Stretching a Busa

[Tufbusa]

Tuf,

Far be it from me to try and debate with your experience! But the Busa stock is strangely delivered with a tail heavy bias. This creats a slight aimlessness in it's straight line feel as well as slowing down turn in. I can find the article where I read this but don't have it now. I installed the 1" riser after reading this article and I don't know if it is all true for the reasons they give but it does work and it's clearly a noticeable improvement in both cornering and straight line stability. My best guess is that Suzuki wanted to keep the seat height as low as possible, otherwise I'm sure they would have delivered the bike stock like this.

Note that these are not drammatic changes to the basic geometry of the bike. I totally agree with you on the give and take idea. Stretching is a big change in the bike's geometry. The only negative of the 1" riser is a bit taller seat. As I said however, the 55 series tire does make the bike want to lay over much quicker and is something that does take some getting used to.

I don't like the term "Debate". I much prefer the term "Discussion". Discussions about things like this is good for everyone.

If my memory serves me well, raising the rear an inch transfers something like "4" pounds from the rear to the front. Hardly a noticealbe amount. Adjust your arse a half inch forward will transfer more weight. I don't remember now the exact weight distribution but I did a weight test some years ago on the Gen I and as I remember there was less than 10 pounds difference.

You will be hard pressed to find any bike more stable in it's stock form than the busa.

I have no issues with raising the busa via dog bones but personally, I prefer adding shims to the shock to aquire the same ride height adjustment without disturbing the stock progressive linkage.

I too, prefer the 55 series tire which raises the rear another 5mm or so. However, the additional sidewall height of the 55 series tire requires a reduction in gearing by adding one tooth to the rear sprocket.

And I'll also point out that any adjustment to ride height has an effect on the suspension, usually negative. That's why they make aftermarket adjustable triple trees so you can keep the proper amount of rake & trail while reaping the benifits of raising the rear.

The culprit responsible for running wide on corners is usually the rear shock allowing the rear to squat under power.

 

[GNBRETT]

I'm not a speed freak but I do move pretty good on a twisty road. I like the weight of the busa over a liter bike and the riding position is comfortable for 9+ hour rides. Get on a track and the busa is not going to run with a decent lier bike with equal riders. I can't see heading out to a 500-900 mile ride on a liter bike. On the other hand I can't see trying to race a Busa, except maybe as an endurance racer.

I would love to see a few Busas on those TT runs though.

I agree as far as comfort goes. Others that think a Busa is gonna keep up with a liter bike thru the twisties or the track is just kidding themselves.

there are plenty that can ride a Busa in the twisties far better then some on a liter bike but take two great riders who can carve corners and put one on a Busa and the other on a 400 lb liter bike and the guy on the liter bike will destroy him. I dont think this I know this for a fact. Seen it plenty of times. Anyone who thinks an extra 150+ lbs. isnt going to effect the riders ability to handle is living in a fairy tale.

of course once the road straightens then ur playing in the Busa's world.

 

[paulcee]

After a lot of thought and looking at all the comments you guys have left and as cool as it looks I think stretching is mostly used for launch control, so my Busa will stay standard as for having the wrong bike for fast through the twisties I keep up with litre sport bikes no problem and find the busa to be quite nimble on both entry and exit of corners although being able to slide back out helps a lot, anyway thank you all for your comments and input. cheers paul

 

[GMbusa]

Here's the answer... well, my answer.

I too was a corner carver at first. Nothing pleased me more than that feeling of hanging the corners. I was living in the Shenandoah valley at the time. It wasn't about speed, or track times or anything. I loved doing it and I got pretty good at doing it too. A few years pass then a BIG "Oh sh#t" moment happened. Not your average pucker moment, no this was one of certain death that by some divine intervention I'm alive. I too didn't really like the stretched look or slammed stance but I understood it. Then I decided to change avenues of riding and with a local dragstrip I took up dragracing for fun. After a few sessions of racing you naturally want to make your bike more suited for drag duty. It's easier on you and the bike, not to mention it makes the ride more fun. Before I knew it I was lowered, stretch 10" and strapped up front with a 1397 bigbore. There's something beautiful about a lowered and extended Busa setup for drag racing. I'm talking about the look with the rear wheel at the right extention length. Too long and the bike doesn't hook, to short and you wheelie and constantly have to fight the bike with excessive clutch work.

So here I was, 4 years later, in the garage working on my bike. A stretched, lowered and worked engine. Where did I go wrong? LOL I didn't, my tastes changed. I did learn a few things about it all. No one EVER told me how much better the overall ride would be when extended. Much smoother and more stable on the open roads. I also found that the cornering isn't too effected when the bike is kept at a 6inch or less extended. I'm talking about real world street riding, not track days or an exact comparison to a stock wheelbase motorcycle. The stock wheelbase will handle better, BUT the average rider could still ride his ride with the extending kept mild. I had a perfect system that let me do it all with my Busa. I used quality bolt-on swingarm extentions, adjustable dogbones and two different length chains with masterlinks for easy swapping. So literally I could race friday night lowered, extended then be lifted +1 over stock and stock wheelbase for Saturday morning. Another good idea is to have 2 rear wheels. One with your sticky drag tire and one with your cornering tire. Either way you should try the extended approach sometime for kicks. I did and had a blast.