Personally, if they were still selling XX's in the US last year I'd probably have one of those in the garage instead. Actually if I knew right now where there was a "new left over" XX, the Busa would be going bye bye.
Hey don't say THAT to me! I already have an '02 XX and love it but wanted the best of both worlds so got a Busa too....I hope it holds up like the Honda has.....but crap...sometimes I ride it and think.....why do I need a Busa too? I don't but you only live once.
There's a dealer in PA that has a couple left over '03s I think.....sorry don't know the dealer but go to the XX board (cbr1100xxforums.org) in classifieds.....someone has post titled "Help me find a new '03".....more info there.
Has your Busa givin' you many headaches?
Actually other than a few minor things it's been ok, it just hasn't lived up to my expectations for a flagship bike and like you said, some things are just downright ghetto.
Last year a local dealer had an '02 XX with 1K miles on it. I was set on buying a Busa but still kicked around the idea of buying the XX. I just had a bad gut feeling as to why someone would trade in a bike that's not even fully broken in. Ended up buying a new '04 Busa.
They still had the XX this spring and my best friend traded his '99 Magna in on it. The silver color on those sleek body panels looks downright elegant. Smooth as glass at any rpm and I think the build quality is light years ahead of anything to ever come off a Suzuki assembly line. Best part is that the XX doesn't have that damn bling stigma attached to it.
As far as performance between the two, the Busa is faster with equal riders but it's splitting hairs and as far as top speed goes we're talking 180 mph vs. 186 mph. XX, ZX12R, Busa...all in the same league imo. When it comes to touring though I will say the Busa blows away the XX as far as gas mileage.
My biggest gripes with the Busa:
Annoying as hell vibration between 4500 and 5000 rpm. Yeah, it's kinda like a muscle car and you know all hell is about to break loose which is fun for local riding. For going on long super slab trips where you can hit ~90 mph, it gets annoying really quick. 90 may sound fast, but they just raised the speed limits here in Indiana to 70 mph and the highways have turned into an autobahn. Did a 1200 mile trip last week and 90 kept me inline with the semi's while minivans passed me...cops were pulling over no one.
Overall 120 mph on my Honda CXT's feels like 60 mph on the Busa. Just not right for something that's 2 decades newer along with being an I4 agains v-twins.
I despise the Busa's clutch action. Some claim it's because it's hydraulic and that's why cable conversion kits are on the market and others claim it's the torque back limiter.
Brakes never impressed me and I don't feel that I should have to go and buy SS brake lines to get a firm feel.
My biggest concerns are what may happen. The second gear skip that a number of people have encountered scares the hell out of me. Makes me sick when I hear about a guy that has to dump close to 2 grand of his own money into a brand new bike...sure Suzuki claims their bikes carry a warranty...bwahahaha yeah right! John Steins dilema with Suzuki has cinched the fact that I will NEVER buy another Suzuki product ever again. YA READING THIS SUZUKI?!?
Also if you're going to build a bike with 175 hp, put a freakin' chain on it that can take the abuse!
Then there's all the small stupid things like the levers falling off, headlight aim, the piece of #@$! kickstand that cost me dearly, fuel overflow hoses directed towards the panels and eating off paint, speedometer sensor that likes to loosen and back out causing a jumping speedometer (and I believe major damage if it comes completely out). Yes, it's all minor stuff that can be easily avoided but it just shouldn't be there on a $10K bike that's been in production for 7 years.
On the other hand there are guys who are at 50K+ miles with zero problems which is somewhat comforting but still can't justify the other crap you read about on a daily basis.
As of right now I'm waiting to see what the future holds for the upcoming bikes. If Honda comes out with the rumored V5 Super BlackBird and it resembles the old XX, I'll be all over it. I've even been eyeing the yellow/black K1200S but it's damn hard to justify the price tag.
Can't wait to see what's on the horizon.
