Need your advice on this one

[TXBusa05LE]

I want a new toy.  Pros/cons on this bike & what you would pay for it...gracias!  

<span style='color:red'>Bik<span style='color:red'></span>e</span>

[proud dad]

never rode one,have no opinion

[dadofthree]

Didn't catch the year or VIN. It's been ridin the way most of us ride the Busa's, so don't buy into it's been garage kept and babied crap. 5K dunno

[katman]

Did you check blue book for price on year and milage? it looks nice. Look at it in person and see for your self.

[KanjiBusa]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!! I LOVE TL1000R's!!! THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!! I had a Tiller right before the busa, and I can say nothing but good things about it. The guy is right, it is SOOO torquey. There are only two things I have against it. It cooks your balls since it is a V-twin, and the rear head gets a little warm since it is behind, and cannot get the best airflow, it relies only on coolant, the other thing is that they stopped making them in 01, It is a very fun bike. Great track bike. It is so nice, if you are in 6th, and you max it out, or in any gear, then engine break to slow down...There is little, very little engine break, It coasts even at high RPM's, SOOO smooth, almost like it has an air ride system built in. If I could afford it I would go after it myself!. And on the price, KBB it, check. Then when you go to look at it, the best thing to do is, ride your busa, then leave your busa there, while taking it for a test. It makes these bikes sellers so much more comfortable when they have a very nice busa sitting there as collateral. It will also make you more cautious. Take it to a local shop, and have them look at it, Over all though it sounds good.

[DaCol.]

Had one, sold it last year with 21,000 miles on it. One of the best and most enjoyable bikes I ever had. So

why did I sell it

, PARTS !!!! There never was a great supply of aftermarket parts and since Suz hasn't built one since 2003 (I think that was the last year or maybe 2002) and they NEVER had much interest in it, I decided when a dealer wanted it more the me, IT WAS HIS. When it was designed it was suppose to compete with the Ducs and Hondas RC 51, but with $$$$$ constraints they went with the futher developement of the 750. Which meant the TLR was sell what you can, and dump it no matter how good they could be (my opinion) ! And of course Suz parts will not last long either  

 . It would be a great second bike to ride. But I wouldn't want it for a main or only bike  

[TXBusa05LE]

Thanks for the inputs! My only fear would be parts as mentioned.

[TallTom]

I remember this bike was featured on 60 minutes once. The riders were all pretty radical and well seasoned canyon riders. They LOVED this bike for a few reasons. Light fast nimble and very very tuneable. But one of the main ones was that they figured out that re-mapping the software was apparently easy to do and made the bike hella fast. They had some pretty awesome performance on the peice that 60 minutes did.

My opinion would be buy it for the hard to find factor. As mentioned they never really got a lot of steam behind the marketing. Everyone sort of gravitated to the inline 4 engines. At the time it was the most advanced thing Suzuki was offering and apparently VERY torquey It has the uniqueness factor going for it. I don't know how hard it is to support them for parts etc. but the history is worth owning.

[JINKSTER]

If i lived in the mountains?...(and may the busa gods forgive me for this)...I'd trade my busa for one.

TL1000 is suzi's equivilent of hondas notorious RC51...crazy low-mid twin torque..and for years has been Ken Wheelers weapon of choice for Slaying the Dragon..and he lives there....he's had it so long?..the red paint job has turned pink!

and it's affectionately known by the locals as "The Pink Lizard"..."Pink" for it's color and "Lizard" for the way he just slides it through the curves real slick like.

He's a terror on that bike...Ken typically rides the dragon (on the off midweek non-tourist hours) with Darrel from "Killboy.com"

Price seems a bit steep though...i wouldn't pay more than $5,000....maybe $5,500-$5700 if i had a Reeeeal good feeling about it and if it's truely in mint shape with evidence of impecable maintainance.

L8R, Bill.

[bacharles]

I probably wouldn't pay much more that 4 grand for it. I would be hard-pressed to go 5g's. But they are a nice bike. I almost bought one a couple years ago.

[Revolution]

i heard they're great bikes. mannn i want a RC51 as a second bike...c'monnnn lotto!

[BA BUSA]

They are kinda heavy and require some suspension work to get them to rail...mainly the rear shock is the problem. A good bike
though, very good torque...they did have some O ring issues (oil leaks) check if the owner upgraded the seals