Living with the King

[nhgunnut]

OK Originally I was going to pic up the B King n wed but having "Impulse Control Issues" I cut out of work on Monday at 12 and rode the Ducati for the last time to the dealership and Picked up the B-King. Quite a change first the King is far more comfortable than the 999. Interestingly enough and a bit of a surprise to me the B-King has better brakes. (which is good cause the King is a solid 100lbs heavier) Now with a 50 inch wheel base The Kings handling is certainly not in the class with the Ducati or any modern 1 liter sportbike. That said, for what it is handing is excellent. Because the radial brakes being it down quickly going into the corners, combined with a motor that is cammed to produce a lot of torque far lower than its sibling the Hayabusa. This means that as you come out of a corner all 1340 CCs will very quickly put down as much of the 100 ft lbs of torque as you ask it to. As you hit the straights and role into it you are again grateful for the excellent brakes because with the help of all 162 rear wheel horse power(with stock pipes I have the Two Brothers so perhaps as high as 169) so you are in triple digits way sooner than you would expect. One of things that is requiring the most adjustment from me it that because ride high is so high the lean angles can seem a bit radical. All in all in the first 800 or so miles I am very pleased and very impressed.

[nhgunnut]

Ok Thought I would update this a bit further. I am still loving the B King (which I have now named Elvis because while it is a great performer its chunky styling is over the top and a bit tacky) I recently installed a speedo healer as like most Suzuki's the speedometer was "Optimistic" by about 6.6 % according to my GPS. OK for those of you that haven't done this it is a very easy install. Find where you speed sensor plugs into the harness plug in the pass thru harness of the speed healer route the harness to where you want to mount the healer, Velcro the healer in place go to speedohealer.com website use the online calculator and you are good to go. When I did this on the busa it was 4 bolts and 15 minutes.
I would like that same 15 minutes with the guy that came up with all the crap you have to take off to do the same job on the King it takes about 45 minutes to get all the crap take off you have to remove to simply lift the tank! (the first time at least). All in all still love this ugly bastard

[G-Rex]

I sat one one a few weeks ago and wow that thing is huge in the front!

I'm glad you're diggin' it! How does the motor compare to the Busa as far as streetability now that you've had it a couple of weeks? I doubt I'm ready to give up my Busa anytime soon, but bigger is better.

[Dave]

J

Originally Posted by G-Rex

I sat one one a few weeks ago and wow that thing is huge in the front!

I'm glad you're diggin' it! How does the motor compare to the Busa as far as streetability now that you've had it a couple of weeks? I doubt I'm ready to give up my Busa anytime soon, but bigger is better.

bigger is better eh? not much left tp step up to unless you like vmaxes or rockets

[nhgunnut]

Originally Posted by G-Rex

I sat one one a few weeks ago and wow that thing is huge in the front!

I'm glad you're diggin' it! How does the motor compare to the Busa as far as streetability now that you've had it a couple of weeks? I doubt I'm ready to give up my Busa anytime soon, but bigger is better.

I still have My 05 Busa with the turbo and fuel rail so I have sort of a stilted view of power. The busa seems very sophisticated and because the turbo runs out through a full system quiet and almost stealth like with the ability to go by almost unnoticed or you can roll into it and be a screaming flash. The B King on the other hand is running out through a pair of Two Brothers slip ons. The moment it starts there is a snapping growl that makes it impossible not to notice. It has much more torque down low than the Gen 1 Busa and will stand up the moment you want it to. I am unsure if it is cammed differently but the gen 1 has a Higher red-line by 500 rpms. The up right seating position of the king adds to the perception of acceleration as the ever increasing wind pushes into you. You didnt ask but the brakes really set it apart from Gen 1 (enough so that I have begun saving to have the Brembo radial master Cylinder conversion on my 05) The brakes bring the speed down quickly and are easily modulated. I love this ugly bastard.

[G-Rex]

It's funny you mention the brakes. That's been the one sore spot with me about the bike. The brakes don't really offer the kind of feedback I would like. Surprising really for something with the capabilities of the Busa.

I've looked into upgrading the brakes a little bit. Do you think just the Brembo master cylinder would do the trick?

Got any links to the conversion kit I can check out? I'd be really interested in that!

[nhgunnut]

Originally Posted by G-Rex

It's funny you mention the brakes. That's been the one sore spot with me about the bike. The brakes don't really offer the kind of feedback I would like. Surprising really for something with the capabilities of the Busa.

I've looked into upgrading the brakes a little bit. Do you think just the Brembo master cylinder would do the trick?

Got any links to the conversion kit I can check out? I'd be really interested in that!

There is no pre assembled kit that I know of. GSXRHP over at Extremebusa.com does a custom build replacing the master cylinder the resivoir (rizoma) new lines and the machine work to install this is going to run me $750

[karl_1052]

45 minutes is cake.

It take 2.5 hours to remove and replace the fairings on a Gen II

[nhgunnut]

Originally Posted by karl_1052

45 minutes is cake.

It take 2.5 hours to remove and replace the fairings on a Gen II

It takes about an hour to pull the sides off a gen 1 but to lust lift the tanks is 4 bolts. On the King it takes 45 minutes 4 push rivets and 6 bolts to lift the tank.

[nhgunnut]

Ok just thought I would up date this a bit.After the first 2000 miles. I have to say that I love this ugly bastard even more. The upright seating position makes it a dream to run about on. Stop and Go traffic? no problem the seating position makes this much less miserable. Very easy to pilot about small towns and the throttle tries to get you arrested about everywhere. I do dislike how Suzuki restricted 1st 2nd and 3rd gear time below 4k. Eventually I will be Re-flashing the ECU to rid myself of this PITA. but for now I have gone with a $86 dollar work around and went to a a 45 (2 over stock) tooth rear SuperSprox gets me to 4k that much quicker shortens the wheel base slightly and smooths out a bit of the lurching. I will be spending more time on the King in the next few weeks as the Busa leaves tomorrow to get the forks re sprung and re valved. It also gets the Brembo Radial Master cylinder Conversion. For reasons related to Budget , I am going to have to wait to do the Radial clutch cylinder. Let me recommend that if you have a Suzuki Dealer in your area that has a B King for sale tell him you want to take it out for a ride. I am not sure what they they put so many giggles is such a Butt Ugly bike but damn they did.