K8 for the long haul...

[TimF]

Hats off to Warchild - this thing is incredible.

http://www.busanation.com/forum/showthread.php?p=13395

[BUSGO]

Yep. That's one long distance busa....
Some owners don't do that many ks in a year, let alone a weekend..

[Warchild]

Yep. That's one long distance busa....
Some owners don't do that many ks in a year, let alone a weekend..

Er.... that's 1500 miles, not kilometers. This amounts to approx 2,414 kilometers.

As far as the LD Recon ride... I sorta had mixed results. And I guess there is no real surprise here; the Hayabusa is not exactly designed as an uber-comfortable, long-range sport-touring platform. But with enough dedication and appropriate mods, it can work, and work rather well.

Some general observations from this 1500-mile blast this past weekend:

- I was kinda bumming to learn first-hand just how much Suzuki has "built-in" the rider's body as part of the airflow design. Not that you are all that well protected on the Blackbird, still, the XX coddles the rider like he's riding in a plastic bubble compared to the Busa. Lower legs (indeed, most everything from the waist down) is largely exposed to the airstream. Head, shoulders and arms are also similarly exposed unless you elect to ride "tucked" all the time, which just isn't too practical on a 1000-mile day. Now, all of this is fine if riding in warm ambient temps, but its a huge problem when the temps drop below 35-40 degrees F. I had the Warm-N-Safe liner pegged to the max on the Heat-Troller, and I was still one cold bastard riding through 25-degree ambient temps at 6000'-7000' summits at 2 AM, believe me.

- Fook me, there isn't room to carry $hit on this bike. My Joe Rocket tankbag looked like a Stay-Puff marshmallow, it was stuff so much. Similarly, every little pocket/stash area on the Linda Tanner aux cell tankbag was stuffed to the bursting point. Looking more and more that there is a Ventura Rack in my future.

- I was quite pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Hella Micro DE's.... not just their tremendous light output for their size, rather, the apparent efficiency of the electronics. With the HID low-beam and the Hellas lit up, the Datel would only sink to 13.9 volts! I can then crank up the Warm-N-Safe liner to about 70%, and the Datel still stays relatively happy at 13.5 volts. Score!

- I need to re-design the aux fuel cell mounting brackets to raise the cell's overall height up about another inch or so. Due to the shape of the stock tank and the (relatively) low mounting height of the aux cell, I am not transferring the complete contents of the cell by gravity alone. There is always the best part of a gallon remaining behind.... maybe a bit less. If I could just get the cell mounted a little higher - perhaps an inch, maybe 1.5" inch - I think I would have enough "head pressure" to complete the transfer. If not, I can always install a small 12v pump, should it become necessary.

- The chassis on this K8 is just stunning. It is the one of two areas that really outperform the Blackbird (the other being that 175hp motor!). The engine is almost glass-smooth, not quite as creamy-velvet as the Blackbird, but it has less vibes than my FJR! The ability of this bike to hold a fast line through some fair stiff sweepers is extraordinary, and this is with all factory suspension components.

Bottom line: If the temps are warm and the weather decent, the K8 can be an extraordinary Long Distance platform for the 24-36 hour Endurance Rallies. However, it is likely a sub-optimal platform for multi-day events, or cold/inclement weather events.

[Warputer]

Great write up War !

[m8ee]

the Hayabusa is not exactly designed as an uber-comfortable, long-range sport-touring platform

No disrespect intended, but I think you would have to go a long way to find one better in the sports tourer category ( bearing in mind that many bikes in the category have no "sports" aspect at all )

A member of this forum rode almost your weekend distance in one day ( 2000 km ) and I know for a fact that he would not settle for anything less than a busa for his long range work.

Great write-up BTW, sounds like you are giving it a good solid test over there.

Coupla questions if I may.....

1. Do you have a double bubble screen or helibars?
2. What size is the fuel cell and how much extra distance does it give you?

[Speed Demon]

Outstanding
What a legend
Good on ya mate

[Warchild]

No disrespect intended, but I think you would have to go a long way to find one better in the sports tourer category ( bearing in mind that many bikes in the category have no "sports" aspect at all )

Well..... I don't think I would look any further than my CBR1100XX....

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A member of this forum rode almost your weekend distance in one day ( 2000 km ) and I know for a fact that he would not settle for anything less than a busa for his long range work.

Last July, I rode this silver CBR1100XX seen below over 2415 km in one day.... and did this for seven (7) consecutive days.... That's 17,120 km in less than a week. Aside from the obvious (engine, suspension), the XX is actually a superior sport-touring platform for this particular kind of running, particularly with regard to ergos, weather protection and overall comfort.


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Coupla questions if I may.....

1. Do you have a double bubble screen or helibars?

Both. The screen is the official Suzuki "Accessory" screen for the K8. Here is my HeliBars install write-up: K8 Heli-Bars Installation photos

2. What size is the fuel cell and how much extra distance does it give you?

It is 4.9 gallons for a total of 10.5 gallons of onboard fuel. If I purposely run in "conserve" mode, this is easily well over 650 km of range. But when running at a bit more, um, brisk pace it is typically more like 525 km range.

[m8ee]

Thanks for answering questions mate, and remind me never to buy a secondhand blackbird off you LOL.

That cell seems like a worthwhile addition for big mileage.

That is some serious distance riding you are doing, you must have a sheet metal arse. - Cheers.... Shane