You will love the busa compared to your bandit, the bandit is a good bike the busa is just better.
upgrading
- Thread starter gilcane
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The Big Red One
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It depends what your looking for in a bike. The Busa is no race replica liter bike, but it handles extremely well for its size. And compared to a liter bike its heavy...but compared to any other sport tourer its an overpowered featherweight. Its about 10 lbs lighter than your Bandit and has a whole lot more power and torque. The ergos are midway between the liters and a true sport tourer, but it can be ridden quite a ways before any real comfort issues arise. And of course it accelerates like the starship enterprise, in almost any gear at almost any rpm. If you like sporty touring or comfortable canyon carving its the bike for you. If your into either one specifically then you might want to get a more specialized machine. For me its perfect
motorkar
Registered
I had a 2003 Bandit that I sold to my brother. I put a Yoshi slip on for him and he had it rejeted, it definetely sounds better but I did not see any noticable gain in power. When I got my O5 Busa my wrists hurt on first few rides till they got used to the riding position. I loved my Bandit but my love for Busa is deeper
I had an 02' Bandit a few bikes back and loved the thing. Jet kit pipe, timing advance, filters...
The Busa feels heavier/bulkier and the riding position is much sportier. But you cannot beat the kick A$$ power the Busa puts out...
I'd still be happy on another 1200 and it's discontinued this year...
The Busa feels heavier/bulkier and the riding position is much sportier. But you cannot beat the kick A$$ power the Busa puts out...
I'd still be happy on another 1200 and it's discontinued this year...
The Big Red One
Registered
Now that would make ANYone Grumpy lol
With my 03 Bandit 1200 I started out with a jet kit, then slip on, then header, then JE pistons/bore job, head work. . .
Still found myself wanting more. Also got sick of tweaking the needles and mixture screws- carbs suck.
The Busa was the answer to my dreams. The handling is so much better and the power- well I for one will not get bored with it on my stock machine.
Still found myself wanting more. Also got sick of tweaking the needles and mixture screws- carbs suck.
The Busa was the answer to my dreams. The handling is so much better and the power- well I for one will not get bored with it on my stock machine.
This question really hits home with me. I have over 120,000 miles on 3 different 1200 Bandits and currently have a 98 1200 Bandit with over 53,000 miles and a 2001 1200 Bandit with over 25,000 miles. In every case the Bandits were second or third bikes in the garage yet I pretty much always chose to ride them over my TLR, R1, CBR 1000RR, GSXR 1000 K3 and now the K7. It really didn't matter what kind of riding I was doing either, I still for the most part took the Bandit. Hell, I even have about 15 track days where I stopped riding whatever sportbike I had at that time and tood the Bandit out. Obviously the Bandit isn't the sportbike that my true sportbikes were, but the fun and genuine feeling of accomplishment of riding the Bandit in the advanced group was really hard to beat. Keep in mind that in 98 and 99 not too many people knew what a Bandit was. Plus I loved the looks on other riders faces when they realized that it was in fact a Bandit that they were passed by or that they had to work hard to get around.
Then I bought my Busa.
Make no mistake, the Bandit is still my favorite bike, but the Busa is gaining ground quick, and quite unexpectedly to be honest. I bought the Busa because my wife and I wanted a better bike to ride double on. Suddenly, the Busa is positioning itself the to be quite possibly the best bike I have ever owned. It does everything better than I expected, and in many cases better than anything I have ever ridden. In the real world, the Bandit has more power than you can use, but it feels really raw and unrefined compared to the Busa. The one area that the Busa lacks in comparison though is weight. It may be lighter on paper, but it surely isn't lighter in the real world of pushing it in and out of the garage, or making a U turn in traffic, or splitting lanes. Outside of that though I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed in the Busa.
Then I bought my Busa.
Make no mistake, the Bandit is still my favorite bike, but the Busa is gaining ground quick, and quite unexpectedly to be honest. I bought the Busa because my wife and I wanted a better bike to ride double on. Suddenly, the Busa is positioning itself the to be quite possibly the best bike I have ever owned. It does everything better than I expected, and in many cases better than anything I have ever ridden. In the real world, the Bandit has more power than you can use, but it feels really raw and unrefined compared to the Busa. The one area that the Busa lacks in comparison though is weight. It may be lighter on paper, but it surely isn't lighter in the real world of pushing it in and out of the garage, or making a U turn in traffic, or splitting lanes. Outside of that though I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed in the Busa.
jetsetter
Registered
I had a 2003 1200s Bandit as my first bike. I bought a Busa in 06, and then traded the 06 for an 08 a few weeks ago. I kept the Bandit around for over a year after bought the Busa because I tour a lot, and the Bandit is more comfortable than the Busa. But even so, once I bought the Busa, I hardly ever rode the Bandit again (probably not more than 100 miles the whole time). I finally sold the Bandit, and it was a hard thing to do because I really did like that bike.
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