My thoughts on Daytona 2009 and the Busa

wardie

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Well Daytona Bike Week has come and gone and I thought I'd reflect on some things I learned during DBW while motoring on my Busa. For many, many Bike Weeks I have travelled by my BMW's so riding the Busa down there was a unique experience. Let me share just some of them.

When you pull up at the stop light next to some youngesters on their whatever sportbikes :rofl: they take one look and don't even think about it! The bike has a rep!

If you think the Sport Touring factory windshield is anything but an appearance item you'd be wrong. :rofl: At a constant 75-85 down I-95 you get a lot of buffeting. The ZG/DB is a better choice if you don't want your chin on the tank. I cranked it a couple of times in the 150's and it was work.... if you don't get caught I-95 can be a beautiful thing!

It isn't a fuel mizer my average was about 39 mpg at about 75 mph.:bowdown:

I did a couple of Atlantic Coast to Gulf Coast runs about 380 miles and the stock seat was not a problem but I couldn't do a Saddle Sore 1000 or Burn Burner 1500 without some seat assistance.

The Heli Bars helped alot..good mod. Center stand was even a better mod. If I had one reoccuring comment it was hey I didn't know Busa's had centerstands!:bowdown:

Mechanical woes yes I had a few. Blown Headlight (who knew you had to go from the bottom pulling that cover?), bad battery(had a battery tender on it all the time?), defective clutch switch which took a couple of hours to find. How ermbarrassing not to know the damn thing had a switch by the clutch lever? Sucked ... found the wiring schematic in my brand new shop manual which was 50% off at Cycle World of Daytona. That's right just $38 and tax. Found the switch in the diagram and said awe sh*t.. looky here. My friends were glad for they did not have to push me any more which didn't work anyways.:please::please::please:

Finally the Busa's were out in great numbers and just like the BMW guys we always nodded to each other. Very cool fraternity we have here.

Took a couple of days to really start pushing her around the bends (if you want to call anything a curve in Florida) but I started to get the handle of having to counter steer with a lot more pressure than I am used to using standard flat or slightly curved bars. Clip on style/type bars make you push her around like you're racing her. Gotta get the weight shifted more when entering the bends.:bowdown:

From inside the pits at Daytona during Pole Qualifing it was net to see Ben Bostrom take it by one, one hundredth of a second which became prophetic because he won a tightly contested 200. It wouldn't of been nearly that tight if they didn't run the 200 like it was a NASCAR race. If Ben got out in front there would eventually be a caution to close things up. Couple of non fatal crashes and one odd one where two bike hooked together coming into the pits. Almost a fist fight there...

Finally it was nice to have a good looking , nice running bike that has way more power than I ever could use successfully. I'd like to hear from anyone else who was down there.:cheerleader: Wardie
 
Oh I forgot under the maintenance issues I did blow a fuse for the cooloing fan. It took seconds in crawling traffic to bang that temp gauage. Good news I am proficient in changing fuses so I had a spare and was good to go! Wardie
 
I've contacted Tim @ Pashnit and ordered a Zero Gravity DB "Touring" tall screen. It probably will "F" up the looks but I'm not pounding 8 hours on the bike with the wind balsting me so to hell with the looks bring on the finctionality! Will give a report on the shield later. Wardie
 
If you think the Sport Touring factory windshield is anything but an appearance item you'd be wrong. :rofl: At a constant 75-85 down I-95 you get a lot of buffeting. The ZG/DB is a better choice if you don't want your chin on the tank. I cranked it a couple of times in the 150's and it was work.... if you don't get caught I-95 can be a beautiful thing!
I am actually pretty pleased with the Suzuki sport touring windshield (I think that's the one you were commenting on). It's about 2" taller than the stock screen in the center and has smooth flowing lines like the original windscreen, not the sharper creases of the Puig or Zero Gravity. I find it offers better protection than the stock screen and I can see the gauges better. I've had the bike up to about 90 with it. Don't notice any serious buffeting at highway speeds - would say it's better than stock.
 
AJAY I'm talking slabbing it hour after hour for about 5 to 8 hours the wind buffeting is bad enough to make me want to switch screens for distance touring. Just going 150 miles I'd just hang on but many hours I'd prefer something taller. I probably could do okay with the Suzuki screen if my seat was lower like with a Tobin but I think I'd run into another prblem sore butt-I-tis. It's cool to be able to playh around with it and decide what I like. Thanks for your impressions and I agree it's much better than stock. Wardie:beerchug:
 
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