1999-2021 12-PAGE BUSA SPECIAL IS BACK! EXCLUSIVE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS l Faster, lighter and sharper! + The evolution of a legend + NEW BUSA STRIPPED

P6 2021 HAYABUSA

NEW BIKE SPECIAL

Return of the 1999-2021 ‘All everyone original wanted to know hyperbike HAYABUSA If you thought the hyperbike 12-PAGE was how fast it was’ class had finally gone the SPECIAL way of the dinosaurs – CELEBRATING 22 YEARS OF SUZUKI’S HAYABUSA think again. While Suzuki’s ground-breaking Hayabusa has been absent from our shores for a couple of years, it’s now returned just in time to have the sector to WELCOME Richard Newland, Editor itself. It’s lighter, faster, and bristling with new tech. We go under the skin of the new ‘I was flat-out Busa and also look back at 22 years of going ballistic. on the limiter at 186mph’

One of the moments I’ll never forget in my biking life was blasting down the 2-mile long straight at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground on a Suzuki Hayabusa as it bumped into its limiter in 6th gear. I don’t know how fast I was really going, but it was somewhere north of 180mph. They were limited to 300kmh – that’s 186mph, for a less lardy pilot. What’s the relevance in the ‘real world’? Not a lot, really. Yes, you could go Autobahn baiting on your summer holidays if you have a death wish, or enjoy trying to eke the last few tenths out at somewhere like Elvington, but that momentary top-speed thrill isn’t the real joy of a bike like the Hayabusa. While I never really fell in love with the hyperbike hyperbole, I’ve always relished the extraordinary sensations you get from that exclusive club of rear-tyre-bothering behemoths. Whether it’s the Hayabusa, ZX-12R, H2 SX, ZZR1400, Blackbird... They all have a quality of drive that’s unmistakably different from the norm. So I’m delighted the Hayabusa is back from the wilderness; faster, lighter and sharper than ever. I can’t wait to see just how good it feels in 2021.

02 | Hayabusa Special 1999 - 2021 www.bikes.suzuki.co.uk www.bikes.suzuki.co.uk 1999 - 2021 Hayabusa Special | 03 2021 SUZUKI HAYABUSA

Exclusive MCN Special

The Busa 1999-2021 HAYABUSA 12-PAGE is back! SPECIAL Suzuki have breathed new life into the original horizon-shrinker – we speak exclusively to the engineers and designers who created the new Hayabusa

he 200mph club MotoGP engines such as the 800cc comprised a short- HIGHLIGHTS V4 and 1000cc inline-four which lived explosion Joan Mir won the championship of speed-chasing l 1340cc l/c DOHC inline-four with. But I applied for the hyperbikes that l 187.74bhp @ 9700rpm Hayabusa development team as it hovered menacingly was the reason I joined Suzuki.” around the new l 110.6lb.ft @ 7000rpm Tmillennium like the ominous bug l 264kg kerb mass The same but better that threatened to erase every l The mantras that underpinned the computer on . Of course, they 800mm seat height chassis and engine development couldn’t really do 200mph, but the l Price £16,499 also flowed through the design millennium bug wasn’t real either. language of the new Busa. As the anti-speed lobby girded “I faced lots of difficulties in its loins in preparation for a fight, parts therein – from the crankshaft designing the third-generation the Japanese initiated a self- to the valve train and everything Hayabusa; to keep the traditional policed 300kmh restriction to ‘It had to keep its silhouette, in between – are new. “The engine silhouette, but integrate new deflect more severe legislative development from Gen2 to Gen3, essence and tastes in it,” says meddling – and as soon as the wax despite keeping capacity the Kazutaka Ogawa, Styling Designer. started to solidify on the new pact, to be recognisably a Busa’ same, is actually greater than the “It had to be recognisably a new the game had already changed. changes from Gen1 (1298cc) to Hayabusa, not just any sportsbike. The Hayabusa still felt like Gen2 (1340cc),” says Shunya Togo, My first job at Suzuki was in the apex predator, snarling at superchargers, turbos, every pots. Neither were deemed more Engine Test Engineer. wind tunnel testing the first Honda’s oh-so-refined Blackbird rider aid known to Bosch and a balanced or effective than the Gen2 Balance is the key here. Suzuki’s generation Hayabusa, which gave and Kawasaki’s brutish ZX-12R special hoverboard switch, then engine and chassis package they obsessive total-package mentality me the knowledge to overcome the and ubiquitous ZZR11/12/14 – but you’re both missing the point and were trying to better. that saw them clinch the MotoGP difficulty of optimising the balance they all danced to a similar tune: staring into a (now LED) cyclops “There was an option to take crown in 2020 is now being driven between the comfort of the rider Big inline-four, acres of slippery eye of disappointment. Yes, it looks the Hayabusa in a new direction into their road bikes. As Chief and aerodynamics at 300kmh.” plastic, rider-cocooning capsules familiar. Yes, the engine capacity with a new engine,” says Naoki Engineer Fumihiro Onishi puts it: Suzuki say it’s taken them a ‘The new of aerodynamic efficiency – and is identical to the Gen2 model and Mizoguchi, Engine Designer. “But “The new Hayabusa has inherited decade of development to deliver a promise that the adage of ‘it’s a the twin-spar main frame remains while comparing prototypes with our Suzuki DNA, no compromise in this evolutionary step – something small world’ would feel even more unchanged, too. Yes, it’s lost a little the second-generation model engineering for ‘basic performance that is hard to accept without horizon-shrinkingly true onboard. peak power and torque – while we found that its engine offered as the basis of all’.” But why knowing what they tried during Hayabusa should pleasingly filling them in right better all-around performance. not adopt variable valve timing the process. “Our target was to The Emperor’s new clothes where you want it in the midrange. Therefore, we used the second- from the GSX-R1000? “The make the ultimate . And here we are, 22 years after If that’s the ‘less’, the ‘more’ is generation engine as a basis from new Hayabusa achieves target It took time to determine what be faster than its the first Hayabusa shocked us that it’s actually faster than its which to improve the power and performance without a variable equipment and price range were with its jelly-mould oddness and forebears and should be more torque in the low to mid-range.” valve mechanism.” required, and to achieve through blistering pace, looking at the agile too, thanks to a tidal surge of This transparency over aborted Without the need for a complex trial and error the performance, third generation of the species electronics and weight loss. development directions is unusual VVT system, servicing will be style and traditional Suzuki forebears and – a sole survivor of the class. from any manufacturer, let alone cheaper, reliability and durability durability that would meet and We could dismiss it by saying The power to move you a Japanese one, and underlines greater, and the overall cost of the exceed expectations,” says Kenichi it’s an evolution of Porsche 911 This isn’t the epitome of lazy their conviction that the new Busa bike constrained. And if you need Kasuya, Assistant Chief Engineer. WATCH more agile, too’ proportions (ie: akin to a game of evolution, though. Suzuki’s is chasing the best solution, not more power for the strip, fit a non- “We have kept customers waiting ‘spot the difference’) – but that engineers built a turbo-charged marketing headlines. Euro5 exhaust: “If I am supposed – but are confident the new THE VIDEO would be an injustice. Not least version of the 1340cc second-gen The pursuit of mid-range torque to join a drag race, I will choose the Hayabusa will be worth the wait.” at motorcyclenews.com because of the journey Suzuki went engine to see if they could make is cited as another reason for siding new Hayabusa without hesitation,” on to find their way back home. forced induction work. Then they with capacity, rather than forced says Shunya Togo. He knows a bit If you’re looking for pub- built an inline-six with a shade induction. While the capacity and about engine development, too: Let’s go under the skin...

bragging power and torque figures, over 1000cc combined between its crankcases remain, the moving “I was engaged in development of SUZUKI RICHARD NEWLANDPICTURES WORDS

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Holding it Stopping The grunt factory 4 together 5 power 6 Suzuki used the 1340cc extraordinarily powerful performance.” 1999-2021 inline-four from the Gen2 Headline improvements include: Intake The Gen2 aluminium twin-spar Braking power is provided by Busa as their base, but it’s not the same and exhaust cams get revised profiles frame proved to be more balanced Stylema calipers mated to bigger engine, with major updates to essentially to reduce overlap, valve spring load is Under the skin than any new variations they tested 320mm discs, assisted by the latest every component other than the increased to cope with the increased lift, HAYABUSA during development, so it remains cornering ABS and a combined crankcases. Suzuki say it’s now smoother the piston shape is different (and they’re Peel away the familiar outer layers and discover the devil in the detail the same, along with the . braking system. It’s all controlled and more durable with more grunt where lighter), an updated combustion chamber However, the subframe has been via the Bosch IMU along with several you want it – in the mid-range. gives a more efficient burn, the conrods 12-PAGE modified to deliver new seat rails other braking control functions, “We believe maximum power output are stiffer and lighter, all the oilways are hile the Hayabusa’s overall and accommodate other bodywork including anti-real-wheel-lift and hill and torque alone does not define the revised for better lubrication, bearings are aesthetic hasn’t changed SPECIAL changes, also reducing mass by 700g. hold control. Hayabusa’s performance,” says Engine fatter, the gearbox revised to cope with dramatically – which will Designer Naoki Mizoguchi. “We wanted the quickshifter, and there’s an all-new please as many potential to make a bike that lets anyone enjoy shift and assist slipper clutch, too. owners as it disappoints W– this completely belies the amount of work that has gone into creating this third-generation model. In total there are over 550 new parts and changes when compared to the Gen2 model – and we’re not just talking nuts and bolts. Let’s dive into the detail.

Rolling 1 revolution The new Busa gets redesigned Mission 7-spoke wheels which are claimed 2 control to deliver better flex properties to improve grip feel, although they’re no The huge mission control dash of lighter. They’re wrapped in bespoke the old Busa was a real hallmark of S22 rubber, which the bike, and it’s been reimagined should be more than up the job of to maintain as much of the look and coping with a well-ridden Busa. The feel as possible, while adding some KYB suspension units are based very modernity. Big analogue dials for Let there heavily on the Gen2 Busa, but with speed and revs are complemented 7 be light reworked internals to aide bump by smaller ones for fuel level and control and straight-line stability engine temperature. The little At the pointy end is a new main – all focused for road use rather scale markers on each main dial are headlamp with the upper and lower than track. There is no electronic illuminated – which is a nice touch. In bank of quad LEDs taking care of adjustment or semi-active control, the middle is a neat new TFT screen low-beam duties, while a projector aiding simplicity and keeping the price through which you can navigate all beam mounted beneath looks after down. Suzuki say they “will study the the electronic control systems. It high-beam work. The headlamp is possibility to apply new technology if displays power modes, TC settings, flanked by LED sidelights which there is market demand.” So they’re gear position, and all the other double as indicators. There are no not ruling out a semi-active model, trips and display info you’d expect cornering lights as Suzuki say it but we don’t expect one. (odometer, ambient temp, dual trips, doesn’t need them. The rear lights range, consumption, voltmeter, etc), are an even more dramatic visual with a panel of idiot lights above. change. Low and wide, they look There’s even a lean angle gauge with stolen from an American muscle car. peak hold function, but sadly there’s All-LED, the dual panels both serve no connectivity functionality. as tail and lights, and also Splitting incorporate the indicators to keep 3 the air the bodywork smooth and free from air-grabbing protrusions. Aero design is a massive part of the Busa story. Design boss, Kazutaka Ogawa, was determined to maintain TECH SPECS the Busa’s impressive stability and low drag coefficient (CdA) for the Engine 1340cc DOHC inline-four Gen3 bike. He claims it’s on a par Power 187.74bhp @ 9700rpm All-new with the Gen2 version, but also that Torque 110.6lb.ft @ 7000rpm 8 safety net what they’ve achieved with the x 81.0mm x 65.0mm design meant they didn’t need to play The new Busa is armed with: three Frame Aluminium twin-spar with additional wings: “Team Suzuki pre-set power modes and three 264kg Ecstar project leader Shinichi Sahara Kerb weight user-set ones; 10-step TC; two- says that the main reason MotoGP Fuel tank 20 litres way quickshifter; 10-stage anti-lift machines have wings is to avoid Seat height 800mm control; three-mode engine braking wheelie when accelerating. The 2nd Suspension (F) 46mm KYB fork, fully control; a speed limiter; 3-mode reason is to get better downforce adjustable (R) KYB launch control; cruise control; CBS; when cornering. Hayabusa naturally monoshock , fully adj cornering ABS; slope dependent won’t wheelie as it has long braking control and hill hold control. (F) Brembo Stylema, wheelbase and its electronic control works very well when cornering, so 320mm discs (R) Nissin technically it does not need wings.” single-piston, 260mm disc Don’t worry, Suzuki do bolt it all together Dive into the legend of Busa for you before it gets delivered to your dealer

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What’s striking is how little has actually Big Busa changed over 22 years in the fast lane moments 1999 Original Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa is launched 2001 186mph restrictor is fitted alongside minor mods to the gearbox and fuel pump 2002 Stronger steel subframe replaces the original alloy unit 2004 Hazard lights are fitted 2005 The indicator lenses gain clear plastic HUGE THANKS TO STEVE POWELL OF STEVELIN FOR LOANING US HIS SUPERB FIRST-GEN HAYABUSA US HIS SUPERB FIRST-GEN LOANING FOR MOTORCYCLES OF STEVELIN POWELL STEVE TO HUGE THANKS

• 2007 A limited edition white Hayabusa is released by Suzuki UK 2008 The second generation Hayabusa is launched in late 2007 with a bigger capacity 1999-2021 engine, tweaked chassis, three power modes and an updated look HAYABUSA 2013 Gains Brembo brake calipers 12-PAGE and ABS as standard SPECIAL 2016 Suzuki’s production lines in Hamamatsu build their last Europe-market Busa ‘Wind tunnel testing 2018 As Euro4 transition rules end, no new Hayabusas are resulted in much of the allowed to be sold 2021 Third-generation Hayabusa Busa’s styling’ launched, touted as the SCULPTING ultimate evolution

n the mid-1990s, Suzuki’s production bike’ was never a target its motor but also its somewhat you effectively gain 4bhp. But the management wanted a bike when the Busa was conceived. In controversial aesthetics. Busa’s styling wasn’t totally dictated that would set them aside the 1990s, big-capacity bikes such by the wind tunnel data. “If we had from their rivals and create a as the Kawasaki ZZ-R1100 and Challenging convention focused purely on aerodynamics the mystique around the brand. Honda CBR1000F and the later Super As well as wanting something design would have been cold,” says Much like the Katana had Blackbird were ‘halo products’ and visually striking, Yoshiura designed Yoshiura. “Once we had ensured been in the 1980s, this new that was where Yoshiura was aiming the Hayabusa with aerodynamics high-speed stability, we kept many modelI had to be something out of to place his new model. Starting out very much in mind. Wind tunnel design features that gave it a warm, the ordinary, not only in terms of on paper as an inline four of “between testing resulted in much of the Busa’s ‘living’ feel.” That said, aerodynamics performance but also looks. The man 900-1100cc” to fit this segment, the styling and items such as the front can only get you so far, what you also charged with delivering on this new Busa evolved and grew in capacity as indicators integrated into the fairing need in order to hit the high speeds is concept was Koji Yoshiura and the the project progressed. (Suzuki claimed they helped channel a truly monstrous engine. bike he created went on to become “As a consequence of pursuing air into the airbox), the tyre-hugging a two-wheeled icon: the Suzuki the best handling, acceleration, extended front mudguard, swoopy The heart of the Busa GSX1300R Hayabusa. safety, power and riding ability for bodywork, stacked headlights and Surprisingly for a bike whose engine In 1999 Suzuki shocked the world with a bike unlike anything ever our customers, the Busa became bulbous rear-end were all there to has become legendary, the Busa’s SPEED In search of speed the fastest production ,” improve airflow and with it increase 1298cc inline four was actually not Remarkably for a bike whose top- remembers Yoshiura in an interview top speed. How important are that special in terms of its design or speed performance sparked so many with MCN. And key to the Hayabusa aerodynamics? If you can reduce the engineering. Based on principles seen before... and 22 years later it remains in a class of its own The unmistakable approach of a Hayabusa headlines, the title of ‘world’s fastest gaining this title was not only drag coefficient by 0.01% at 186mph Continued over JOE DICK/BAUER ARCHIVE JOE DICK/BAUER PICTURES JON URRY WORDS

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1999-2021 Huge anticipation surrounded the BALLISTIC BUSAS HAYABUSA launch in 1999 12-PAGE SPECIAL

A massive airbox feeds the Busa’s engine That speedo infuriated the safety lobby

‘All everyone wanted to Fastest Busa on one wheel 1 In 2017, Gary Rothwell set an unofficial record for the fastest know was how fast it was’ wheelie with 218.697mph over a flying km on his turbo Busa. from the GSX-R750, the Busa was bikes to 300kph (186mph) and Lagging behind basically a bigger version with a from 2001 the Busa’s top speed was While Kawasaki continued to evolve fairly over-square 81x63mm bore neutered accordingly, while its the ZZR1400 through the addition and stroke. A few notable features speedo only went round to 180mph. of modern electronic assists, Suzuki include the cam chain mounted on left theirs unchanged as the 2000s the right-hand side to make the unit Growing old disgracefully became the 2010s. A small mod in narrow, forged alloy instead of the Throughout the 2000s the 2013 saw its brakes updated and ABS more common cast pistons to reduce Hayabusa’s reputation, helped by its added, but the writing was on the weight, a two-piece crank case and challenging looks and performance, wall and as Euro4 began to bite the the use of nickel-phosphorous- grew and very quickly it developed Busa was speeding into a deadline. silicon-carbide (called SCEM or a cult following. From drag strips Suzuki Composite Electro-chemical to high streets, the Busa became a A new Material) to plate the bores, but it two-wheeled cultural icon and – In 2016 Suzuki’s Hamamatsu plant is basically a big-bore inline four. especially in America – Busas with built what we believed would be Fastest Busa on track Albeit one fed by a massive 13-litre enormously extended their last GSX1300R Hayabusa for The Yoshimura X1R ‘Heavy Bus’ won the prototype class at forced-induction airbox. became a fashion statement. Europe, as the advent of Euro4 meant 2 Suzuka in 2000. To celebrate, Yoshimura built 100 replicas With so much hype about its top In the UK we were a bit more that it would require substantial called the X1, which made 190bhp at the rear wheel and weighed speed, and Suzuki only admitting it restrained but firms such as TTS upgrades (it continued on sale in 200kg. The only one believed to be in Europe sold in 2012 for £19,470. would ‘go over 300kph (186mph)’, and Holeshot Racing were soon other markets). Then, just as it when the first Busas arrived in the bolting on turbos and extracting looked like the had set, rumours UK all everyone wanted to know monster power figures, often with began swirling about the arrival of was how fast it was. The answer was the help of nitrous boosts. But with a lighter, more usable new version a verified 190.5mph, making it the the Kawasaki ZZR1400 now on dripping with tech. Those rumours fastest production motorcycle by the scene, the Hayabusa was no bore fruit, and now, after years in quite a stretch. Although short of the longer the top dog in terms of its the wilderness, 2021 sees Suzuki 220mph the speedo teased us with. performance and in 2008 Suzuki unveil the third generation of their On MCN’s regular dyno, the Busa released a second generation bike. incomparable hyperbike – and the recorded 154bhp with 95.7lb.ft of legend of the Hayabusa lives on. torque, shy of the 175bhp and 101lb. Generation next Fastest Busa Fastest Busa ft that Suzuki had claimed, but still Rather than radically alter the look, over a 1/4 of a mile on four wheels enough in 1999 to make it the world’s Suzuki evolved it through subtle 3 Steve Venables holds 4 British sportscar firm most powerful production bike. updates while the chassis was left ‘Acceptable ugliness’ Engine design the European Super Street Bike Radical have been using Busa largely untouched with the same Koji Yoshiura, Gen1 Suzuki Hayabusa designer Yoshiura knew the was derived from quarter-mile drag record of a engines in their SR3 since 1999. Controversy hits... geometry but a more rigid swingarm design would be a GSX-R750 staggering 6.806 seconds and In RS trim they even big-bore it With the Busa smashing all records, and lower subframe, as well as radial “My aim was to create a memorable… a final speed of 216.99mph on a to 1500cc and up its power to a sales were on a high, however it brakes fitted alongside improved somewhat grotesque design and highly tuned Busa. claimed 250bhp. soon hit the headlines for the wrong suspension. The engine gained 41cc a strong initial impact. By doing reasons. In 2000 reports of the through a 2mm longer stroke with this, once the model was out in Busa’s subframe mounts cracking titanium valves, stronger conrods, the market and the performance started to appear and after an MCN new pistons and improved cooling, had been proven, I thought that investigation Suzuki conceded that upping the power to a claimed people would start to show when owners removed the original 194bhp with 114lb.ft of torque. interest in the weird design, exhaust system, which they said “We didn’t see the need to break and then the design would be was an integral part of the structure, 200bhp,” said Hiroyuki Nakai, Head cemented in peoples’ minds. It was the darling of speed testers there could be issues. A few bikes had of Suzuki Europe R&D when asked “Even I had difficulties their alloy subframes changed under why they had stopped short. There in deciding on the design. I warranty and Suzuki even released a was also a new Suzuki Drive Mode convinced myself people would reinforcing bracket before swapping Selector (S-DMS) with A, B and C not get bored with a bike with it for a steel subframe in 2002. And power modes. the best performance and then, of course, there was the anti- Flat out and on the dyno the 2008 acceptable ugliness, so it would speeding lobby. Hayabusa recorded 176.6bhp with be a good seller for a long time. In the early 2000s there was a 104.5lb.ft and a top speed of 182mph “I think everybody has at least growing backlash against speeding (it went faster in fifth gear than once experienced the situation and the Busa’s clocks proudly sixth!), which topped the ZZR1400’s where things – or even a person Fastest Busa in the UK displaying 220mph put Suzuki right 178.2mph and 166.2bhp if not its – which they hated originally, Last year Guy Martin clocked an unofficial 282mph while in the firing line. The result was a 105.1lb.ft. Job done – until the ZZR eventually ended up as a thing 5 testing his 840bhp turbo Busa. He is aiming to be the first ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between upped the ante in 2012 and made they love the most...” to crack 300mph on a standard wheelbase production bike with a the Japanese big four to limit their 195bhp with 116lb.ft and 184mph. conventional seating position over a standing mile.

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