Are you leaning against the bars while riding?

When you support your upper body by leaning on the bars it can allow your back to curve, which compacts your front. Ideally you want to support your upper body with your core and limit pressure on the bars to when you are steering. To ride with your core, your upper body needs to be balanced front to back. The majority of your weight will be carried by your glutes if you ride using your core to support your upper body.

I guess I should tell everyone, I picked up an 04 rc51 three weeks ago out of Louisville. Thanks for all the input. I would still like to hear any comments anyone has about the bike.
Thanks

Congrats on the new to you bike Mike. Looking forward to seeing you on it when the weather cooperates.

BTW, this thread is worthless without pics.

Welcome to the forum.

Quality riding gear makes a huge difference. A complete breathable waterproof outer layer with an electric mid layer works really well to allow you to ride in a tremendous range of weather while minimizing the amount of other stuff you need to bring. Working out the minimum amount of stuff you can take when traveling pays big dividends in simplifying packing and unpacking and keeping your bike as light as possible.

Take a look at what Aerostich http://www.aerostich.com/ offers. 10% for what you buy in the store. Well worth a trip to Duluth.

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The RC51s have held their value well, but then again they pale in value compared to their RC brethren. RC30s are not solidly over $20K and RC45s are nearing $30K. With this in mind, I think these have held their value better because they were developed "specifically for racing" and were successful in racing. Sold alongside the 954RR and 1000RR CBRs, they were special in comparison, somewhat the way an "R" model Ducati is special in comparison to other Ducati superbike models. Unlike Ducati, which regularly produces "limited edition" race models, Honda does so infrequently, so when Honda produces one, they get valued at a premium.

Welcome to the forum.

Increasing the number of teeth on the rear sprocket and/or dropping a tooth on the front sprocket will reduce your top speed and improve your acceleration. It will decrease your fuel mileage and make your speedometer read high. You may need to get a longer chain in order to use a rear sprocket with more teeth, especially if you don't drop a tooth on the front sprocket.

Increasing the size of your rear tire will slow your steering, decrease your effective gearing and make your speedometer read lower. It will also increase your cornering clearance and your seat height. Of course it will also give you that fat rear tire look, favored by many urban riders.

Given the abundance of power your Busa generates at all rpm levels, unless somehow you find the performance of your bike lacking, I wouldn't touch the gearing. Given the size, weight and wheelbase of the Busa, going to a 55 profile tire makes sense to me, but going to a 200 size is probably going to be a backwards move with respect to handling.

At 20K, my guess is freshening up or reworking the suspension will probably give you a noticeable improvement in ride/handling if your suspension is still stock.

Happy holidays!