Production of the Suzuki Hayabusa has ended after 20 years
Discussion
TheCommuter said:
graylag said:
Let’s define fastest simply, highest top speed.
So why do we not see Fireblades and Ducatis used on drag strips today in huge numbers? Even today people use a Busa or similar motorbike in some modified form when doing quarter mile runs.Sorry but fastest clearly takes many forms.
graylag said:
Quite simply that they aren’t the fastest around and haven’t been for a long time. You know like I wrote originally, it’s just after the one little bit that you put in bold.
I've just checked the whole thread. No one suggested they were the fastest bikes prior to your comment! 
Speed addicted said:
I had a VFR1200 for three years, a bike coming from a similar fast tourer background. We did 3k miles through 9 countries in a fairly hectic 8 days, during the run I did 170mph, blasted through the black forest and screamed over Alps. All with full luggage on board.
A smaller bike with no luggage capability would have been no use to me at all.
You lucky fA smaller bike with no luggage capability would have been no use to me at all.
ker. A VFR1200 is what I want next. black-k1 said:
I've just checked the whole thread. No one suggested they were the fastest bikes prior to your comment!
No, they just banged on about performance, being stupid fast and other obvious comments. Nobody denied it either though after my comment, one even started to provide links and talk about drag racing too. graylag said:
black-k1 said:
I've just checked the whole thread. No one suggested they were the fastest bikes prior to your comment!
No, they just banged on about performance, being stupid fast and other obvious comments. Nobody denied it either though after my comment, one even started to provide links and talk about drag racing too. Some fun reading for you: https://themysteriousworld.com/top-10-fastest-bike...
I know there is a lack of S1000RR, R1M etc. in that list but even 25+ years after these bikes were designed, they still appear in the top 10 fastest road bikes list. (And do the bikes in positions 1 and 3 count? They're certainly not mass produced bikes!)
black-k1 said:
And you completely missed the point. In their day they were stupidly fast. Even now, their speeds are up there with the best of whats available
Some fun reading for you: https://themysteriousworld.com/top-10-fastest-bike...
I know there is a lack of S1000RR, R1M etc. in that list but even 25+ years after these bikes were designed, they still appear in the top 10 fastest road bikes list. (And do the bikes in positions 1 and 3 count? They're certainly not mass produced bikes!)
We’re just going to go in circles here, so I’ll try to offer an olive twig (not a branch as that’s more than my ego will allow Some fun reading for you: https://themysteriousworld.com/top-10-fastest-bike...
I know there is a lack of S1000RR, R1M etc. in that list but even 25+ years after these bikes were designed, they still appear in the top 10 fastest road bikes list. (And do the bikes in positions 1 and 3 count? They're certainly not mass produced bikes!)
). When these bikes were launched they were a level above everything else in terms of outright speed. They weren’t a sportsbike though, otherwise they’d have had the GSXR logo for real, rather than the convoluted way it was logoed. However, the bike was compromised in all sorts of ways to deliver this. Long wheelbase to avoid wheelers made it difficult to turn, heavy due to the side of the engine, long gearing to get to those speeds and so on. By far the majority of people who bought them did so for the bragging rights of having the fastest production bike and I’m sure it was great having those bragging rights. However, they also caused the voluntary cap on speed at 186mph from the Japanese factories, which stood for a long time and still does in some cases. So top speeds weren’t tested fully due to bikes being limited at 186mph.
However, the sportsbike progression (which remember stalled for a good 5 years or so after the Credit Crunch) has moved the bar on significantly in recent times. The litre bikes are an all round better package if real hardcore speed and performance is what you’re after. They’re quicker to accelerate from a standstill, rev higher, get to the redline quicker, get to top speeds quicker, are far more nimble and so on. No matter how many tests you link to, the current crop and the 2019 crop of sportsbikes are all mentally fast and powerful.
If speed isn’t your thing and you just want a bike that will eat up the miles then there are still plenty of tourers out there which are plenty powerful enough to get well above 150 and sit there all day whilst carrying luggage and a pillion. So you do have choice, you just don’t have an old bike that no longer meets the emissions, or technology legal requirements.
In any event, someone on the first page has already said that there’s a teased replacement coming in the next few years.
Don Roque said:
Speed addicted said:
I had a VFR1200 for three years, a bike coming from a similar fast tourer background. We did 3k miles through 9 countries in a fairly hectic 8 days, during the run I did 170mph, blasted through the black forest and screamed over Alps. All with full luggage on board.
A smaller bike with no luggage capability would have been no use to me at all.
You lucky fA smaller bike with no luggage capability would have been no use to me at all.
ker. A VFR1200 is what I want next. The paranoia about getting caught going properly fast simply got too much.
No one mentioned that Hayabusa's are a bird that eats Blackbirds?
Always loved that line, hope it's true.
The Busa came out when I was 15 so it's always been on a pedestal. Didn't care how ugly it looked or the fact it was a bit lardy and the brakes were supposedly not up to the job, the Upsalla run just cemented it's aura. If my joints would let me I'd have one now.
Writing was on the wall by the time the new model came out IMO. Very little discernible difference apart from the fact it was now uglier than ever.
Always loved that line, hope it's true.
The Busa came out when I was 15 so it's always been on a pedestal. Didn't care how ugly it looked or the fact it was a bit lardy and the brakes were supposedly not up to the job, the Upsalla run just cemented it's aura. If my joints would let me I'd have one now.
Writing was on the wall by the time the new model came out IMO. Very little discernible difference apart from the fact it was now uglier than ever.
graylag said:
If speed isn’t your thing and you just want a bike that will eat up the miles then there are still plenty of tourers out there which are plenty powerful enough to get well above 150 and sit there all day whilst carrying luggage and a pillion. So you do have choice, you just don’t have an old bike that no longer meets the emissions, or technology legal requirements.
What if you want to tour really quickly? On one Germany trip one of the lads had to join us two days late due to work, so did the 600 miles from Zebrugge to Southern Germany in one hit. The ferry got in just before lunch and he had dinner with us, thanks to a ZZR1400 and a healthy disregard for common sense.
Now you could probably do the same run on a superbike, but he was still capable of walking and talking at the end (although he had eyes like a scared meercat) and then joined our high speed approach to touring for the rest of the week without issue. This was mostly due to the extra room and wind protection provided by the ZZR.
The tourers that will eventually get to above 150 don't come with the visceral rush that you give up when you move away from superbikes or things like Hayabusas.
graylag said:
No, they just banged on about performance, being stupid fast and other obvious comments. Nobody denied it either though after my comment, one even started to provide links and talk about drag racing too.
They are stupid fast, though I don't think anyone suggested they were the fastest. By any sensible measure they're really bloody fast and if you're splitting hairs over a fraction of a second here or there against a sports bike, you need to step back from the biking bubble and look at things objectively. 
Speed addicted said:
What if you want to tour really quickly? On one Germany trip one of the lads had to join us two days late due to work, so did the 600 miles from Zebrugge to Southern Germany in one hit.
The ferry got in just before lunch and he had dinner with us, thanks to a ZZR1400 and a healthy disregard for common sense.
Now you could probably do the same run on a superbike, but he was still capable of walking and talking at the end (although he had eyes like a scared meercat) and then joined our high speed approach to touring for the rest of the week without issue. This was mostly due to the extra room and wind protection provided by the ZZR.
The tourers that will eventually get to above 150 don't come with the visceral rush that you give up when you move away from superbikes or things like Hayabusas.
Then buy a second hand one, or a pre reg one or an S1000XR or a Z1000SX or that sort of bike, which will muller it. As great a story as it is, nobody does much of 150 for very long on a loaded up bike and even if you did the fuel consumption would make the trip slower than doing it at 150The ferry got in just before lunch and he had dinner with us, thanks to a ZZR1400 and a healthy disregard for common sense.
Now you could probably do the same run on a superbike, but he was still capable of walking and talking at the end (although he had eyes like a scared meercat) and then joined our high speed approach to touring for the rest of the week without issue. This was mostly due to the extra room and wind protection provided by the ZZR.
The tourers that will eventually get to above 150 don't come with the visceral rush that you give up when you move away from superbikes or things like Hayabusas.
Edited by graylag on Friday 14th December 13:43
ChocolateFrog said:
No one mentioned that Hayabusa's are a bird that eats Blackbirds?
Always loved that line, hope it's true.
The Busa came out when I was 15 so it's always been on a pedestal. Didn't care how ugly it looked or the fact it was a bit lardy and the brakes were supposedly not up to the job, the Upsalla run just cemented it's aura. If my joints would let me I'd have one now.
Writing was on the wall by the time the new model came out IMO. Very little discernible difference apart from the fact it was now uglier than ever.
Seems it is true Always loved that line, hope it's true.
The Busa came out when I was 15 so it's always been on a pedestal. Didn't care how ugly it looked or the fact it was a bit lardy and the brakes were supposedly not up to the job, the Upsalla run just cemented it's aura. If my joints would let me I'd have one now.
Writing was on the wall by the time the new model came out IMO. Very little discernible difference apart from the fact it was now uglier than ever.
graylag said:
Then buy a second hand one, or a pre reg one or an S1000XR or a Z1000SX or that sort of bike, which will muller it. As great a story as it is, nobody does much of 150 for very long on a loaded up bike and even if you did the fuel consumption would make the trip slower than doing it at 150
Out of curiosity, how many 'Busas, ZZR1400s, Blackbirds or K1300Ss have you owned? Edited by graylag on Friday 14th December 13:43
black-k1 said:
graylag said:
black-k1 said:
Out of curiosity, how many 'Busas, ZZR1400s, Blackbirds or K1300Ss have you owned?
None. TheCommuter said:
Interesting
And how many modern 2015 onwards litre bikes have you guys owned or ridden?My points are just as valid as yours. Anyway, the olive branch clearly didn’t work, you’ve either chosen not to read it, or just dismissed it.
graylag said:
We’re just going to go in circles here, so I’ll try to offer an olive twig (not a branch as that’s more than my ego will allow ). When these bikes were launched they were a level above everything else in terms of outright speed. They weren’t a sportsbike though, otherwise they’d have had the GSXR logo for real, rather than the convoluted way it was logoed. However, the bike was compromised in all sorts of ways to deliver this. Long wheelbase to avoid wheelers made it difficult to turn, heavy due to the side of the engine, long gearing to get to those speeds and so on.
By far the majority of people who bought them did so for the bragging rights of having the fastest production bike and I’m sure it was great having those bragging rights. However, they also caused the voluntary cap on speed at 186mph from the Japanese factories, which stood for a long time and still does in some cases. So top speeds weren’t tested fully due to bikes being limited at 186mph.
However, the sportsbike progression (which remember stalled for a good 5 years or so after the Credit Crunch) has moved the bar on significantly in recent times. The litre bikes are an all round better package if real hardcore speed and performance is what you’re after. They’re quicker to accelerate from a standstill, rev higher, get to the redline quicker, get to top speeds quicker, are far more nimble and so on. No matter how many tests you link to, the current crop and the 2019 crop of sportsbikes are all mentally fast and powerful.
If speed isn’t your thing and you just want a bike that will eat up the miles then there are still plenty of tourers out there which are plenty powerful enough to get well above 150 and sit there all day whilst carrying luggage and a pillion. So you do have choice, you just don’t have an old bike that no longer meets the emissions, or technology legal requirements.
In any event, someone on the first page has already said that there’s a teased replacement coming in the next few years.
That about sums it all up really IMHO ). When these bikes were launched they were a level above everything else in terms of outright speed. They weren’t a sportsbike though, otherwise they’d have had the GSXR logo for real, rather than the convoluted way it was logoed. However, the bike was compromised in all sorts of ways to deliver this. Long wheelbase to avoid wheelers made it difficult to turn, heavy due to the side of the engine, long gearing to get to those speeds and so on. By far the majority of people who bought them did so for the bragging rights of having the fastest production bike and I’m sure it was great having those bragging rights. However, they also caused the voluntary cap on speed at 186mph from the Japanese factories, which stood for a long time and still does in some cases. So top speeds weren’t tested fully due to bikes being limited at 186mph.
However, the sportsbike progression (which remember stalled for a good 5 years or so after the Credit Crunch) has moved the bar on significantly in recent times. The litre bikes are an all round better package if real hardcore speed and performance is what you’re after. They’re quicker to accelerate from a standstill, rev higher, get to the redline quicker, get to top speeds quicker, are far more nimble and so on. No matter how many tests you link to, the current crop and the 2019 crop of sportsbikes are all mentally fast and powerful.
If speed isn’t your thing and you just want a bike that will eat up the miles then there are still plenty of tourers out there which are plenty powerful enough to get well above 150 and sit there all day whilst carrying luggage and a pillion. So you do have choice, you just don’t have an old bike that no longer meets the emissions, or technology legal requirements.
In any event, someone on the first page has already said that there’s a teased replacement coming in the next few years.
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