As the last century drew to a close, three of the Japanese motorcycle firms seemed locked in a competition to build the fastest production bike around. First came the Kawasaki ZZR1100, which ruled until the mid-1990s with a figure around 175mph. Then came the Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird, which added a few miles onto that figure. Then in 1999 came the Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa.
It had 220mph on the numerically crowded clocks, 200mph claimed by salesmen from Hammatsu to Hammersmith, and entered into the Guinness World Records with an actual figure of 194mph. The fact that you could buy one in beige was just the icing on the cake.
The joy of the Hayabusa is that a stock bike can put out around 150bhp of reliable power, which was just the start for many bikes. You could spend much less than in previous years to increase the output and the Suzuki instantly became a hit on the drag strip.
A Crescent Suzuki Hayabusa:
This particular GSX1300R was built in-house at Crescent Suzuki, who are themselves no stranger to quick Suzukis. Rather than many Busas that get bits nailed onto them over the years, this one was created with a plan in mind. The chassis is dripping in quality brands and parts. Ohlins suspension was fitted from new and the Brembo anchors help to haul it up. A gorgeous double-braced swingarm holds the Dymag wheel in situ, and the Yoshimura exhaust was the only real choice for the super Suzuki.
Having passed down through a few owners over the years, the facts of what was done to the engine were lost under the fairing. So owner Danny Redmond was keen to find out what it would put out on the dyno at the Classic Mechanics/Gibsons Exhausts day. The day had started with a modded Ducati Desmosedici – the Italian MotoGP-inspired beauty hitting 160bhp with a gorgeous exhaust soundtrack.
The Busa was last up. And despite previously subjecting his other Busa, fitted with nitrous, to dyno abuse, he was a little reluctant to hand over the keys for this one until he’d secured a backup lift home.
He needn’t have worried. The Lucky Strike GSX1300R pumped out 187bhp, confirming suspicions that there are some goodies inside the motor. And the price for all that performance and high-spec parts was just £6,000 a few months back. That’s money well spent.
The Suzuki Hayabusa:
The first generation of the Suzuki Hayabusa began with the GSX-1300R-X for 1999, and -Y in 2000. It carried on through the K1-K7 (2001-2007), with a redesign for the second generation beginning in 2008. From 2001 a speed limiting system (186mph) was introduced as part of a gentleman’s agreement between Japanese motorcycle manufacturers not to keep chasing higher speeds, and also in 2001 a steel rear subframe was introduced after issues with the aluminium example breaking when potentially stressed or overloaded.
The engine was a 1299cc 4-stroke inline-four, and the styling for high speed included a narrow fairing with a drooping, rounded nose and ram air ducts.
2008 saw a bodywork restyle, included by the U.S custom scene, and a 1340cc engine with changes to the head, pistons and exhaust which gave a horsepower increase, as well as obeying new noise and emission laws (including a catalytic converter and oxygen sensor in the exhaust). It also gained Tokico radial brake calipers to allow smaller discs, and new wheels were designed.
In addition to the many GSX1300R Hayabusa customs and drag bikes, the engine also ended up in the naked Suzuki B-King, and a range of small sportscars and kit cars, including the Westfield Megabusa. Radical designed a 2.8 litre V8 based on the Hayabusa engine and and set a record for fastest production car at the Nurburgring, and a kit is also available to install the Hayabusa engine into a Smart Car.
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