VOL. 50 ISSUE 25 JUNE 25, 2013
P61
Best not to look. Just hold on and
enjoy the ride. Just know that you're
probably not going as fast as it says;
yet you're definitely going faster than
you should be.
Welcome to the Hayabusa. Same
as it ever was. Big, comfy and extremely fast, i.e., a bit bi-polar.
The first Hayabusa was introduced to the world as a 1999
model – named after the Japanese peregrine falcon, a small
hawk generally regarded as the
world's fastest flying bird. And it took
our breath away – the bike, not the
hawk – but who knew back then that
it would turn into one of the company's most popular models.
In 2003, the model took on some
technical mods – most notably setting changes to the fuel-injection system and an upgraded ECU. In 2008
the Hayabusa got a complete makeover with new styling and a bump in
capacity from 1299cc to the 1340cc
it retains today.
For 2013, the Hayabusa has been
further refined and gets ABS for the
first time as well as Brembo monobloc brakes (it had Tokicos) up front
– making it a clean sweep as all the
Suzuki sportbikes now feature the
monobloc Brembos. The diameter
of the pistons is also bigger – from
32-30mm to 32-32mm – thus giving more force on the disc and increased initial bite. The ABS control
unit is located under the fuel tank
and below the air box and the system uses sensors on both wheels to
detect locking.
