Suzuki GSX 1300R Hayabusa

motorcycle" was held by Honda's 1100XX Blackbird. Touting a top speed in the high 170s, it just beat Kawasaki's ZX1100 which in all tests, ran 3-4 mph slower.

Both bikes are big and heavy. When the lightweight, stock Yamaha R1 began breaking into the 170s but getting there quicker, the payoff of a slightly higher top speed wasn't as great. The top speed kings were becoming touring bikes.

Then Suzuki grabbed the bar and used it to clobber Honda and Kawasaki. Suzuki raised the top speed 20mph over other heavyweight sportbikes. The bike they sent in to do this was the Hayabusa.

It was 480 pounds of big, ugly, aerodynamic motorcycle. It's 1300cc fuel-injected, four-cylinder motor put out over 155 rear-wheel horsepower. That's 16 hp more than any other stock sportbike at the time. Out of the box it would do sub 10-second quarter-miles and would top out at a real 196+ mph! Bad.... bad craziness.

For 2000, just as Kawasaki readied their own 200mph missile, and under threats of speed and horsepower limits from around the world, Suzuki and other manufacturers agreed to place a 189mph limit on their production bikes. The '99 Hayabusas, in copper or black, were the ones that slipped through the crack. Top speed is now "limited" to 189 mph.

At 189 miles-per-hour, you travel 278 feet in 1 second. Three miles in 60 seconds. From Minneapolis to Duluth in less than 45 minutes.

Testing the 2000 Suzuki Hayabusa last summer, I learned a lot of things about traveling at 189mph. At least four miles of straight, visible, empty road is a necessity. It helps that road is flat and of good quality because large undulations that you'd never otherwise notice, are transformed into launch ramps at high speeds.

You also have to tuck in tight. Not so much your elbows, since they're already pointing rearward, but helmet and legs. I nearly broke my neck by sitting up at 140 while coasting down from some insane speed .

I have to confess that I don't think I ever topped the 'busa out. While 160 is comprehensible and comes very easy on this bike, anything over that gets weird. Just as aerodynamic drag increases exponentially with speed, so does fear. My brain could barely accept and respond to the images my eyes were feeding it and the impulse to close the throttle had to be fought constantly. The best I did was to bring it up to speed in 5th then glance at the speedo and see 175 (indicated) before running it to redline and hitting 6th. From there I held it pinned for a three count before giving up. This whole sequence happens so fast you have to look at the clocks before you start it. Keeping it in 5th at super high speeds had the bike pulling as hard as would in 2nd. The power never tails off.

With this kind of acceleration at hand, a rider has to use good judgment. Before my first ride on the Hayabusa the owner warned me, "Do not attempt to pin the throttle in the first two gears!"

Doing so in first will result in some kind of insane Mad Max wheel spin or, with enough traction, wheel spin and a very out-of-control wheelie. First gear wheelies have to be done with one smooth motion up to about 2/3 throttle. Watching fellow MMM staffer Crabby Don practice this, I noticed he was leaving 3-foot stripes of rubber before the front wheel would rise. Pinning the gas in second, the bike will wheelie smoothly but also accelerates so fast it's hard to feel safe doing so. With such a long nose it seems like there's three feet of fairing in front of you and when in the air it doesn't have a feel of total control.

Racing a friend on his new GSX-750R, we rolled on in first gear. While he was busy trying to keep the anorexic GSXR's front wheel on the ground, I short shifted into third and held it wide open. At around 8000 rpm (redline is at 11) the 'busa was pulling so hard that the tiniest dip in the road caused the front end to loft six inches off the ground. Chopping the throttle caused it to come down into a slight headshake, which in turn almost caused me to pee myself.

Enough with the acceleration thing, it does it well and we all know it. I was surprised to find that it has many creature comforts, which give it a real Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde complex.

The seating position is the bikes biggest, er, asset. At first, it feels slightly better than a full-on sport rider position, but after long days on the bike, no sore spots developed. I always felt like I could go for another couple of hours. You sit back far enough to keep weight off of your wrists. This seat is spectacular for being stock.

The footpegs are low and have an inch of rubber on them to kill engine vibes. The cockpit is clean and is completely enclosed from your knees to the dash. It has tach and speedo of equal size, a clock, two tripometers which also tell you your average fuel consumption in mpg. The fuel gauge is a nice feature but it constantly got stuck at 1/4 tank on both bikes we rode. A 5.9 gallon tank will easily get you a 185 mile range, even in crazy mode.

The tip-over sensor that's supposed to kill spark and fuel when you drop the bike while landing stoppies also failed to work, leaving the rear tire to spin the bike around on it's side a couple of times. After pulling this stunt on the '99 bike, I expected everything on the left side to be gouged. Amazingly damage was limited to a broken clutch lever, a scuffed mirror housing, and a scratched engine cover. The plastic never touched the ground and the lever and cover were replaced for less than 130 bones.

I'm of the opinion that six pot calipers on street bikes are simply for show and, as of yet, I have not used a set that stopped better than good four pot calipers. The 'busa has twin sixes up front and, while perfectly acceptable, they do seem a bit taxed during panic stops. Another weird thing I noticed is that when the rear was losing traction during hard braking it would begin to slide slightly out to the right. It wasn't dramatic or anything, and maybe it's just me, but it did it a lot.

Despite the high state of tune and fuel injection the bike has great downtown manners and will accelerate cleanly from the basement in sixth gear which I thought was amazing on a bike geared for over 180mph.

Wind protection is again, better than on most sportbikes. I had to ride home from work in a downpour one night and was caught with only my jacket and no rain pants. Upon arriving at home I discovered that yes, my pants were wet, but the bikes lower fairing had kept my workbooks and ankles completely dry almost up to my knees!

The exhaust exits through a 4-into-2 system that sounds like two piped EX500s following you around. The two cans work together to synchronize into a single note at one moment and then oppose each other the next, causing weird harmonic reverberations to bounce through the air around you. It's cool.

Suzuki gave the bike decent suspension that is fully adjustable on both ends and can be set up as hard or soft as you please. I got a couple of chances to chase some 600s around on twisty roads and though the 'busa hides its bulk pretty well, it suffered through sections of tight linked corners. It would flop over and turn in pretty quickly but was hard to stand back up or transition quickly for the next turn. Once leaned over, it likes to stay there and resist the "oops-I-turned-too-early-and-need-to-pick-it-up-and-limp-through" style of cornering. Blame it on the long wheelbase or weight, but it's not that big of a handicap. Let the featherweights zip & bang through the corners because sooner or later the road is gonna straighten out and the Hayabusa's boom will have you right back in the game.

It's a weird role the Hayabusa plays. Comfort and civility coupled with brute, rowdy horsepower. A jack-of-all-trades and master of speed. A bike whose owner is just as likely to install handlebar risers as a turbo kit. I've seen it done, with lowered footpegs to boot! With the introduction of the new, ultralight GSXR1000, Suzuki has muddied the water once again.

The 1000 boasts horsepower figures extremely close to the Hayabusa's but has allegedly been limited to 185mph so as not to steal the speed crown, The Hayabusa may be quietly heading into the sport-touring role, but those three words always burned in the front of my brain whenever I pinned the throttle. 

Bad....bad craziness.

by Tony Marx