Thread: Suzuki Hayabusa

New Suzuki GSX1300R abusa. And it has, I must sadly confess a very optimistic speedo. Boo-hoo. At the turn of the new millennium nufacturers reached a 'gentleman's reement' to restrict the top speed of their "kes to 186mph to keep the Brussels suits bay. Yes, the busy bodies at the European ion were getting twitchy about the trageous speeds being reached by the bikes of the big four Japanese manufacturers. So Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha acted quickly to impose their own reasonable restrictions before Brussels had a chance to lay down draconian legislation. But there are ways of making bikes seem faster than they are, and Suzukis are well known for their optimistic speedos. ether this is a cunning ploy by the marg people or a genuine quirk is up to
you to decide.

Suffice to say the GPS equipment I took with me for the day registers no more than 307.2kmph tops which, let's be honest here, is quite enough on a production machine. And if you really want the coppers to throwaway the prison eys although they'd have a job catching you then the restriction is nothing that acunning top speed junky couldn't easily by-pass in his (or her) garden shed. The hyperbike war has been raging for more than a decade now. Kawasaki launched the first hand grenade with its 270kmph ZZR-1100, to which Honda replied with a missile of simi-
lar capacity, the Blackbird. But in Suzuki came up with its very own atomic bomb - the mighty 1300cc Hayabusa.

The 'Busa quickly gained a cult following in the top speed world. Drag strips across Europe and the States became littered with tricked-up Suzukis complete with long wheelbases, turbochargers and all the necessary gubbins to blast the 320kmph barrier in no time at all. Top speed junkies love the Hayabusa for its mind-boggling straight-line potential. The last time I rode an unrestricted Hayabusa was in 1999 and I saw 352kmph on the speedo. You can imagine myexcitement. And my disappointment when I found out that the serious GPS equipment had 'only' registered 312kmph. But I say potential because this engine is highly tuneable, and a properly fettled bike with nitrous and turbo and big bore kits will think nothing of reaching speeds of 400+kmph. And there's nothing gentlemanly about that.

Then in Kawasaki stirred the waters once again with its new ZZR1400, a bike that claimed to be the fastest hyperbike out there. You may remember an feature of mine from a couple of years back, when I went to a top speed event and did a genuine 320.32kmph on a tricked-up ZXI2R. Well a couple of top speed junkies had taken their brand spanking new ZZR1400s to the strip that day, and the absolute maximum any of them got out of the bikes was a genuine 308.8mph. Oh yes, the 'gentleman's agreement' has been overlooked by an mph or two in this instance too. Could it be the big four are sneakily upping its terms. Best not tell anyone then in case Brussels notices.

But I digress. Suffice to say that Suzuki now wants its crown back and its 2008 weapon of choice is a revamped GSX1300R Hayabusa. The all-new bike has an engine capacity increase to 1,340cc (up from 1,299cc), a big power rise to 196PS and torque up to a massive 154.5Nm. The chassis is revised, the suspension renewed, the swing-arm is stiffer and it meets the latest Euro 3 emissions regulations, which, thanks to the big catalytic converter, are probably responsible for the 3.1kg weight gain. While added weight interferes with acceleration, it doesn't affect top speed only aerodynamic drag will affect this.

Much to the enthusiasts' delight, the new Hayabusa retains its distinctive looks. There's no mistaking this monster with its massive low-slung styling, bulbous rear end and wraparound fairings. The Hayabusa was one of the first road bikes to make extensive use of wind tunnel technology to beat aerodynamic drag, and it.shows in its slippery appearance.



The crazy acceleration is there, and in true drag strip style it feels stable at mindboggling speeds. Topping it out in second gear shows 180kmph on the analogue speedo, in third 220kmph and in fourth 260kmph. Top it out in fifth and we're talking well into the 280s, before slipping into the 300kmph in sixth. And believe me, it's ajob looking at the speedo at those speeds

When it comes to sheer thrust, this bike's the daddy. But there's nothing to be raid of because it's as easy and friendly lsamodern road bike can be. The power Jelivery is linear and predictable. It's lost rheoriginal bike's raw, hysterical wild- less to become a smooth pussycat that .lena novice rider could live with. Like Suzuki's B-King and GSX-R1000, eHayabusa gets the power switch hat lets you choose between two modes mode A is full power while mode B iIIleashes just 70 per cent of it. Suzuki obviously proud of its invention, but is bike is so manageable it's a pointless mmick. A twist of the wrist is enough control how much power you want. aybe the drag strip fanatics will modify ode B to unleash a whopping turbo!

The new Hayabusa looks properlyge, but jump on board and the bulk dises reveal impressive handling. The rometry is similar to last year's bike, yet the new version is more agile. Compared to a superbike it's still hard work through the twisties and sluggish to turn in. But ride it with a smooth road manner and it performs immaculately, never losing its composure. The all-new suspension has a soft road set-up and feels plush on the move. Ride it like you stole it and it wallows through corners and grinds out the pegs; but in fast touring mode, it's a comfortable, nimble ride with the chassis soaking up surface imperfections. The Hayabusa is the perfect high speed mile-muncher; it's just not a short circuit race winner.

Braking is progressive and incredibly effective and a good job too! The four-pot radial-mounted calipers and smaller discs replace the dinner-plate sized discs of old squeezed by 6-pot calipers. And they're a class apart. There's no fade, no scary moments as you slow down from 300kmph+ to nothing. Being quite small, I never had a problem fitting beneath the old 'Busa's windscreen.

But my pie-eating colleagues complained it was too low, leaving them out in the wind blast not what you want on this bike! Suzuki has now modified the screen for better rider protection. The tank top is lower too so you can tuck in better, and the fairing is taller, all this making it more suited to its high speed purpose. The huge speed bump offers storage space galore and the bike retains its useful bungee hooks.

Suzuki's new Hayabusa is easier to ride than the version it replaces. There's more power, yet it's easier to control. There's more weight, yet it's easier to handle. But is the Hayabusa still the maddest and baddest out there? In restricted mode, it appears to be one mph down on the Kawasaki. This may seem nothing, until you remember that numbers are everything in the speed obsessed world of drag strip superstars. But the Hayabusa's still the one to beat on the professional drag strips, where manufacturer restrictions are dispensed with faster than you can accelerate to 320kmph.