Looking to buy

gary w

Registered
Hi to all,
Just recently found this site and have been spending a lot of time reading the board. Have gotten a lot of info already, so I figured who better to talk with than the real deal owners, both good and bad.
Looking at purchasing a Busa. Have been riding for about 20 years. Currently ride a Honda Valkyrie and a Bandit. The bandit will soon be my son's ride.
Have a concern about the comfort level of the bike. I like to ride several trips a year of 4-5 days of 300-400 miles per day. Valk works good for this, but is a bit tiring after a long day in the mountains and is sometimes a bigger bike than I want to ride. We try to ride mostly in the mountains or along the west coast.
I have read all the articles I could find about the bike, but most of these were about the 1999-2000 year. Looking to real Busa owners about real life riding.
Know it is fast, but does it handle the long trips and be user friendly to the backside, arms, shoulders, and back.
Have also read some potential problem. i.e. Abnornal chain stretching, frame fatigue and breakage, and fuel filter problems. Any truth to these problems?
Will be serious about purchase in summer or early fall, Maybe 2003 if there are improvements to the bike.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Gary
 
Busa will cruise fine for a little, however if you are looking for bags backrest and comfort get something else.
 
Got a 2002, I think it’s their best one yet. Nice chrome pipes, steel sub frame - no breakage. Improved FI mapping - 32 bit I guess. Got the cam chain problem figured out. No Buzz around 4,500 RPM, it’s so smooth. Had a Concours last year, its junk compared to the Busa. Get a Zero Gravity SP windscreen and some handle bar risers. Get the Corbin hard bags and your set. I think it has the most comfortable riding position there is a highway speeds. Guess two up the Bird is better.
 
I really love the Busa and am quite impressed with the comfort level for the type of bike it is, however, if most of your riding is long distance touring, you will find it is not the best out there. The Busa's riding position has more weight on the wrists than the Honda 1100XX, and the XX will handle hard bags and a passenger better. Passengers don't find my Busa uncomfortable, I just find that after riding for more than an hour, my arms are fatigued from holding them back and my own weight up every time I hit the brakes. By yourself, the wind blast is enough to take the weight off your wrists, but you sometimes find your speed creeping higher on long trips.
It really all depends on what you want. For touring comfort in a sport bike, it rates in the top 2 or 3 bikes but compared to an ST1100 or the new ST1300, you won't like it. Myself, I prefer the forward riding position of a sport bike, and I like to tour at a slightly brisk pace on twisty roads. I will do some 700 mile days, or even 4 or 5 of them in a row. The Busa suits me perfectly, you just have to find the bike that suits you.
As far as reliability, I have never even heard of frames breaking, and as far as chain stretching, you can't use a cheap chain on something with this kind of horsepower. I think from what I have read, this is Suzuki's most reliable, most consistent and well finished motorcycle.
 
Fuel problems, subframe breakage and such are all 1999 and 2000 problems. 2001 and 2002 have most of the bugs worked out.

I do have a few complaints, though. The electrical system is definitely not made to suit all-weather riding. None of the connectors are weather-proof and I recently got stranded when the regulator connector melted itself loose. I have fixed everything myself, though, and aside from the few setbacks, it has been very reliable. Aside from the connectors, this isn't a bike suited for the rain. The rear tire breaks loose easily with a little too much throttle, so you have to be extra careful when it rains or when the weather is very cold (near-freezing).

Long trips are a blast. I complained about the tension on my wrists, but then learned to change my position to not press on the bars and have not had problems since. Stop and go traffic, however, can be a drag, especially on the left wrist having to operate the clutch.

I can't give you much of a comparison with other bikes, though. I'd try to find other brand boards and get some objective opinions.

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I find the 'Busa comfortable as does my pillion (one of the kids) we,ve often done longerjourneys up to 600 - 700 miles.
In traffic for long periods of time i find a problem with my wrists, as I broke them both a couple of years ago and they are still comparitivly weak. Compared to a sportsbike like a GSXR though one of the better ones.
Sub-frames are only a problem with a 99 or 2000 model not sure about the 2001 as we didn't get it in England.
Cam chain tensioner problems are history and all 99 and 2000 should be sorted by now.
Fuel filter problems again 99 and 2000 models had a problem with the fuel pump/filters and require regular cleaning in the first instance less regular as time go's on. The later 2000 and on models have an updated fuel system so no problems.
I'm just about to replace my chain because of a tight spot after 17000 miles and there's about 2mm of adjustment left (1/16 of an inch).
 
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