Is the Gen 3 worth it?

JSaathoff

JSaathoff

Registered
Hey all, been a member on here forever. took a long break when i sold my last 09.

I am smitten by the 3rd gen, and I will be buying a bike asap. Is the Gen 3 worth it? I love the look, I love it all, but how is the riding? I have had 2 gen 2's and enjoyed being able to ride for hours without issue with little to no suspension modification. I did other fun mods instead. Love the looks of the gen2's, so that's not a worry. Thoughts? currently eyeballing two different gen 3's, pending which the bank says yes to. But, should I stick with my familiar gen 2?

Missed you guys!!
 
I'm a gen 2 guy but if I was out bike shopping the gen 3 would be at the top of my list..

It has all the benefits of being a Hayabusa plus all the electronic gizmos that make it easier to ride...add in that it has factory cruise control and quick shifter and you have a great package. The ECU is now unlocked so the same potential is there as the other generations.
 
My Gen I was worth it. My Gen III is more than worth it. Nasty, beautiful lines. More refined, sleeker looking. I'm mesmerized looking at either. Never bought a Gen II. Just wan't feeling it. Told my good friend Tom(Scar was always talking to his friend Tak at Suzuki) when it comes out, I'd put it on a credit card to close the deal. They're all wonderful combinations of performance, style, comfortability, and tuneability.

:thumbsup:
 
The G3 is an awesome bike. I own one . You will be very happy unless you like going to the top a lot. The G3 otherwise is exceptional. I did a 4200 mile trip after break in, no problems. When you first ride one you will notice the bikes balance, much improved. Cornering and braking are out of this world to me. Performance low end and midrange are much improved. A little disappointed up top. Tires ( S22 ) don’t last long, but you won’t have chicken strips.
 
I think a lot depends on what you are going to use the busa for. If your totally happy with a stock bike that is quick, it will work for you. If you want tons of power and to beat 1k bikes, you will be sadly disappointed. The 1k bikes will smoke you even modded unless you run turbo. In which case a gen 2 is more up your alley. Just my thoughts. Gen 3 turbos that will be reliable are probably still 6 months out.
 
JSaathoff said:
Hey all, been a member on here forever. took a long break when i sold my last 09.

I am smitten by the 3rd gen, and I will be buying a bike asap. Is the Gen 3 worth it? I love the look, I love it all, but how is the riding? I have had 2 gen 2's and enjoyed being able to ride for hours without issue with little to no suspension modification. I did other fun mods instead. Love the looks of the gen2's, so that's not a worry. Thoughts? currently eyeballing two different gen 3's, pending which the bank says yes to. But, should I stick with my familiar gen 2?

Missed you guys!!
Click to expand...

Is it worth it? Yes.
How is the riding? Comparing stock to stock...amazing. Modified? You can build a faster bike, a more nimble bike, or a better long distance tourer by looking elsewhere 10/10, but the Gen 3 can do ALL of those things 8/10.

Should you stick to Gen 2? You've gotten rid of Gen 2's twice now (assuming the use of 'had' is accurate)...might as well try the improved version
 
I haven’t been without a Busa since 2004. I traded a higher spec H2 SX SE to get mine, at the time I had a naked Gen-1, a Gen-1 project in bits and a Gen-2 engined B-King (alongside the H2).

Is it worth it ? Yes and no.

COST:
I was lucky I’d downsized and retired so treated my self. Had money been tighter I probably wouldn’t. No question the bike is better than a Gen-2 in many ways but the Gen-2 is still a very good and valid Busa to own and great (better?) value.

TECH:
A lot of it is wasted on me. The amount of mode, setting, options etc, such as Hill Hold ? However, stuff like the cruise control and quick shifter are very good and I use and like them, and the menu not hard to work out. TFT dash is nice but not really amazing unless you still want to have the big round dials that other bikes have dropped.

IN USE:
The day I jumped on mine and did 110 mile ride home it just felt right. It felt exactly like what it is, an old familiar Busa that’s just a bit better. Handling, feel, brakes, comfort etc all feel good, it’s not a revolutionary bikes, but an honest update on a legend.

PERFORMANCE / RACING.
If this was a serious priority I’d buy a Gen-2. I wouldn’t buy all the “nice” stuff if I was only chasing horsepower. Sure the Gen-3 are making gains and money will but you Gen-2 specs and numbers but why spend more to start a few steps back.

OVERALL.
Unless money is an issue (it has been for me in the past) and you are after great value, then I’d say Gen-3 is a good bike and a natural progression up the Busa ladder. I’m often quite cynical and not shy of admitting my bikes faults, I’m not a narrow minded fan boy, but I do like my Gen-3.
 
It's not worth it performance wise but it looks really nice. Horses for courses. Does Everything well and has a pretty much new, super strong engine. Not every new 1k can be modded either. Cheap too.
 
In 2012 i bought a new vfr1200, it cost me £13,500 GBP, which is about £17,000 in todays money. The only reason i ended up buying new was the 5 year 0% honda were doing at the time. So is the Gen3 worth it, i would say yes as long as you can get a great deal and can afford the monthly payments even when times get hard, not everyone has Gen3 money sitting in the bank. But for me now, i'm happy with my old 2009 non ABS Gen2,. Who needs all them extra's that could go wrong and cost ££££ to fix when the warranty runs out.

If i had that money sitting in the bank, would i go out and buy a Gen3, No, the wife would want a new car aswell so it would cost me another £25k+ on top of the Gen3 money
I just bought myself a new pair of Akrapovic's for £1200GBP and had to spend another £1300 GBP on new alloy wheels and tyres for the wife car to even things out :confused:
 
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Personal taste, and a few health issues… the proper cruise control is a big deal to me. After 3 years of regular use on my Kawasaki it was a “must have” on my next bike and the Gen-3 ticked that box. I never realised how much I’d like and use it untill I had it.

Personal taste again, and a costly one, I have a shed full of used / 2nd hand bikes. There’s something really nice about a brand new unmolested out of the crate bike. It’s an expensive fix, but everything from the unmarked bodywork, new tyres / chain / brakes, to knowing it’s history is just nice.
 
Tony Nitrous said:
Personal taste, and a few health issues… the proper cruise control is a big deal to me. After 3 years of regular use on my Kawasaki it was a “must have” on my next bike and the Gen-3 ticked that box. I never realised how much I’d like and use it untill I had it.

Personal taste again, and a costly one, I have a shed full of used / 2nd hand bikes. There’s something really nice about a brand new unmolested out of the crate bike. It’s an expensive fix, but everything from the unmarked bodywork, new tyres / chain / brakes, to knowing it’s history is just nice.
Click to expand...

Cruise on the busa is the best thing ever... Should be almost standard for anything over 500cc I reckon..
I could never go back to no cruise..
 
Loved my gen 1, but I just picked up and have yet to put a hundred miles on my new white gen 3. First impression is that I'm not going to be using much of the electronics. But it's certainly nice to have the ABS. And at this point I don't even care as I love looking at it so much. I feel a bit like Jeremy Clarkson looking at the Eagle Speedster. 'It's the most beautiful motorcycle I've ever seen. ...It may be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.'

Just make sure you check out and eliminate the 2022 Triumph Speed Triple RR first. Same price or a little less, also absolutely gorgeous, and with Öhlins Smart EC 2.0 OBTI electronically-adjustable semi-active front and rear suspension. (Will we be able to put that on the Gen 3? Because I'm having techno-lust for that suspension).
 
There's something to be said about the older bikes that a person can actually wrench on and diagnose problems without the need of a computer...the gen 2 is on the very cusp of this, it is almost an old school bike but still needs to be electronically diagnosed to a degree.

This is an important feature considering so many Suzuki (and other) dealerships are closing and consolidating to save money leaving either jobbers or back yard mechanics at our own devices...the nearest Suzuki dealership here is 2 hrs away.

All these high tech bikes are fine if you have the support base to go with them and if something goes wrong you are able to get them fixed. BMW screwed this up, their old bikes (boxers) would go forever and you could fix them with a coat hanger and baler twine out in the middle of the desert, now they need NASA tech to diagnose them and they break more often.
 
ottafish said:
Cruise on the busa is the best thing ever... Should be almost standard for anything over 500cc I reckon..
I could never go back to no cruise..
Click to expand...
I just picked up my new gen 3 last Friday and had a lengthy ride back home, traffic was very busy. I tried out the CC [never had it before] but found I was constantly overriding it due to cars pulling out. I didn't feel that comfortable with it but I want to try it out a lot more before making my mind up. Are you only using this feature when the traffic is light, how did you feel about using it the first couple of times?
 
Steve127 said:
I just picked up my new gen 3 last Friday and had a lengthy ride back home, traffic was very busy. I tried out the CC [never had it before] but found I was constantly overriding it due to cars pulling out. I didn't feel that comfortable with it but I want to try it out a lot more before making my mind up. Are you only using this feature when the traffic is light, how did you feel about using it the first couple of times?
Click to expand...
I'd say cruise control in general is best used when in light traffic and on the highways. (unless its the adaptive cruise control)
 
Steve127 said:
I just picked up my new gen 3 last Friday and had a lengthy ride back home, traffic was very busy. I tried out the CC [never had it before] but found I was constantly overriding it due to cars pulling out. I didn't feel that comfortable with it but I want to try it out a lot more before making my mind up. Are you only using this feature when the traffic is light, how did you feel about using it the first couple of times?
Click to expand...
I don’t and wouldn’t use it around traffic. That’s not what it’s for and not what the bikes version works well at. My car has a more advanced radar type that has adjustable distance and braking settings that will space itself and vary its speed to the vehicle in front.

The Busa version is more basic, it’s designed for open roads, highways, long hauls, motorways etc. I love the Busa version, it works well and was a strong selling point for the bike for me.

I never have to override mine in traffic because I don’t use it then. I use mine on every ride and love it, but I use it for what it’s designed for.
 
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