Rubberrabbit
Registered
Hello friends, right now I'm a little amazed at how quickly things are changing. A few weeks ago, I wanted to say goodbye here because I had parted ways with the Busa, but I stayed because you were so kind to me and said that man doesn't count for the motorcycle.
The last few months, or rather the last year, have been very difficult for me. Two serious illnesses at once, diagnoses that really don't look good, the madness that's breaking out in Europe because of the war, the exploding energy costs... it was hard to think positively here. It was clear to me that I had to take responsibility, reduce costs, focus on health and limit myself. I also noticed that my strength was waning and that driving a Busa could not only be a risk for me but also for the other boys and girls on the road.
So I decided to sell my Falcon and get something smaller, an SV650X. Better than nothing, at least that's what I thought. Less power, less weight, less effort to drive. The main thing was that I could still practice my hobby, because that should give me the courage to cope with the difficult times. I can't do without motorcycling, that's a part of me.
When the Busa was picked up I felt terrible because for me this bike is simply the best thing I have ever ridden. I have owned many bikes in my life, I have loved and cherished many of them. But I've never found a bike that suits me as well as the Gen3. Engine, chassis, optics, seating position.....everything is perfect for me. It was always soothing and relaxing alone to sit in the camp chair in the garage in front of the big bike and just look at her.
When she left, it was like a part of me went. Strange, I know, some shake their heads and say "it's just an object", but for me my bikes are always personalities and not things.
When the SV650X came, the joy was restrained, but I said to myself "be thankful that you can still drive at all and are not without in the times". I really tried, polished them up nicely, added some parts, really tried to bond with the bike but it just didn't work.
There were several reasons for this. On the one hand it has to be said that Suzuki has become really sloppy with the SV650 in terms of quality. When it comes to painting, you don't bother anymore, just black paint over it and well, you could do that better in the past. Unclean paintwork with dust inclusions or paint noses, wafer-thin painted frame, uncleanly worked parts on the engine, inferior plastic in many places, even paint that is chipping off weld seams and underneath you can see rusty traces.
I was really horrified, but you can tell the SV is almost history because the new model is in the starting blocks, Hamamatsu doesn't bother anymore, neither with the paintwork nor with the quality, they save costs where possible. My SV650X from 2018 was worlds better processed and lovingly made. Yes...I admit the worst part was the engine. The Euro5 is really not good for the small V2. Under the Euro4 norm, the V2 did really well. Great sound, sufficient power, actually pure fun! But under the Euro 5 the teeth were pulled from the engine, it seems constricted, listless, powerless. Yes, he accepts the gas cleanly, goes smoothly, but no longer has any character.
In the end I could have lived with the poor workmanship, but not with an engine that doesn't exude joy. I never thought that the new emission standard would damage the engine so much. In addition, many German testers said that you would hardly notice it, another example of how you can believe German influencers.
It may be that the Busa shaped me in ways that I wasn't entirely objective about, but what's the point of riding a motorcycle if you don't have a smile under your helmet anymore, if that childlike joy when you twist the throttle is gone? My wife said she had never seen me so serious and sad when I came back from motorcycling, that couldn't have been the point. I was ready to give up the hobby entirely. I also have to say, whoever thinks that 70 kilos less and 120 hp less, not so stressful when driving, is wrong. Although it was a small, light bike without a lot of power, I found the SV to be much more strenuous to ride. You had to work a lot more, take more risks, it was more uncomfortable and exhausting.
In that moment I realized that I had done everything for nothing. I wasn't happy with it, nor did I get courage and strength from driving, and physically it put even more strain on me. I would say a shot in the knee, no, a shot in both knees!
My family hasn't had it easy with me in the last few weeks, I was hardly in a good mood or joy, nothing really gave me the courage to face life. And when I saw Youtube videos or pictures of the Gen 3 here in the forum, it pulled me down even more.
I give my wife credit for telling me one evening that things couldn't go on like this. She said to me:
"Look, you meant well, your thinking wasn't wrong, but you're a slob and you live for motorcycles! Even if you can only ride 1, 2 or 3 times a year, it would make much more sense to do one Driving Hayabusa instead of maybe 20 times with the SV and you never enjoy it. We all have difficult times ahead of us, especially you have to concentrate on getting healthy. But to get healthy you need strength and courage, den you don't currently. So get your ass off, sell the SV, get another Busa and good! Of course it will cost money as we will make a massive loss selling it, but better that than a broken man!"
Ok, she also said I'm an idiot, a wimp and if I do something stupid like that again, she'll kick me in the balls! But she meant it affectionately! I admit, that day gave me hope for the first time in months.
Well...but I can say the last few weeks have been, well let me put it that way...very interesting. Countless phone calls, negotiated for days, constant back and forth. Nobody wanted to buy the SV, there aren't that many Hayabusas in Germany at the moment because the dealers don't put any in their shops. Unfortunately, she is a slow seller. So finding a dealer who would buy the SV, have a Busa at a good price, and find it all together was a full-time job.
In the end it worked out after a few weeks and I was able to make a deal that hurt me financially, but was still manageable. I didn't want to burden my family too much during these difficult times and had set my own limit. Our energy costs have tripled at the moment. Heating is a luxury, so is petrol, electricity has increased by 300%...I can't throw money around, we're just a small family. But the deal I got was really good. Ooook I would have loved to have a black Gen 3 again but there wasn't one available for a good deal.
I made an agreement with a dealer who had a white Busa. He brought the girl over to me last Thursday. I couldn't sleep all week, I was so excited. I couldn't believe I'd have a Hayabusa in my garage again. When she came and was rolled off the trailer, my heart almost raced!
It was raining cats and dogs, as it had been here for days, because after 8 weeks of heat and a dry period, someone in heaven must have switched to "autumn mode". Cold, wet, grey...just in time for September.
I dried and cleaned her right away and when I sat down on her afterwards, tears ran down my cheeks. My daughter was like, "Daddy...now you're not going to start crying, are you? That's embarrassing". But she said it with a smile!
Well guys and gals, I'm a Hayabusa owner again and there's nothing better for me! This bike is so special that I can't ride anything else. And if I can only spend very little time on the bike in the next few months/years, then it's still worth it to me. And just going into the garage and sitting by the bike gives me strength.
It could have been easier for me, but sometimes you do the wrong things for the right reasons.
My friend Kim Windsor will now say "well, the black one is faster, you know that, don't you?". Well... let's see! I love the metallic white, even the matte blue looks way better than the pictures!
But it is amazing how different the character of the white Busa is compared to my former black one. Even though it's the same model! Transmission, chassis and brakes feel different. Suspension not quite as soft, transmission a bit harder but exact, brakes a bit snappier. I wouldn't have thought so. But I'm surprised by the engine. The engine of the blacks was good-natured, beary and powerful. The engine of the white one is also powerful and beary, but it reacts much more actively to the gas, it is snappier, more pointed...even though it has not even been broken in, because I have only driven 170 miles so far.
But one thing is annoying when your jaw and face hurts after the ride because you're just smiling all the time. So now I've annoyed you enough that I had to get rid of it!
The last few months, or rather the last year, have been very difficult for me. Two serious illnesses at once, diagnoses that really don't look good, the madness that's breaking out in Europe because of the war, the exploding energy costs... it was hard to think positively here. It was clear to me that I had to take responsibility, reduce costs, focus on health and limit myself. I also noticed that my strength was waning and that driving a Busa could not only be a risk for me but also for the other boys and girls on the road.
So I decided to sell my Falcon and get something smaller, an SV650X. Better than nothing, at least that's what I thought. Less power, less weight, less effort to drive. The main thing was that I could still practice my hobby, because that should give me the courage to cope with the difficult times. I can't do without motorcycling, that's a part of me.
When the Busa was picked up I felt terrible because for me this bike is simply the best thing I have ever ridden. I have owned many bikes in my life, I have loved and cherished many of them. But I've never found a bike that suits me as well as the Gen3. Engine, chassis, optics, seating position.....everything is perfect for me. It was always soothing and relaxing alone to sit in the camp chair in the garage in front of the big bike and just look at her.
When she left, it was like a part of me went. Strange, I know, some shake their heads and say "it's just an object", but for me my bikes are always personalities and not things.
When the SV650X came, the joy was restrained, but I said to myself "be thankful that you can still drive at all and are not without in the times". I really tried, polished them up nicely, added some parts, really tried to bond with the bike but it just didn't work.
There were several reasons for this. On the one hand it has to be said that Suzuki has become really sloppy with the SV650 in terms of quality. When it comes to painting, you don't bother anymore, just black paint over it and well, you could do that better in the past. Unclean paintwork with dust inclusions or paint noses, wafer-thin painted frame, uncleanly worked parts on the engine, inferior plastic in many places, even paint that is chipping off weld seams and underneath you can see rusty traces.
I was really horrified, but you can tell the SV is almost history because the new model is in the starting blocks, Hamamatsu doesn't bother anymore, neither with the paintwork nor with the quality, they save costs where possible. My SV650X from 2018 was worlds better processed and lovingly made. Yes...I admit the worst part was the engine. The Euro5 is really not good for the small V2. Under the Euro4 norm, the V2 did really well. Great sound, sufficient power, actually pure fun! But under the Euro 5 the teeth were pulled from the engine, it seems constricted, listless, powerless. Yes, he accepts the gas cleanly, goes smoothly, but no longer has any character.
In the end I could have lived with the poor workmanship, but not with an engine that doesn't exude joy. I never thought that the new emission standard would damage the engine so much. In addition, many German testers said that you would hardly notice it, another example of how you can believe German influencers.
It may be that the Busa shaped me in ways that I wasn't entirely objective about, but what's the point of riding a motorcycle if you don't have a smile under your helmet anymore, if that childlike joy when you twist the throttle is gone? My wife said she had never seen me so serious and sad when I came back from motorcycling, that couldn't have been the point. I was ready to give up the hobby entirely. I also have to say, whoever thinks that 70 kilos less and 120 hp less, not so stressful when driving, is wrong. Although it was a small, light bike without a lot of power, I found the SV to be much more strenuous to ride. You had to work a lot more, take more risks, it was more uncomfortable and exhausting.
In that moment I realized that I had done everything for nothing. I wasn't happy with it, nor did I get courage and strength from driving, and physically it put even more strain on me. I would say a shot in the knee, no, a shot in both knees!
My family hasn't had it easy with me in the last few weeks, I was hardly in a good mood or joy, nothing really gave me the courage to face life. And when I saw Youtube videos or pictures of the Gen 3 here in the forum, it pulled me down even more.
I give my wife credit for telling me one evening that things couldn't go on like this. She said to me:
"Look, you meant well, your thinking wasn't wrong, but you're a slob and you live for motorcycles! Even if you can only ride 1, 2 or 3 times a year, it would make much more sense to do one Driving Hayabusa instead of maybe 20 times with the SV and you never enjoy it. We all have difficult times ahead of us, especially you have to concentrate on getting healthy. But to get healthy you need strength and courage, den you don't currently. So get your ass off, sell the SV, get another Busa and good! Of course it will cost money as we will make a massive loss selling it, but better that than a broken man!"
Ok, she also said I'm an idiot, a wimp and if I do something stupid like that again, she'll kick me in the balls! But she meant it affectionately! I admit, that day gave me hope for the first time in months.
Well...but I can say the last few weeks have been, well let me put it that way...very interesting. Countless phone calls, negotiated for days, constant back and forth. Nobody wanted to buy the SV, there aren't that many Hayabusas in Germany at the moment because the dealers don't put any in their shops. Unfortunately, she is a slow seller. So finding a dealer who would buy the SV, have a Busa at a good price, and find it all together was a full-time job.
In the end it worked out after a few weeks and I was able to make a deal that hurt me financially, but was still manageable. I didn't want to burden my family too much during these difficult times and had set my own limit. Our energy costs have tripled at the moment. Heating is a luxury, so is petrol, electricity has increased by 300%...I can't throw money around, we're just a small family. But the deal I got was really good. Ooook I would have loved to have a black Gen 3 again but there wasn't one available for a good deal.
I made an agreement with a dealer who had a white Busa. He brought the girl over to me last Thursday. I couldn't sleep all week, I was so excited. I couldn't believe I'd have a Hayabusa in my garage again. When she came and was rolled off the trailer, my heart almost raced!
It was raining cats and dogs, as it had been here for days, because after 8 weeks of heat and a dry period, someone in heaven must have switched to "autumn mode". Cold, wet, grey...just in time for September.
I dried and cleaned her right away and when I sat down on her afterwards, tears ran down my cheeks. My daughter was like, "Daddy...now you're not going to start crying, are you? That's embarrassing". But she said it with a smile!
Well guys and gals, I'm a Hayabusa owner again and there's nothing better for me! This bike is so special that I can't ride anything else. And if I can only spend very little time on the bike in the next few months/years, then it's still worth it to me. And just going into the garage and sitting by the bike gives me strength.
It could have been easier for me, but sometimes you do the wrong things for the right reasons.
My friend Kim Windsor will now say "well, the black one is faster, you know that, don't you?". Well... let's see! I love the metallic white, even the matte blue looks way better than the pictures!
But it is amazing how different the character of the white Busa is compared to my former black one. Even though it's the same model! Transmission, chassis and brakes feel different. Suspension not quite as soft, transmission a bit harder but exact, brakes a bit snappier. I wouldn't have thought so. But I'm surprised by the engine. The engine of the blacks was good-natured, beary and powerful. The engine of the white one is also powerful and beary, but it reacts much more actively to the gas, it is snappier, more pointed...even though it has not even been broken in, because I have only driven 170 miles so far.
But one thing is annoying when your jaw and face hurts after the ride because you're just smiling all the time. So now I've annoyed you enough that I had to get rid of it!
