I have a Busa and a B-King and I love both of them, they are a blast to ride and they both shine in their own way. Your right they only brought 350 B-Kings into the US. They are a one year bike they say because of the economy and they did not sell as well as they had thought they would. I guess most people in the US thought the bike was too radical looking so they did not buy them. Another thing I have noticed is many Busa owners don't like the B-King and almost look at the B-King as a bastard child. Same motor 2nd gen Busa, but no real respect. I have read some people are worried about getting parts for the king, and are thinking of bailing out on their bikes. Suzuki will not let the owners of these bikes hang they will sell the needed parts.
I don't think the demise of the B-king was the economy (although it didn't help)
it suffered from
#1 - an MSRP of $2,500 more than the Busa
#2 - That huge arse gas tank...the King looks awesome from the side
especially with aftermarket exhaust but looks terrible from the front over the
wheel or above the tank. It's not "radical"...it's well...never mind.
If Zuk engineers would have put a normal (or close to it) looking tank and
the bean counters made the MSRP near the 11,500 mark...the B-king would
still be with us.
I rode one, several times in fact, at daytona, but...I can't get past the tank
so big a family of four could play parchisi on or the extra $$$. I'd rather just
buy a new busa (and put the extra $2,500 into aftermarket goodies),
which seems to the popular choice.
Also, IMHO...Suzuki will leave B-kings out to dry when the dollars say so...
If that weren't the case, you would have seen a "real 2nd gen" busa, not
just a warming over of current design.