Suzuki’s Hayabusa has always been a bike of extremes: extreme performance, extreme looks,
extreme dynamics. Many thought it was coming to the end of its life in 2018
but Suzuki knew when it was on to a good thing.
The 2022 Hayabusa is still as fast as ever, but has grown from the ugly
duckling into a graceful swan and received a huge upgrade, both mechanical and electronic,
along the way. The Suzuki Hayabusa has always been one of those motorcycles that polarises opinion.
Some think it spectacularly ugly while others think it is unnecessarily fast. On the other side
of the fence, some love the bulbous appearance and revel in its staggering performance.
It was conceived in the 1990s and launched in 1999 as a direct response to the Honda
CBR100XX Super Blackbird, which had been launched in 1996 to wrest the title of
fastest production motorcycle from the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11.
It managed this with a top speed of 178.5mph.
The Hayabusa then raised the top speed record to 194mph.
This speed led to fears of a European regulatory backlash and legislation
banning these ‘Hyperbikes’ from being imported, so an informal agreement
was reached between Japanese and European manufacturers to limit top speeds to 186mph.
It was clearly facetious that such a small reduction in top speed would make the motorcycles
any safer but it at least enabled restrictive legislation to be avoided. It was one of the few
times where manufacturers have pre-empted legislation by voluntary self-regulation.
The name ‘Hayabusa’ is Japanese for Peregrine Falcon, which in its vertical hunting dive
can reach speeds of up to 200mph. Cheekily, the name was a direct dig at the Honda Super
Blackbird as the Peregrine Falcom’s natural prey is actually blackbirds!
The swoopy and bulbous styling was controversial but necessary to aid stability at high speeds.
No-one could deny that it wasn’t striking and unlike any motorcycle
before or since. Over the next 20 years, the looks and speed remained the same, despite
starting to look a bit out dated in the face of a move to sharp-edged styling on performance bikes.
Reports of the Hayabusa’s demise appeared often as the end of the second decade of the 2000s moved
closer. As most other manufacturers had left the category, with the exception of Kawasaki,
which produced the ZXR-14 up to 2020, and as such an excessive motorcycle was seen to be
increasingly antisocial, it was unclear if Suzuki would continue to develop the ‘Busa,
despite sales remaining buoyant of the existing model. What is notable is that the informal speed
limit imposed on these bikes was soon forgotten as a new breed of litre superbikes pushed power
outputs and top speeds way past 186mph and on to 200mph and beyond.
WILL THEY, WON’T THEY GIVE US A NEW HAYABUSA? Into 2021 and one of the worst kept secrets in
motorcycling was confirmed and we knew we were getting a brand new Hayabusa. Surely here would
be the first 200bhp ‘Busa to bring it into line with current superbikes. Rumours suggested Suzuki
might turbocharge or supercharge the engine, or perhaps they might fit a six-cylinder motor?
There was general dismay when it became known that the 2021 model would continue to be a naturally
aspirated inline four and that horsepower would remain the same as the outgoing model,
at 190bhp. What everyone was missing, however, was the fact that Suzuki has concentrated on boosting
power and torque in the mid-range, which is where the motorcycle will be ridden for the majority of
time. Thus, in real terms, the new Hayabusa would be faster than the old. Dynamically, the Hayabusa
was always a combination of mind-blowing straight line speed and surprising agility in the corners.
With such a long wheelbase and relatively high weight, no-one would expect it to be as agile
as a dedicated sports bike. But the fact was that while, yes, it was a big brute of a bike,
it possessed handling characteristics that defied logic. Its natural habitat was long,
fast sweepers but it could also be made to hustle through the tighter stuff,
although with the speeds available care had to be taken to modify your approach speed.
The bike gained a reputation for solid and predictable handling. The 2021 Hayabusa takes this
benchmark and builds on it. The KYB suspension front and back might look outwardly similar but
has been completely re-worked internally and gives an astonishingly supple and magic-carpet ride,
while never feeling anything other than taught in the corners. BRAKES: BEST EQUIPMENT, STILL HAVE
WOODEN FEEL. The brakes on the old bike were felt to be a bit wooden for the performance, even if
they worked well enough. The 2021 model is fitted with Brembo Stylema calipers, as found on the
Ducati Panigale V4 but still feel a bit wooden. It is assumed that this is down to the brake-by-wire
system than the actual brakes themselves. In conjunction with the back brake, however, speed
is washed away with ease and with no panic. One area where the old ‘Busa was looking distinctly
old-fashioned was in the electronics department. It might have been introduced at the dawn of such
systems but Suzuki steadfastly kept it as analogue as possible for what some see as far too long.
With the new model, this has been addressed very effectively. The bike is now equipped with SDMS-a
(Suzuki Drive Mode Selector Alpha) which gives three pre-set and three customisable riding modes.
These offer variable power modes, traction control settings, anti-wheelie control, engine
braking control and an up and down quick shifter. These can all be selected on the fly. Also fitted
is cornering ABS, hill-cold control and cruise control, with an upper speed limit of 125mph.