madbikeboy
4th May 2017, 00:33
I was chatting with a mate this afternoon, and he pointed out that I've never written a review on a Gen 2 Hayabusa. Which is kind of ironic for a number of reasons. First, I'm not sure this vomit of consciousness that I exhale could be classed as writing. Second, I've had a love affair with Hayabusa's for many years. Third. I own at least one I'll admit to at the moment.
So, here goes.
In 1999 the Hayabusa was a revelation. It was ugly. It was also fast. Faster than the Honda Blackbird which was the benchmark of the day. Named for the Japanese peregrine falcon, the Hayabusa was known for its 200 mile per dive bombs. That the Japanese peregrine falcon liked using blackbirds as afternoon tea wasn't lost on the marketing team at Suzuki. The Blackbird was an incredible two up tourer, the fact that it was aero and fast meant loved up blue haired swingers had a comfortable ride to the party, and a ride that was easy on the sore bits on the way home.
Close to 175 (tui, more like 160) published horsepower in 1999, in a time where the then current Fireblade (919cc) was pumping out an optimistic 123 horsepower - well, it was a new benchmark in a number of ways. The 2001/2 GSXR1000 was near enough to 150 horsepower, which made it the daddy of litre bikes in my view. The overlap of these four bikes - the Blackbird (tourer), the CBR919RR (sports) and the GSXR1300R (Hyper-tourer) & the GSXR1000 neatly filled the top performance bikes by category in their day. Remember, this is years ahead of Kawasaki's ZX10R - half a decade; and the ZX7R and ZX9R's were old fashioned and slow after being run far too long. Someone is going to write something angry about the first R1, but go check out the R1's horsepower and comparative weight. Plus, no one other than baggie pant wearing wiggers rode first gen R1's.
I'm quoting flywheel horsepower here. If you don't know what that means, take a man class and get rid of your handbag, bitch.
I've had a few very memorable moments on Gen 1 Haybusa's. Allegedly, I like riding with a reasonable helping of my favourite dessert - velocity. And I've over-eaten a few times on highways, autobahns, and motorways. The stock generation one Hayabusa is fun. With nitrous, even more fun. With a turbo kit, even funner. And a turbo plus nitrous, in my view, answers that question of too much power being a possible scenario.
At that point, turbo plus nitrous, the bike overcomes the torsional rigidity and it starts doing weird things. Like changing direction because of pronounced chassis deflection. And traction becomes a real issue. 160 mph black lines. Matched by brown ones if you're not paying attention. I've ridden minutes at a time wide open on ZX14R's on the autobahn. I've ridden seconds at a time wide open on a turbo + N02 Haybusa. One was a gentle, albeit, loud, pleasant cruise. The other wasn't. More wheel stands and head shaking getting to 200+ mph than a Parkinson's convention on crack cocaine.
The gen 1 was a revelation, the second generation was either going to be a massive leap, or if Suzuki forgot to pack their balls, it was going to a faithful evolution.
It should have been the H2RR of the time. It wasn't. I elected to not really bother looking in detail for a long time. 195 flywheel horsepower didn't seem that big a deal. It was lardy. And it's close enough in looks to the first one that most people can't tell them apart from more than 20 feet.
But, like the times in my life where I placed trust in allegedly humans with va-jay-jays, I was wrong.
The build quality was a massive leap. The gen-1 was an over bored GSXR1000* with similar frame and moving parts. It carried its weight lower, and was less sporty. But, very similar DNA. The gen 2 is a thing of beauty, well engineered with loads of thoughtful touches. The bitch pad and handle is thing of beauty, carved out of a lump of lead. The ergonomics are incredible - at a gentle 100 mph it's quiet and very comfortable, with little weight on the wrists with a balloon of air under your chest. The detail is wonderful, yoke cover is milled aluminium, the fairings have good insulation, the quality of the bolts and fasteners is great. On my bike, it has one slightly rusty bolt head. It's not an original.
It's dated. It looks old next to a H2RR. But, like a Ducati 916 next to a new R1, you'd still think the older bike is the more timeless design.
It has torque. Like sledge hammer torque. And high 9 second ET's in capable hands. Mine is modded, and it's deep into the 9's, I think with a better more focussed straight line rider, it's possibly knocking on 8's.
With the limiter removed, the correct gearing, and some courage - it will go significantly faster than the 186 mph that the brochure says. Allegedly.
The downside? Weight. It weighs slightly more than the death-star, or about half of Jenny Shipley. It still carries weight low. The brakes are, umm, adequate; although a massive improvement on the 99 onwards. The most annoying thing is the redline. 11,000 rpm. It's like riding a Ducati, the fun starts, and then it hits the rev limiter like your head hitting the pavement after too many shandies. This takes some getting used to. You're supposed to ride along in one gear higher than I ride, which makes sense if you're sensible, or you want to see your grandkids graduate. However, those of us with testicles find it annoying.
But, there's lots to love as well. I want to ride a GSXR1000 or Sev-fiddy (as retards call them) for twenty minute sessions of a good track. A few of those, and a new tyre beckons. Or, a quick lap of the SH16 racetrack. Or a Coro loop, the first part fast, then the last section a game of conservation getting the shredded tyre home. The rest of the time, it's painful - painfully loud and too fast for traffic, always straining at the leash. No problem for those with restraint or brains. But for people with poor impulse control, a thou is a path to regular stupidity. I stand guilty as charged.
The Hayabusa is different. You find excuses to ride it. To the South Island. Because Queenstown is lovely in the summer. Or last week, Cape Reinga. Needed to make sure it was still there. Or Rotorua, for CrankWorks. 2,000 kilometers a month. Seriously. I couldn't ride to Paeroa on the thou without pharmaceutical help.
It's incredibly good on gas. Except when it's on the Coro loop. There, it's close on 20 litres per 100 klicks. It is very easy on tyres and chains. I am managing 1,000 k's out of a rear tyre. 2-3,000 when the bike has bags. It's socially acceptable. My adoptive dad used to throw stones at the thou and every other Japanese or Italian bike I've owned. He sits, glassy eyed, staring at the Hayabusa and murmurs odd comments about it under his breath.
It doesn't like sidewinds. Which is odd, considering.
Everyone warned me ahead of time - I'd find an all too fast entry, then I'd run out of road and end up in the shrubbery, with a funeral shortly thereafter without the need for a casket given the fireball that would ensue. But, that's basically bullshit. Its not intimidating to ride at all. You can't change your line easily, it has relaxed geometry and a lot of mass carried low. It uses the front tyre harder than a sports bike. It wears an odd bevel on the shoulders very quickly.
It is very tyre sensitive. Riding with touring tyres is like fucking a $2 whore with three condoms, not much feel and you can't help but wonder why people think it's a good time.
I tried race-tec's. They're the party girl who screams harder and faster. Not a good long term plan. Then Pirelli Super Corsa SC2's. Which are a better match, the bike wants to turn faster, and it holds a line with much more confidence. I've also dropped the yokes as far as I can, and I run a 200 section rear. Which makes for less stability, but man, does it turn.
I've also got the lightest cans in the world, the standard exhaust is about 22 kg. Seriously. All that mass hanging over the back of the bike, gone. Also good for three feet long flames on over-run - the Power commander needs some work obviously. And it's all sorts of loud - popping and throwing presence. Which is a GSXR requirement. We have standards and reputations to uphold.
It's easy to service. A relaxed hour to do an oil change. Even buying parts over the counter at Colemans is reasonable, $25 for an oil filter. Buying them 10 at time from overseas is clearly a better plan.
It's a big jump from a 600 to the Gen 2. But if you're looking to slow down after riding dirty on a modern thou, then it's a good alternative to a cruiser or a tourer. A cruiser is a small leap to tassels, chaps, and fucking men in the ass.
I prefer the non-ABS, but the ABS gets significantly better Brembos. I prefer the non-ABS because I'm anachronistic misogynistic opinionated old school kind of guy who thinks that hipsters should all be hunted for sport, and I'm not humble enough to admit that there are situations where a machine can out-brake Vale-MadBikeBoy-Rossi.
The Gen 2's are also basically bulletproof. I've seen very high mileage bikes (100,000 miles plus) that haven't had any problems (aside from rectifiers, but it's a Suzuki, so shit with that is going to happen if you didn't do the recall).
And you can buy turbo kits for them. And I can assure you, they're really worth the money. The torsional rigidity of the second generation makes this a good idea, in the way that two chick threesomes are a good idea - it's kind of nice in theory, but in real life, it's a lot of fun that you shouldn't admit to at dinner parties..
Anyhow, there you go. Buy one.
*Not really over-bored. Different block and bore centres, more stroke. Obviously. Was making a comparison, not a technical statement of fact.
So, here goes.
In 1999 the Hayabusa was a revelation. It was ugly. It was also fast. Faster than the Honda Blackbird which was the benchmark of the day. Named for the Japanese peregrine falcon, the Hayabusa was known for its 200 mile per dive bombs. That the Japanese peregrine falcon liked using blackbirds as afternoon tea wasn't lost on the marketing team at Suzuki. The Blackbird was an incredible two up tourer, the fact that it was aero and fast meant loved up blue haired swingers had a comfortable ride to the party, and a ride that was easy on the sore bits on the way home.
Close to 175 (tui, more like 160) published horsepower in 1999, in a time where the then current Fireblade (919cc) was pumping out an optimistic 123 horsepower - well, it was a new benchmark in a number of ways. The 2001/2 GSXR1000 was near enough to 150 horsepower, which made it the daddy of litre bikes in my view. The overlap of these four bikes - the Blackbird (tourer), the CBR919RR (sports) and the GSXR1300R (Hyper-tourer) & the GSXR1000 neatly filled the top performance bikes by category in their day. Remember, this is years ahead of Kawasaki's ZX10R - half a decade; and the ZX7R and ZX9R's were old fashioned and slow after being run far too long. Someone is going to write something angry about the first R1, but go check out the R1's horsepower and comparative weight. Plus, no one other than baggie pant wearing wiggers rode first gen R1's.
I'm quoting flywheel horsepower here. If you don't know what that means, take a man class and get rid of your handbag, bitch.
I've had a few very memorable moments on Gen 1 Haybusa's. Allegedly, I like riding with a reasonable helping of my favourite dessert - velocity. And I've over-eaten a few times on highways, autobahns, and motorways. The stock generation one Hayabusa is fun. With nitrous, even more fun. With a turbo kit, even funner. And a turbo plus nitrous, in my view, answers that question of too much power being a possible scenario.
At that point, turbo plus nitrous, the bike overcomes the torsional rigidity and it starts doing weird things. Like changing direction because of pronounced chassis deflection. And traction becomes a real issue. 160 mph black lines. Matched by brown ones if you're not paying attention. I've ridden minutes at a time wide open on ZX14R's on the autobahn. I've ridden seconds at a time wide open on a turbo + N02 Haybusa. One was a gentle, albeit, loud, pleasant cruise. The other wasn't. More wheel stands and head shaking getting to 200+ mph than a Parkinson's convention on crack cocaine.
The gen 1 was a revelation, the second generation was either going to be a massive leap, or if Suzuki forgot to pack their balls, it was going to a faithful evolution.
It should have been the H2RR of the time. It wasn't. I elected to not really bother looking in detail for a long time. 195 flywheel horsepower didn't seem that big a deal. It was lardy. And it's close enough in looks to the first one that most people can't tell them apart from more than 20 feet.
But, like the times in my life where I placed trust in allegedly humans with va-jay-jays, I was wrong.
The build quality was a massive leap. The gen-1 was an over bored GSXR1000* with similar frame and moving parts. It carried its weight lower, and was less sporty. But, very similar DNA. The gen 2 is a thing of beauty, well engineered with loads of thoughtful touches. The bitch pad and handle is thing of beauty, carved out of a lump of lead. The ergonomics are incredible - at a gentle 100 mph it's quiet and very comfortable, with little weight on the wrists with a balloon of air under your chest. The detail is wonderful, yoke cover is milled aluminium, the fairings have good insulation, the quality of the bolts and fasteners is great. On my bike, it has one slightly rusty bolt head. It's not an original.
It's dated. It looks old next to a H2RR. But, like a Ducati 916 next to a new R1, you'd still think the older bike is the more timeless design.
It has torque. Like sledge hammer torque. And high 9 second ET's in capable hands. Mine is modded, and it's deep into the 9's, I think with a better more focussed straight line rider, it's possibly knocking on 8's.
With the limiter removed, the correct gearing, and some courage - it will go significantly faster than the 186 mph that the brochure says. Allegedly.
The downside? Weight. It weighs slightly more than the death-star, or about half of Jenny Shipley. It still carries weight low. The brakes are, umm, adequate; although a massive improvement on the 99 onwards. The most annoying thing is the redline. 11,000 rpm. It's like riding a Ducati, the fun starts, and then it hits the rev limiter like your head hitting the pavement after too many shandies. This takes some getting used to. You're supposed to ride along in one gear higher than I ride, which makes sense if you're sensible, or you want to see your grandkids graduate. However, those of us with testicles find it annoying.
But, there's lots to love as well. I want to ride a GSXR1000 or Sev-fiddy (as retards call them) for twenty minute sessions of a good track. A few of those, and a new tyre beckons. Or, a quick lap of the SH16 racetrack. Or a Coro loop, the first part fast, then the last section a game of conservation getting the shredded tyre home. The rest of the time, it's painful - painfully loud and too fast for traffic, always straining at the leash. No problem for those with restraint or brains. But for people with poor impulse control, a thou is a path to regular stupidity. I stand guilty as charged.
The Hayabusa is different. You find excuses to ride it. To the South Island. Because Queenstown is lovely in the summer. Or last week, Cape Reinga. Needed to make sure it was still there. Or Rotorua, for CrankWorks. 2,000 kilometers a month. Seriously. I couldn't ride to Paeroa on the thou without pharmaceutical help.
It's incredibly good on gas. Except when it's on the Coro loop. There, it's close on 20 litres per 100 klicks. It is very easy on tyres and chains. I am managing 1,000 k's out of a rear tyre. 2-3,000 when the bike has bags. It's socially acceptable. My adoptive dad used to throw stones at the thou and every other Japanese or Italian bike I've owned. He sits, glassy eyed, staring at the Hayabusa and murmurs odd comments about it under his breath.
It doesn't like sidewinds. Which is odd, considering.
Everyone warned me ahead of time - I'd find an all too fast entry, then I'd run out of road and end up in the shrubbery, with a funeral shortly thereafter without the need for a casket given the fireball that would ensue. But, that's basically bullshit. Its not intimidating to ride at all. You can't change your line easily, it has relaxed geometry and a lot of mass carried low. It uses the front tyre harder than a sports bike. It wears an odd bevel on the shoulders very quickly.
It is very tyre sensitive. Riding with touring tyres is like fucking a $2 whore with three condoms, not much feel and you can't help but wonder why people think it's a good time.
I tried race-tec's. They're the party girl who screams harder and faster. Not a good long term plan. Then Pirelli Super Corsa SC2's. Which are a better match, the bike wants to turn faster, and it holds a line with much more confidence. I've also dropped the yokes as far as I can, and I run a 200 section rear. Which makes for less stability, but man, does it turn.
I've also got the lightest cans in the world, the standard exhaust is about 22 kg. Seriously. All that mass hanging over the back of the bike, gone. Also good for three feet long flames on over-run - the Power commander needs some work obviously. And it's all sorts of loud - popping and throwing presence. Which is a GSXR requirement. We have standards and reputations to uphold.
It's easy to service. A relaxed hour to do an oil change. Even buying parts over the counter at Colemans is reasonable, $25 for an oil filter. Buying them 10 at time from overseas is clearly a better plan.
It's a big jump from a 600 to the Gen 2. But if you're looking to slow down after riding dirty on a modern thou, then it's a good alternative to a cruiser or a tourer. A cruiser is a small leap to tassels, chaps, and fucking men in the ass.
I prefer the non-ABS, but the ABS gets significantly better Brembos. I prefer the non-ABS because I'm anachronistic misogynistic opinionated old school kind of guy who thinks that hipsters should all be hunted for sport, and I'm not humble enough to admit that there are situations where a machine can out-brake Vale-MadBikeBoy-Rossi.
The Gen 2's are also basically bulletproof. I've seen very high mileage bikes (100,000 miles plus) that haven't had any problems (aside from rectifiers, but it's a Suzuki, so shit with that is going to happen if you didn't do the recall).
And you can buy turbo kits for them. And I can assure you, they're really worth the money. The torsional rigidity of the second generation makes this a good idea, in the way that two chick threesomes are a good idea - it's kind of nice in theory, but in real life, it's a lot of fun that you shouldn't admit to at dinner parties..
Anyhow, there you go. Buy one.
*Not really over-bored. Different block and bore centres, more stroke. Obviously. Was making a comparison, not a technical statement of fact.