Suzuki Hayabusa

There is something rather fascinating about bikes that have been built with a single purpose in mind; bikes that are so focussed that they are uncompromising. Is it selfishness? Is it limiting to their sales success? Or are they engineering perfection? The Suzuki Hayabusa is one such bike.

- Harry Fisher

In the late 1990s, top speeds for production motorcycles were creeping up steadily towards 322km/h. Kawasaki fired the first shots with the 1988 ZX10R and then the 1990 ZX-11, reaching 267km/h and 283km/h respectively.

Then Honda got in on the act with the 1996 CBR1100XX Super Blackbird, which reached a top speed of 287km/h.

By the end of 1999, there was a fear that European governments could ban ultra high-speed motorcycles and European and Japanese manufacturers endorsed a gentlemen’s agreement that no motorcycle would be faster than 299km/h; pretty academic but it helped forestall the regulatory backlash and subsequent ban.

However, in early 1999, Suzuki launched the Hayabusa. Hayabusa is the Japanese name for the peregrine falcon, which, in its dive out of the sky, is the fastest bird alive, attaining speeds of up to 322km/h. It also preys on blackbirds, a signal of intent towards Honda, if ever there was one.

At 312km/h, it was the fastest production bike ever produced and, thanks to the gentlemen’s agreement that took effect from the end of 1999, it was the fastest production motorcycle of the 20th Century. From 2000 onwards, the Hayabusa was restricted (strangled, some would say) to 299km/h.

It was ridiculously powerful, developing 175bhp at a time when litre-superbikes were pushing out ‘only’ 130 - 150bhp. Later Hayabusa models from 2007 onwards, pushed out 194bhp, which equated to over 170bhp at the back wheel. No wonder it chews through back tyres with abandon!

But to dismiss it as a celebration of speed and power above everything else would be to malign what is a remarkable motorcycle.