Will buying a sport bike ruin my vintage bike experience(s)?

HollywoodMX said:

Not sure what you are asking.

Thanks for the continued feedback from everyone . I like riding pedal bikes too. Kinda got a trick one speed.

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Signature says you have a supercharged GPZ 1100? Even at 200 mph the bike handles likes its gliding on air on my turbo 14. Rode the 73 Triumph the other day and it was scary at 90 mph.

Re: Will buying a sport bike ruin my vintage bike experience(s)?

Scooter trash said:

Signature says you have a supercharged GPZ 1100? Even at 200 mph the bike handles likes its gliding on air on my turbo 14. Rode the 73 Triumph the other day and it was scary at 90 mph.

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Sweet rides! Turbo 14 must be crazy!
I have a gpz1100 and a kz1075 supercharged that is almost finished. Picking up some new machined parts this week actually for it. A couple weeks ago I got my new manifold for my new carb which modified is the closest thing to fuel injection as it has 4 main jets, with three based on adjustable vacuum. I should make a build thread for it.

What will be RUINED! is how simple and easy the vintage are bikes are to work on compared to sport bikes. On a Hayabusa you can just pull of a set of cylinders to change a piston. Yes, Busas are the new vintage. The new ZX-14s. if you scorch a piston it is a complete tear down, because the damn cylinder is part of the upper crankcase. I can completely rebuild the top end of my old Triumph faster than adjust the valves on a sport bike. I can get any part, any, for my 1961 Honda 50 Cub. If I blow a tranny gear, on the 14, I could be scratching around for weeks or waiting for back order.
It fells like 200+ mph on the Triumph at the ton. On the 14, no change, except the road/track gets real narrow real fast. The marker miles on the Salt Flats get missed all the time. Bill Warner, broke the triple ton, and it cost him his life when it started to become routine. That bike was as complex as any jet fighter.

Scooter trash said:

What will be RUINED! is how simple and easy the vintage are bikes are to work on compared to sport bikes. On a Hayabusa you can just pull of a set of cylinders to change a piston. Yes, Busas are the new vintage. The new ZX-14s. if you scorch a piston it is a complete tear down, because the damn cylinder is part of the upper crankcase. I can completely rebuild the top end of my old Triumph faster than adjust the valves on a sport bike. I can get any part, any, for my 1961 Honda 50 Cub. If I blow a tranny gear, on the 14, I could be scratching around for weeks or waiting for back order.
It fells like 200+ mph on the Triumph at the ton. On the 14, no change, except the road/track gets real narrow real fast. The marker miles on the Salt Flats get missed all the time. Bill Warner, broke the triple ton, and it cost him his life when it started to become routine. That bike was as complex as any jet fighter.

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I hear ya. Even look at the time to take the fairings off to get to the goods even. For me the sport bike I don't want to modify except for touring comforts and the busa specifically should be fairly maintenance free and not likely to suffer from any issues.

Re: Will buying a sport bike ruin my vintage bike experience(s)?

Through much struggle and debate. I Got a busa. Now im just looking for where they put the jet engine in this bike..

Great buy! You'll have more fun than should be legal. It will eat real estate in seconds and pass 150 mph like it was only 100. If your going to turbo it, Heads up Performance in Sandy, Utah, can set you up proper without frying your engine. Scott Horner is the owner and is considered by many, to be the Busa Master.
It's much cheaper to do it right the first time, than going through the learning curve by yourself. Scott is also very reasonable in price.

Scooter trash said:

It's much cheaper to do it right the first time, than going through the learning curve by yourself. Scott is also very reasonable in price.

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Never thought I'd hear those words on this forum... ;(

Re: Will buying a sport bike ruin my vintage bike experience(s)?

Scooter trash said:

Great buy! You'll have more fun than should be legal. It will eat real estate in seconds and pass 150 mph like it was only 100. If your going to turbo it, Heads up Performance in Sandy, Utah, can set you up proper without frying your engine. Scott Horner is the owner and is considered by many, to be the Busa Master.
It's much cheaper to do it right the first time, than going through the learning curve by yourself. Scott is also very reasonable in price.

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Thanks man! Ya i wasn't surprised about the initial pull its the pull that comes later when your already going too fast that impressed me. My gpz for an old goat launches pretty good because of the fuel injection. But that busa had smooth power.

Ya no fi on this bike one in the garage is enough. I fuck around with these vintage bikes morr than most and i just need something that just needs tires and oil changes.

Nice score Hollywood.

I have 19K miles on the 2012 ZX-14 and 47K on the turbo 07. The only problem on the 2012, which is pure stock, was the license plate bulb burned out once. I can get around 8K miles to a set of tires, if driven at the speed limits. At 75 mph, the wind pushes my torso up, taking the pressure off my wrists. On the Gold Wing, I couldn't scoot my butt around much for long distance comfort. Wind buffet from the windshield was annoying also.
With Heli-bars the riding position would be almost perfect for your Busa.
100 miles on the Triumph and I'm beat. Fighting the wind sitting straight up wears me down. Tire wear on the 07 is pathetic at best for the rear. I've had to replace it twice before it had a thousand miles. It isn't babied by any means though.

Hey Scooter,

You got me thinking this morning - this isn't specifically directed at you but after teaching riding for a long time in UK I found most people ride on their wrists which isn't so good. If you're riding any sports bike with a lot of pressure on your wrist you might find that holding on with your knees more reduces this and will give you greater control of the bike. The more you do it the more you will be able to.

It will also let the front end relax and react naturally to the roadway. Only time you should have pressure on your wrists is when counter-steering which should just be a natural extension of the arm from the elbow. In fact it's very hard to counter-steer in control if you have all your weight on the bars to start with. If you can ride with your knee's taking all your weight and just allow your hands to rest on the grips with a 30 degree elbow you'll ride better, be in better control (as your center of gravity will shift to the middle of the bike) and won't hurt so much at the end of the day.... of course this isn't natural to do. You'll know you're doing it right when your thigh muscles are hurting after a ride. These muscles will adapt after a month of so of daily riding - your wrists on the other hand will just wear out...

Scooter trash said:

I have 19K miles on the 2012 ZX-14 and 47K on the turbo 07. The only problem on the 2012, which is pure stock, was the license plate bulb burned out once. I can get around 8K miles to a set of tires, if driven at the speed limits. At 75 mph, the wind pushes my torso up, taking the pressure off my wrists. On the Gold Wing, I couldn't scoot my butt around much for long distance comfort. Wind buffet from the windshield was annoying also.
With Heli-bars the riding position would be almost perfect for your Busa.
100 miles on the Triumph and I'm beat. Fighting the wind sitting straight up wears me down. Tire wear on the 07 is pathetic at best for the rear. I've had to replace it twice before it had a thousand miles. It isn't babied by any means though.

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Ribo said:

Hey Scooter,

You got me thinking this morning - this isn't specifically directed at you but after teaching riding for a long time in UK I found most people ride on their wrists which isn't so good. If you're riding any sports bike with a lot of pressure on your wrist you might find that holding on with your knees more reduces this and will give you greater control of the bike. The more you do it the more you will be able to.

It will also let the front end relax and react naturally to the roadway. Only time you should have pressure on your wrists is when counter-steering which should just be a natural extension of the arm from the elbow. In fact it's very hard to counter-steer in control if you have all your weight on the bars to start with. If you can ride with your knee's taking all your weight and just allow your hands to rest on the grips with a 30 degree elbow you'll ride better, be in better control (as your center of gravity will shift to the middle of the bike) and won't hurt so much at the end of the day.... of course this isn't natural to do. You'll know you're doing it right when your thigh muscles are hurting after a ride. These muscles will adapt after a month of so of daily riding - your wrists on the other hand will just wear out...

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Im glad you guys are talking about this. The busa is my first sport bike. I had to ride it an hour and a half to get it home and i have to say i was fighting being comfortable.

It has aftermarket trips that have handle bars. The handle bars are lsl and pretty low. Now they were not clocked for me at the time but i found i needed to be more upright or closer into the bike. Where they were was in in the middle and it felt unnatural.

So i clocked them as much as I can without hitting the windscreen and mirrors. Im not convinced its enough.

Im also looking at the zero gravity touring screen as i was surprised how much wind still hits the rider on a sport bike.

Lastly even though it has a suzuki gel seat, my ass was killing me not long into the ride. It was terrible. My gpz seat sinks like 2 inches when you put your finger on it, and never had a problem. I have the stock seat so i will make my own gel seat ewith some vintage softer foam and a gel kit that I have.

Now with all those complaints the bikes suspension is perfect for me, turns sporty, yet i dont feel the bumps. I was surprised i got the best of both worlds but i am that bikes suggested/stock tune weight.

In the end im not sure i made the right purchase for touring. My wrists were sore, my ass was sore and i was fighting the wind more than i hoped. I will try the changes i mentioned because they are low investment. I will tey the knees thing too.

One question i have. Are the aventure touring bikes like the gs800 and vstroms any better with the things i complained about? Or am i destined for a cruiser with a giant see through windscreen?

You'll get used to the wind - lean into it - push back with you chest muscles - it will make you feel like a man - grrrrrr . You should also be gripping the tank with your knees - pretend you're standing up trying to hold a watermelon between your legs. Once you wake up these leg muscles to do this you'll find it also takes pressure off your butt too. Despite this if you haven't been riding sports bike all your life your body will need time to adapt - there are muscles you are using that you probably never have before.

Now buying a BUSA for touring may not be the best way to go unless you're 21 but it depends what you mean. Touring for 2-3 hour stages once every weekend with friends that have sportsbikes and like the twisties or a 3 month trip over the Himalayas?

If it's the former I think you got a good choice once you get used to it.

If it's the latter then you'll be better off with a KTM 990, 800GS or Tiger. I like the 800GS for a mix of road and trail but the KTM is much better in the sand etc as you might expect.

The wrist pressure is minimal, with 1.5" Heli-bar extension, I could sit straight up almost. The Busa and 14 are very comfortable for travel. I rode my buddy's R-6, just going around the block was torture, all humped over, trying to get my head up far enough to see where I was going.
My first true Café racer, was a 305 Honda Super Hawk back in 1965. In the years that ensued, there were a couple Harley's and Indians, a couple GWs. They just didn't give me the Café motorcycle satisfaction, hence, Café type of bike, became my favorite ride.

Ribo said:

You'll get used to the wind - lean into it - push back with you chest muscles - it will make you feel like a man - grrrrrr . You should also be gripping the tank with your knees - pretend you're standing up trying to hold a watermelon between your legs. Once you wake up these leg muscles to do this you'll find it also takes pressure off your butt too. Despite this if you haven't been riding sports bike all your life your body will need time to adapt - there are muscles you are using that you probably never have before.

Now buying a BUSA for touring may not be the best way to go unless you're 21 but it depends what you mean. Touring for 2-3 hour stages once every weekend with friends that have sportsbikes and like the twisties or a 3 month trip over the Himalayas?

If it's the former I think you got a good choice once you get used to it.

If it's the latter then you'll be better off with a KTM 990, 800GS or Tiger. I like the 800GS for a mix of road and trail but the KTM is much better in the sand etc as you might expect.

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Ya more of the 2 to 6 hour rides. You are right about the muscles, its like when i switched from skiing to snow boarding, a while new set of muscles are being used to the extreme.

Ya im keen on the tiger or Explorer and it was the battle between them and the busa. Busa won because of sheer bang for the buck as the tigers are 50% to 100% more in price.

I think part of my problem is i started on dirt bikes so im used to gripping the bars. Then with the vintage bikes and their shitty suspension im used to grabbing the bars. I have to teach myself on this sport bike that i dont need to. My Buell XB9SX i didnt have the problem because it had a fantastic seating position.

Scooter trash said:

The wrist pressure is minimal, with 1.5" Heli-bar extension, I could sit straight up almost. The Busa and 14 are very comfortable for travel. I rode my buddy's R-6, just going around the block was torture, all humped over, trying to get my head up far enough to see where I was going.
My first true Café racer, was a 305 Honda Super Hawk back in 1965. In the years that ensued, there were a couple Harley's and Indians, a couple GWs. They just didn't give me the Café motorcycle satisfaction, hence, Café type of bike, became my favorite ride.

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Im with you on the favorite ride. Im really glad i started this thread cause while the sport bikes are Fantastic pieces of machinery and i truly respect their engineering, i am already missing my vintage bikes.

I have two builds on the go that have modern wheels and suspension so now im getting real excited to see how they ride.

Vintage bikes? They weren't when I bought them.
What I don't miss, Points and condensers, carbs, wire spoke wheels, I love the ability to just put a plug in my tire, and be on my way quickly. Now, I have to listen about all the wives tales of plugged tires. You do it with common sense, it will be fine. If the reamer goes in tight, and you use repair glue to lubricate the installation, no big deal. Cut the plug flush with a razor, so it can't get pulled out.
What is dumb, the new bikes don't have center stands and still come with chains. I guess with all the improvements the manufactures and to fuk something up.