Quoting Mr. Bear...

[OB_Hapo]

I too was once an Unbeliever...untill I looked around, and relized where i was and what I was doing...Carbon Fiber wheels! Turbo on order! Holy MaC! I'm 46 years old, with a family to raise and a buisiness to run! What am I doing!? Well, actualy I am thinking of entering and trying to compete in the CARS series if they sanction bikes in 2001, and of a 2500 mile DAY....

 

[OB_Velociraptor]

Me again, Bear. You keep writing that because you have such a great bike, you want to take your riding to "the next level". The way to do that is not just going to the track but to a track school where real pro riders can teach you. Not your buds(unless they are pros) but real pros. Sounds like you keep some fast company. Canyon knee draggers. I wonder what the chances are that they will crash in the next year? Probably pretty high. Remember also that you own the bike. It doesn't own you. In your case, the next level in athletics got you to the Olympics. The best you can hope for in riding the Busa at the next level is to be a safer and faster rider with the emphasis on safer. I had a great ride last Saturday just taking it slow and enjoying the scenery-the Busa does that really well too. At the same time my Aerostich suit is at the factory getting some velcro for some knee pucks and after vacation I will be putting on some Pilot Sports in preparation for my track days. Next level for me too I guess. I'll ride hard there and listen to my teachers and at the end of the day I'll have been faster than some guys on R1s and slower than some guys on "slow" bikes. Hopefully no crashes for me or anyone. It always seems to me that, in the end, whether I am faster or slower that anyone else doesn't mean anything. There's no Olympics if I win. It sounds to me that you might be out there in those canyons again after some time has passed. Please don't do it. It's Russian roulette. Leave that to the squids. And anyone who is dragging knees on a canyon road is the worst kind of squid no matter how fast they go or who they are.

 

[OB_Hayawiz]

Bear ,

Dunno guy! I been riding since I was 7 I'm 37 now. I've street drag raced for about 15 years. I "Don't" do corners. Atleast not with my Busa or my CBX. If I were serious about roadracing think id chose a different bike like the 750 class or at least a lighter bike. Hey the Busas the "Besst" production bike I've ever seen built. But it's also had the most Horsepower of any stock bike I've ever riden. I use to ride wheelies on my CBX in the trailer park I lived in, after 8 years the next door neighbor kid decided he wanted to be like me. So he went gotta Honda 600rr .First words outta my mouth to him were,Stay off Ortega Hwy. 3 days later I get a call from his mom, "Bills crashed,He has...broken wrist,broken armmissing finger & rash everywhere. Worst part was his girlfriend...brokes leg, broken arm,fractured pelvic with 2 rods sticking through her stomach. Went to see him in the hospital. He did it at Ortega Hwy. Guess what I'm saying is I do wn the Worldss fastset bike ! Wanna see I'll show ya! In a Straight line"!!! lol glad your ok !

 

[OB_BUSRYDR]

Bear,

Like all of the gang on the borads, glad to see your okay. From your threads, I see I've been to the same areas as you have. While I'm new at this, I've been out with a great group of guys. My first ride at Ortega and the Crest were excellent adventures and provided great experience for skill development. My buds gave me great advice and didn't pressure me to keep up with their years of riding experience.

I'm sure you're the type of rider that will learn from this experience, get back on her and continue to enjoy the best production bike in modern day. Owning a bike of this status is part of it. The rest will come at whatever pace is right for you.

Be safe and good luck with getting her back together.

 

[OB_Hapo]

Most Excellent Post of the Week! At the risk of becoming boring, let me point out again somthing you guys seem to be missing...the Busa is only a thing that has some how touched somthing deep and primal in the core of your being...it isn't the Busa....you can reach that "next level" W/O her, and probaly in a more expiditious fashon, on another, smaller bike....don't worry, She will respond well to your new technique whithout a thought as to where you learned it!

 

[OB_SlowHand]

Warbird, my coverage is through Allstate where I have my cars and house. $266. a year. I'm older than JC, though.

They won't write you without other policies, I understand.

Might be worth checking out and moving all of it.

 

[OB_timos]

I saw the same Xtreme race - the commentators were fairly gushing about the exhaust note and how "it's like nothing else out there." Also some remarks about how the bike was still being developed, hinting at more success to come. A nice few moments of dedicated camera shots towards the end of the race. Cool!

 

[OB_Hapo]

Tell me about it, 'Bear! I thought I was perfectly happy with my TL....then came the Busa! 20 years of maturity and moderation blown away in a single ride! I had always addmired but never WANTED a Turbo Bike before...at one point I thought it was a Big Deal to hit 140....but now I find myself hitting higher speeds in traffic without relizing it....I have to make a deliberate effort to stay under 100 mph! As to all the wags that disparage the Busa's abilities in the corners, well they just don't get it either....the long wheelbase takes some adjustment in your riding style, but the stable nature on the beast makes this a viable trade...the Busa just plain rips in the curves, if you trust her and have a moderate level of strenght to hustle her around with...the only place I feel the wieght is in the really slow stuff...as the speed rises, the advantage inreasingly goes to the Busa...Ive hustled the big ***** over stuff that had "other" sport bike riders wailing and gnashing their teeth...the Busa sucked up all the bumps with nary a twitch, whislt the others had to deal with leaping nervous steeds that were shaking there heads...now I find myself pushing other, smaller bikes harder than ever I would have before the Busa! I find myself looking for places to slide the front! (Still scary on the Busa) The last time somthing like this happened, it was 1968....

 

[OB_Velociraptor]

I was watching the Elkhart Lake formula extreme race on the tube last night and was very suprised to see a Busa out there that ended up finishing fourth. They followed it for a short time and it had a much deeper exhaust note. Freddie Spencer was talking about how hard it was to put the power down on a bike that powerful. Somewhere they had done some telemetry on it and the rear wheel was going 18mph faster than the front down the front straight from wheelspin.

 

[OB_Mr Bear]

Thanks guys, all good thoughts.

Hapo, The Change is real. I waited for the Busa to come along for ten years. When she did, rational decisions took a back seat. It's the difference between living, being sapient, really alive; and just existing each day, getting older. These are unreasonable expectations we have, and choices we make, but they are about self-discovery and self-actualization. Hayabusa was in my destiny, since I was a kid. Sometime, somehow, that bike was going to happen to me.

I've ridden for 22 years, over 120,000 road miles, some fast parts, but with a self-imposed ceiling on level of intensity. When the Busa came along, whenever that happened, it was going to be the time to expand the envelope. You guys are right, a lighter, more suitable bike for track work, is a good choice. So is track school. That has to happen.

But the Busa was the catalyst, that pushed me across the threshold. It could have been a bike built by Kawasaki, or Honda, or whoever. It just happened to take this form, now. But now the direction to go is forward, not do a 180 and try to go back where I came from. I want to be a better, faster, more competent and confident rider. And I want to stay alive and physically intact. It is ground that has to be tread upon carefully.