Suzuki Hayabusa

Touted to be one of the greatest motorcycles to have made in the history of mankind, the Hayabusa is indeed a one of a kind motorcycle. One of the fastest motorcycles on the planet, the Hayabusa’s overall design has now become iconic, with the basic silhouette remaining same with limited changes in its entire life span of almost two decades. The Hayabusa comes fitted with a mighty four stroke, four cylinder, liquid cooled, 1340cc engine, which makes almost 200 PS of power, making it one of the fastest and most powerful motorcycle engine. Apart from this, there is not much special or modernity in the rest of the mechanical package of Hayabusa, as the motorcycle has a basic suspension setup of front telescopic forks and a rear monoshock, with the ABS and three riding modes showing their presence as the only electronics available. Available in two color options, the Hayabusa is now locally assembled in India, which translates to its competitive price tag of Rs. 13.40 lakh.

Thanks to the local assembly, Suzuki has been able to price the Hayabusa competitively, with the motorcycle carrying a price tag of Rs. 13.40 lakh. For 2018, the Suzuki Hayabusa is available in two distinct color options – Glass Sparkle Black with Pearl Mira Red and Pearl White Glacier with Pearl Mira Red.

The most direct competitor of the Suzuki Hayabusa is Kawasaki’s flagship motorcycle, the Ninja ZX-14R. Much like the Hayabusa, the Ninja ZX-14R looks bulky and huge and has an aerodynamic and curvy body profile to aid in high speed and distance touring, but looks more intimidating and packs in more number of features and electronics in comparison to Hayabusa. The overall performance and on-road manners, engine specifications and mechanical setup is almost similar to that of the Hayabusa, which makes it a close competitor and arch nemesis to Suzuki’s flagship.

The Suzuki Hayabusa has made its stature as one of the easiest motorcycle to recognize, thanks to its iconic design, which has seen very little changes in its entire life span. While the overall silhouette of the basic design has been almost the same in all these years, Suzuki has cleverly made minute changes to keep it as fresh as possible. Though now, the Hayabusa has gradually begun to show its age, but nevertheless, it has massive street presence which cannot be ignored.

Starting from the front, the Hayabusa has got a rakish profile which comes with a simple tongue-shaped headlamp, which incorporates projector bulb within it. The teardrop shaped clear lens blinkers adjacent to it and the large transparent windscreen atop of it are some of the design elements which are almost unchanged since its inception.

The sweptback profile of the motorcycle stretches back from the sides, with the side panels of the full fairing completely hiding the engine components behind it, thus giving a sense of continuity when viewed from the sides. The overall side profile is the one which has seen the least number of changes, with the large fuel tank and curvy rear body panels remaining almost unchanged.

The rear stance of the Hayabusa comes with wedge shaped large body panels which are curvy and swept back, ending up with an LED tail lamp and clear lens indicators whose design is exactly the same as that of the front headlamp, along with a short rear fender. The Hayabusa comes with an optional rear seat cowl which goes well with the curvy profile of the overall motorcycle, and hides the split rear seat beneath it.

The all analog instrument console of the Hayabusa is something which amplifies its age even more. Nevertheless, the overall layout is impressive, with the centrally positioned digital indicator surrounded by speedometer and temperature gauge on the left side and tachometer and fuel gauge on the right side. The overall switchgear exudes quality and has the traditional design to it, making it much more practical to use. The overall build quality and fit and finish is something which has no qualms to talk about.

While the overall design of the Hayabusa is intimidating, aerodynamic and shouts street presence, there is also one fact that it looks a bit too long in the tooth and it is in a desperate need of a complete makeover, given the fact that all of its competition has entered into their new generation versions.

Apart from the aerodynamic bodywork of the Hayabusa, the star of the overall package, which the Hayabusa is, is its mighty engine. The largest motorcycle engine ever produced by Suzuki, the Hayabusa sources its power from a four stroke, liquid cooled, four cylinder, 1340cc engine, which belts out 200 PS of power and 155 Nm of torque at the most. These figures make it not only the most powerful motorcycle from Suzuki, but it also hits the charts of the most powerful motorcycles to have ever made in the world.

Incorporating technologies like forged pistons, PVD coated rings, dual throttle valve, titanium valves and iridium spark plugs, this 1340cc engine catapults the Hayabusa to a claimed top speed of 300 kmph, which is simply unbelievable. In the typical Suzuki fashion, this engine is extremely refined and makes a noticeable exhaust note, with the power packed mid range and top end power to make to it a comfortable cruiser for long distances. The engine is coupled to a 6-speed gearbox which has long ratios, courtesy which the Hayabusa pulls off easily from 30 kmph to 300 kmph in the sixth gear!

The Suzuki Hayabusa is a large motorcycle and weighs 268 kgs, making it one of the heaviest supersport motorcycles of current times. This does effects its low speed maneuverability, making it difficult to handle and turn around in city traffic. But then, it is this bulky profile of the Hayabusa which gives it exceptional levels of agility and stability on long stretches and highways, which are its home turfs.

The Hayabusa comes with the otherwise traditional mechanical setup of telescopic hydraulic forks at the front and simple monoshock at the rear, with twin discs at the front and a single disc at the rear. In terms of electronics, the Hayabusa lacks on this part and comes with only a dual channel ABS and three different riding modes, which differ from each other in terms of the available amount of power on tap. In these modern times, it is high time that Suzuki bestows Hayabusa with all the modern electronics.

The heavy sports bike is designed and engineered such to offer optimum stability even at low speeds and busy traffic roads. The twin disc brakes at the front end along with the single discs at the rear make up for excellent braking performance. The bike also sports the mandatory addition of Auto Headlamp ON (AHO) feature, which ensures that the headlamp remain in an automatic ON mode every time of the day. This further ensures clear road visibility to the rider and reduces the chance of road accidents.