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Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
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Comfort is all relative. I've done 1,800 miles in two days on a Ninja 650 and was fine at 50 years old. I'm not sure had the motorcycle been a Goldwing I would have been any better off. The only thing I would have appreciated is forward controls, because my knees were the sore spot. Honestly, though, any motorcycle for long distance is going to be somewhat uncomfortable.
Everytime I go to the Harley dealer to pick up something for my Sportster 883, I do the obligatory trip around the store. "Which bike would I pick if I were to buy one today". None of them are doing it for me. I sit on them and they feel like some bloated, chity-chity bang bang comtraption out of a dream when you're running a bad fever.
I moved out here to Phoenix, AZ with the intent to do rides to Los Angeles. I haven't had the urge to do it on my sportster, at 70mph plus it sounds like a bee on steroids. I've lost my dream of doing commutes to Los Angeles. My sportster has merely served as a fun bike for around town, and don't get me wrong, it's great for that and I love it.
I'm thinking about going to something sporty for my next bike, something I don't have to polish a mess of intricate chromework. I know the obvious answer is a sport touring bike like the Honda ST1300, but I'm thinking about a full fledged sport bike. I'm thinking about a Hayabusa.
Do I need that kind of horsepower? Hell no! Frankly nobody does. But it must feel so powerful to know you have all that horsepower on reserve. Pull into a Harley meet on a Hayabusa, and they can't help but look and respect the machine.
So my next question is, how would the Hayabusa do as a long distance bike. I do see they make some touring accessories. They even make handlebar risers just to make it a bit more relaxed!
How does the Hayabusa run in top gear. How does the bike feel at 80+ mph?
I think it depends a lot on how you are built, in terms of how well or not the bike fits you. Most people will not be comfortable on a bike like this riding several hundred miles per day.
That said, if you are the right size and in good enough shape to be reasonably comfortable in that riding position, you might make it work. If you are too tall or too short there is not much you can do on a bike like this, maybe put some handlebar risers on it, but you mostly conform to it, not the other way round.
On my old FJ 1100, which has more or less a similar riding position (never been on a 'busa, but the layout looks to be in the same ballpark) one thing that helps me on longer rides is a tank bag, I can rest my chest on that and take some weight off my hands.
If you want a good objective measure of what bike works for a long, fast ride, see what bikes have placed well in the Iron Butt. The Honda ST 1300 has, IIRC, done well.
If you bought a good used 'busa for a good price, you could try riding it on longer trips and see how it goes. If it does not work for you, you can probably sell or trade it without taking much financial hit.
Final thought - "real" sportbikes ride on fairly sticky and short-lived tires. This can be a PITA for longer distance touring. I don't know if anyone makes a good "compromise" rear tire for the 'busa. Bridgestone has some tires with harder rubber in the middle and softer compound on the flanks. This tends to reduce the wearing out of the middle of the tire on long drones, but of course at some cost in reduced rear traction, including braking.
I've had many different bikes but just recently I bought a triump tiger 955i with factory luggage for a commuter bike. Paid 3K for it and I love this thing. Quick, good enough wind protection, floats down the road and is dead reliable. Why spend a bunch of money?
Um, if you want to keep it that way, make dam sure you keep a Quality battery in the bike, and use a trickle charger (I prefer Noco and Ctek, far better units than 'battery tender'). If not, those bikes are WELL known for destroying their starter sprag clutches, which requires engine remove and partial disassembly to repair.
Simple to prevent but most people don't know, so just an FYI.
I think it depends a lot on how you are built, in terms of how well or not the bike fits you. Most people will not be comfortable on a bike like this riding several hundred miles per day.
On my old FJ 1100, which has more or less a similar riding position (never been on a 'busa, but the layout looks to be in the same ballpark) one thing that helps me on longer rides is a tank bag, I can rest my chest on that and take some weight off my hands.
If you bought a good used 'busa for a good price, you could try riding it on longer trips and see how it goes. If it does not work for you, you can probably sell or trade it without taking much financial hit.
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Sweet, another former FJ owner! Put nearly 50K miles on mine before selling it for a thousand bucks to someone who turned it into a drag bike. The engine was tired, at that point. That was 1984 technology, though, and it gave a lot for what (and when) it was.
Used to say that FJ was the most-useful bike I ever owned. That title, however, was superseded eight years later by my Blackbird (CBR1100xx), more to OP's point. Lot of good counsel on this thread already, won't rehash it all other than I did SaddleSore 1000 (2x) and a SaddleSore 2000 (1x) on said-Blackbird without terrible difficulty. Setup properly, gigantic inline four GT bikes will lope along all day with very little to-do. I thrashed that 'Bird HARD in the turns, at a track day and a thousand corners from WA to CA, and it handled OK though far from "great". They are what they are.
Hope OP found what he wanted. Lot of great choices out there. I've been on Ducati Multistrada 1200s for four years (just picked up second) which sort of solve all that...street, track, touring, very light off-roading...but that's another story.
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