I went to a local dealer and had the chance to inspect both closely, sit on them, but not ride them (it's 30-some-odd degrees here in Michigan today...).
A little about my perspective:
I own an '04 Busa LE (I purchased it new) in "Deathberry Shortcake" red with just over 14,000 mostly highway miles that I use mostly as a sport-tourer. A sport-tourer that can lay waste to bothersome traffic with a simple twist of the wrist...
I'm 6'3", 260-ish pounds, 37 years old, have been riding for just under 20 years now.
Here are my impressions:
ZX-14: Bike was black, kinda boring looking. It sits more upright than the Busa, and feels lighter. It seems more spartan than the Busa, kind of like the difference in feeling between a Toyota and a Cadillac - the Caddy, like the Busa, just feels more substantial - like it's more robust. I can see the ZX-14 being a bit more comfortable on longer rides, as the seating position is more upright.
Busa: Bike was orange and black. I'm not wild about that color scheme, and think that Suzuki really dropped the ball on the '08 colors. There needed to be at least one "LOOK AT ME!!!!" color, and the three choices are in my opinion too boring.
Dark Blue (YAWN)
Metallic Black (YAWN + 'Have fun keeping it clean')
Orange and Black (I call it the "Great Pumpkin" color scheme so you can have Halloween all year long on your bike if you want... ummm... why you would want to, I have no idea... but you can...)
The '08 feels pretty much just like my '04 from a seating position standpoint.
My first mod would be to replace the handgrips with foamy ones - the Busa seating position puts a good amount of pressure on your hands, and the foamy grips are vastly better for comfort than the razor-thin rubber they put on stock.
The back end looks good with the hump removed (didn't see it with the hump on). Much better in person than one would think, and honestly, in pictures I didn't find it all that bad in the first place.
Appearance-wise, in person, the new Busa looks a little bit "busier" than the old one. There are additional styling features all over the bike. As this is personal preference, I'll leave it up to you as to whether you like it or not.
As mentioned above, the Busa feels more solid than the ZX-14.
The gage cluster is a big improvement over the original.
The dealer said the following:
"The Busa is garnering vastly more interest than the ZX-14. People are coming out of their way to see it."
He believes the Busa, so far, to be a home run and says that while the ZX-14 is a nice bike, the Busa is going to bury it in sales and is, in his opinion, simply a better machine.
KK, that's it. Just wanted to record my impressions for posterity.
A little about my perspective:
I own an '04 Busa LE (I purchased it new) in "Deathberry Shortcake" red with just over 14,000 mostly highway miles that I use mostly as a sport-tourer. A sport-tourer that can lay waste to bothersome traffic with a simple twist of the wrist...
I'm 6'3", 260-ish pounds, 37 years old, have been riding for just under 20 years now.
Here are my impressions:
ZX-14: Bike was black, kinda boring looking. It sits more upright than the Busa, and feels lighter. It seems more spartan than the Busa, kind of like the difference in feeling between a Toyota and a Cadillac - the Caddy, like the Busa, just feels more substantial - like it's more robust. I can see the ZX-14 being a bit more comfortable on longer rides, as the seating position is more upright.
Busa: Bike was orange and black. I'm not wild about that color scheme, and think that Suzuki really dropped the ball on the '08 colors. There needed to be at least one "LOOK AT ME!!!!" color, and the three choices are in my opinion too boring.
Dark Blue (YAWN)
Metallic Black (YAWN + 'Have fun keeping it clean')
Orange and Black (I call it the "Great Pumpkin" color scheme so you can have Halloween all year long on your bike if you want... ummm... why you would want to, I have no idea... but you can...)
The '08 feels pretty much just like my '04 from a seating position standpoint.
My first mod would be to replace the handgrips with foamy ones - the Busa seating position puts a good amount of pressure on your hands, and the foamy grips are vastly better for comfort than the razor-thin rubber they put on stock.
The back end looks good with the hump removed (didn't see it with the hump on). Much better in person than one would think, and honestly, in pictures I didn't find it all that bad in the first place.
Appearance-wise, in person, the new Busa looks a little bit "busier" than the old one. There are additional styling features all over the bike. As this is personal preference, I'll leave it up to you as to whether you like it or not.
As mentioned above, the Busa feels more solid than the ZX-14.
The gage cluster is a big improvement over the original.
The dealer said the following:
"The Busa is garnering vastly more interest than the ZX-14. People are coming out of their way to see it."
He believes the Busa, so far, to be a home run and says that while the ZX-14 is a nice bike, the Busa is going to bury it in sales and is, in his opinion, simply a better machine.
KK, that's it. Just wanted to record my impressions for posterity.
