master link was blue with thr gold chain grom factory so id guess that it's the oem. Usually ordering a new chain master link matches the chain. Nice find tho, enjoy the mods that will be coming :poke: :D


how many miles did you get out of the OEM chain/sprockets? I know looks aren't everything, but mine look like new for having 23k miles.
 
how many miles did you get out of the OEM chain/sprockets? I know looks aren't everything, but mine look like new for having 23k miles.

Best way to tell if your chain is good is to inspect it, and measure it based on the instructions in the manual. Chain life depends on how it was maintained, and how hard it was ridden...
 
I agree, the brakes seemed just fine. I Don't think ill be doing anything with them. Yes I will inspect the chain per the manual - just need someone to send me a PDF copy :p
 
I agree, the brakes seemed just fine. I Don't think ill be doing anything with them. Yes I will inspect the chain per the manual - just need someone to send me a PDF copy :p
Talk to @Sandow

 
how many miles did you get out of the OEM chain/sprockets? I know looks aren't everything, but mine look like new for having 23k miles.
I just replaced mine at a little over 20k miles and they didn't really show any major wear... was more for me wanting to change thr gearing and I wanted a red chain.
 
You'll find hard-copy manuals avail thru eBay - cheaper than the OEM book, just as informative. This forum probably contains the entire svc manual, one way or the other, just not organized as such.

Search this forum for opinion on:
  • mileage on a chain
  • Pilot seat upgrades
  • Lowered pegs
Honestly, you'll get search returns for practically every part on the bike, coupled with advice and opinion. I was perfectly happy with the OEM cans on my '14 until someone here referred to them as potato launchers (SixPack577??) ...which was when it all began. Whoever it was, I love them for that.

There are some stunningly wonderful touring setups on display here on this forum. @pashnit comes to mind, as does @c10's Busa. Exemplary touring machines. And check out @Tached1300's Elite tribute found here for a gateway to the most enviable mods.

Where does one begin?? If cost is a factor (when is it not??) and I had it to do over again, I would upgrade in a different order: SS brake lines; fr brake MC, and then exhaust. In my case, I had moved from an FZ1, was more interested in weight reduction (tagging @c10 again here, just to bug). If I remember, losing the OEM exhaust (and the cat) and swapping for a lith battery = about 35 less lbs. But I had never ridden such a large bike before, so modded exhaust first.

And rebuilding the OEM fr brake master cylinder is pretty cheap. About $30 USD and maybe 45 minutes labor. Maybe not a bad way to start, depending how your new bike was kept/maintained.

More photos, please, else I'm thinking you just photoshopped skydivr's photo to impress :poke:
 
Private. 2008 in the infamous blue/gold in great shape. Brand new dunlop Q3's to boot! The ride home was about 1 hr @ 0 degrees celcius. Totally worth it!

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Congrats. Well we live about half an hour apart. Since you have THAT color - it will even be more fun to go for rides!!

Those are pics when I got her. I have done quite some work on her since. I will let you know what and how!

20180618_113025.jpg


20180708_104553.jpg
 
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