everyone knows that second gear on a busa is the "weak" link in the tranny. but not everyone knows what the symptons of a failing second gear are. i have owned 2 other busas with no second gear failures so i didnt really know what to look for when buying a busa until i just bought my newest busa. yes i got burned on a bike with a failing second gear.
heres the story. had found a 2007 busa with 5500 miles, completely stock in a little town west of jackson,tn. the guy owns a little car lot and buys and sells busa also. so i went and looked at it and it was in good shape. didnt ride it that day or anything cause we couldnt agree on a price. let him sit on it for a week, got the price i wanted. well the day i went to test ride it and pick it up the temp had dropped to 35* and there was a slight drizzle. so i told him when i got there i needed to ride the bike. no problem.
get on the bike go through the gears ride about 3-5 miles no problems. cant get on it cause of the wet roads.
i thought that if second gear was bad it was bad. i didnt know about the dog ears and how if the problem is just starting it has to be under a heavy load to reveal the problem. so by me just cruising around the second gear problem never revealed itself. i came back gave him the money and went home.
weather stayed bad for about 2 more weeks. the first time i got to ride it cruised around for about 30 minutes found a long stretch of road and got on it drag race style. about 5500 rmps i felt the biggest jerk/bump/lerch and thought holy s*** second gear is out. almost feels like the bike is jumping a tooth on the sprocket or is cutting out completely. did it about 4 times same results. needless to say second is bad and its gonna cost about $1000 to get it fixed.
so my point is ride the bike like you stole when when you test ride it. take it all the way to redline in second gear while getting on it hard. if you feel anything "funny" do not buy it or be prepared to get your tranny fixed.
heres the story. had found a 2007 busa with 5500 miles, completely stock in a little town west of jackson,tn. the guy owns a little car lot and buys and sells busa also. so i went and looked at it and it was in good shape. didnt ride it that day or anything cause we couldnt agree on a price. let him sit on it for a week, got the price i wanted. well the day i went to test ride it and pick it up the temp had dropped to 35* and there was a slight drizzle. so i told him when i got there i needed to ride the bike. no problem.
get on the bike go through the gears ride about 3-5 miles no problems. cant get on it cause of the wet roads.
i thought that if second gear was bad it was bad. i didnt know about the dog ears and how if the problem is just starting it has to be under a heavy load to reveal the problem. so by me just cruising around the second gear problem never revealed itself. i came back gave him the money and went home.
weather stayed bad for about 2 more weeks. the first time i got to ride it cruised around for about 30 minutes found a long stretch of road and got on it drag race style. about 5500 rmps i felt the biggest jerk/bump/lerch and thought holy s*** second gear is out. almost feels like the bike is jumping a tooth on the sprocket or is cutting out completely. did it about 4 times same results. needless to say second is bad and its gonna cost about $1000 to get it fixed.
so my point is ride the bike like you stole when when you test ride it. take it all the way to redline in second gear while getting on it hard. if you feel anything "funny" do not buy it or be prepared to get your tranny fixed.