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I owned a 07 14 and now have a 08 Busa.There was a six month period when I had both
and performance wise it is truly a tie.14 has much better brakes,lights for night riding,
smoother motor and is much easier to do routine maintenance.Oil change with no
bodywork removal,kudos to Kaw for that.Busa has more of a sportbike feel,less of a
sport/tour feel.Stiffer springs on the Bus feel good on the curves but not on long rides.
You said brakes could be easily upgraded,I think if you check into to new rotors and calipers you will be surprised at the cost.

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I am up in Oshkosh, we should all get together for a ride this summer. .......

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Couple months later, i am a proud daddy of a busa. I ride both that and the 14 now. Is it worth while having both? To me it is. Can't have one without the other.
The 14 feels stronger in bottom and midrange, the busa feels surer at speeds over 120 mph.
Both have pluses and minuses in the touring dept. Add it all up and they are equal but not equal in all the same ways.

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When I bought my bike, it was a difficult decision between the 08 ZX-14 or the ’08 busa. Thinking they were equal in performance, the 14 won me over by a very slim margin on looks. I know that will surprise a lot of you guys. Let me remind you, it was really hard to pick. Even when it comes to looks, there are equal likes and dislikes between the two IMO.

It wasn’t long after I bought the bike that information started turning up that had me a little disappointed. The new 14 was a blast but then I start hearing all this 08 busa performance stats and I started to wish I would have waited a couple months before I made the decision. I’m sure you all know the story but heres what I’m talking about:

*0-186mph 1.5 seconds faster than the 14.
*Peak hp and tq are similar but the busa’s numbers always seems to be higher in the same tests. I have heard several 14 riders coment on how easily their buddies seem to loft the front on their busas where the 14 has to have some effort put into it.
*Faster in the ¼ mile by a couple 100/second.
*Dyno charts show a steady increase in power from idle almost up to redline. The 08 14 starts to taper off after 8.5K rpm.
*Slightly higher compression.
*Better handling and cornering at high speed.
*Better suspension
*Better aerodynamics.
*Self adjusts a/f ratios to compensate for aftermarket exhaust.
*Better gas mileage.
*Cool speed hump.
*Analogue fuel and temp gauges are nice.
*Scraper pegs that look like they could actually survive contact with the road.

The busa just seems to be better set for sport riding even before mods.

The drawbacks as compared to the 14 are:

*Brakes are not as strong – but they are easily upgraded.
*Less comfortable riding position and some harder vibrations at highway speeds. Both of these are tolerable. Comfort wasn’t a big issue to me.

So help me out. Perhaps some of you have ridden both bikes. Do you think there’s enough difference to justify my purchase of an 08 busa or will I be just as happy with either bike after mods?

I hope we can have a lot of back and forth commenting on this topic because this would be an even bigger decision after I already went and dumped 11K$ on the 14.

Rook

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When I bought my bike, it was a difficult decision between the 08 ZX-14 or the ’08 busa. Thinking they were equal in performance, the 14 won me over by a very slim margin on looks. I know that will surprise a lot of you guys. Let me remind you, it was really hard to pick. Even when it comes to looks, there are equal likes and dislikes between the two IMO.

It wasn’t long after I bought the bike that information started turning up that had me a little disappointed. The new 14 was a blast but then I start hearing all this 08 busa performance stats and I started to wish I would have waited a couple months before I made the decision. I’m sure you all know the story but heres what I’m talking about:

*0-186mph 1.5 seconds faster than the 14.
*Peak hp and tq are similar but the busa’s numbers always seems to be higher in the same tests. I have heard several 14 riders coment on how easily their buddies seem to loft the front on their busas where the 14 has to have some effort put into it.
*Faster in the ¼ mile by a couple 100/second.
*Dyno charts show a steady increase in power from idle almost up to redline. The 08 14 starts to taper off after 8.5K rpm.
*Slightly higher compression.
*Better handling and cornering at high speed.
*Better suspension
*Better aerodynamics.
*Self adjusts a/f ratios to compensate for aftermarket exhaust.
*Better gas mileage.
*Cool speed hump.
*Analogue fuel and temp gauges are nice.
*Scraper pegs that look like they could actually survive contact with the road.

The busa just seems to be better set for sport riding even before mods.

The drawbacks as compared to the 14 are:

*Brakes are not as strong – but they are easily upgraded.
*Less comfortable riding position and some harder vibrations at highway speeds. Both of these are tolerable. Comfort wasn’t a big issue to me.

So help me out. Perhaps some of you have ridden both bikes. Do you think there’s enough difference to justify my purchase of an 08 busa or will I be just as happy with either bike after mods?

I hope we can have a lot of back and forth commenting on this topic because this would be an even bigger decision after I already went and dumped 11K$ on the 14.

Rook

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Hey Rook...Got 'em both and love them both. The Busa is modified a tad to terrorize and prey and the 14 is stock to go real fast in absolute wonderful comfort. To give one up...I would probably let the Busa go and then tweak the 14 a touch to make up for giving up my predator status. On either one you are pretty much King of the Road, so don't fret and enjoy the pootytang outta that bad ass Kawasaki and treat it with respect!!!

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