Just back from Sturgis on my lowered Hayabusa Gen 1

cyclefarm

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Just put 1500+ miles on my 03 Hayabusa. A couple weeks ago I lowered the front about 3/4" and the rear 1.25". I was a little worried about riding in the hills on a lowered bike but all went fine. I honestly couldn't tell the difference in handling. Granted, we were usually in a long string of bikes, mostly Harleys, so didn't do much fast riding. However, I took a few curves that had me halfway expecting to drag but didn't. I actually think it was more comfortable down the highway. Think about it- if you lower the rear more than the front you take some weight off your arms/wrists and you straighten out your neck a bit, allowing for more comfort. I didn't have to shorten my kickstand but was always aware of where I parked and tried to put the stand side "downhill". It wasn't any worse than my old stock BMW R1100S on the sidestand. Oh, I also was more wary of potholes/high spots to prevent dragging my belly. I think the bike looks a lot better but the average guy probably couldn't tell the difference.

Trip highlights:
1. Shot an M82 50 cal rifle, very cool!!!!!
2. Playing with other fast machines on the road: a blue ZX14 and a Subaru WRX. Both had Hayabusa respect.
3. Riding Highways 46, 18 and 44 in South Dakota. Badlands were the prettiest I've ever seen due to rain.
4. Went to 2 Pro Hillclimbs.
5. Bacon, eggs, hashbrowns every morning!
6. Dodged most of the rain, cool weather, looked like snow along Needles HWY but was hail from previous day.
7. Saw several cool old Panheads and Shovelheads. Only 1 other Hayabusa.
8. I love my Hayabusa, great bike for the trip.
 
Yeah, iron mountain road, needles highway etc. Road most of the curves and dips in the Black Hills. Had to skip the wildlife loop this time.

Pics pics pics, yeah I know. Been a while (or never) since I uploaded pics on this site, is it easy or do I have to be a computer scientist? I'll check into it. Don't have too many pics, dropped my cell phone 2 days before I left so was using a backup phone with crappy camera.

Forgot to add a highlight:
9. Passing 80mph cars, just a twist of the throttle and you're going 110mph, very cool acceleration!
 
No pictures? ??? May the chaffing demons forever inhabit your pants..... :laugh:

jk....
 
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