I take back what I said!!!!

[OB_slam]

Yeah yeah I talked a lot of crap about the 12r in the past. Well now I'm forced to take most of that stuff back. A good friend of mine bought a red 12r and I was riding with him last night on my Busa (trading my Busa in next week for RC51). We also switched bikes for a little while. First of all both bikes are completely stock but the 12R isn't fully broken in. My first impressions after hopping off my Busa and on the 12r are that the Busa's power actually kicks in earlier than the 12r and it has quite a bit more torque. However once the revs get up on the 12 it pulls hard as hell and the front tire becomes air borne. The 12r actually feels quite a bit lighter than the Busa and it's steering is quicker. When going through a few curves on the 12r it felt much easier to lean than the Busa. The 12r is much more fun to ride on a curvy road than the Busa..but as long as the rider on the Busa is skilled the 12r wont leave it behind on any road. Yes the 12r is more agile but I just don't think it's agile enough to leave a Busa for dead in the twisties. When we pulled into a gas station and my friend hopped off my Busa the first thing he said was DAMN, THAT BIKE PULLS STRONG EVERYWHERE! Yet he still thinks his 12R is just a tad faster. I'm not so sure about that..He got back on his 12r and I hopped back on my Busa and we hit the expressway to let them rip. What I found is that the 12r is not faster yet it's not much slower either. We didn't get a chance to top the bikes out there where too many cars around and not enough road. Basically whoever got hard on the gas first was the one who stayed in front. If I hit the gas before him he could not catch me. And when he got on the gas first I couldn't catch him either but I think at top speed the Busa might* reel the 12r in. A lot of it comes down to the rider on the street. Whoever is the craziest will win. We're going out for another ride tonight to see if we can't top them out and just do some roll ons. The 12r has definetly earned my respect but I still do not want one. The Busa is still king in my book. The 12r definetly has the Busa covered as far as wheelies go..the Busa can pull some nice wheelies but the 12r will do them at almost any time and any where. Reminds me of my R1!

 

[Guest]

They're too close to tell by the seat of the pants IMO. I FINALLY got to see a 12 in person today. It was right here in Podunk, OK sitting in the parking lot of a local bank.[owner was probably getting a 2nd mortgage] I thought it was a 9 at first but noticed the vac sticking out the front and went back to see. It still had the local Kaw dealer tag on it. Hope I can meet the owner - nice to finally see another big bore sportbike in this HD invested town.

 

[OB_valklex]

Todd, every town is an HD infested town. They sold more bikes (only cruisers obviously) last year than all honda motorcycles combined.

 

[OB_Shadowrider]

I got to see a green one the other day.It was at the dealer where I buy my motul.It was having its first service a little early...the dealer said the guy already laid it down.Told me the owner said you don't even have to think on the curves,I said he obviously wasn't thinking enough!Oh yeah,man is that green ugly!

 

[OB_billclinton 69]

That is true : every town is crawling with those rediculous throwbacks to the world war 2 era. It is fun to come up on a pack of santa clause look alikes putt putting down the road on these things and blitz by them in a wheelie though. Or even smoke them in a 1983 Chevette with 190,000 miles running on 3 cyl. I will never own a H-D until they come up with something decent. why couldnt they produce a bike similar in styling and power to the Yamaha V-max? There is an *** kicking bike that would not offend the black leather yuppie and scruffy dirtbag types usually found in a Harley showroom but would offer something other than "nostalgia" . But then i guess with sales through the roof on their current line of junk, why would they bother?