Yahoo Autos The 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa Is Luxurious Excess on Two Wheels
Japanese bullet trains are called Shinkansen. Their bulbous curves cut through the air at 200 mph, providing passengers with a glassy-smooth ride while casually and reliably dispatching great distances without apparent effort.
Think of the 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa as a Shinkansen for one.
If that seems excessive, and if you’ve ignored both motorcycle and pop culture for 20-odd years, perhaps the Hayabusa has slipped under your radar. A quick primer: Upon its launch in 1999, the Hayabusa was jaw-dropping, a swoopy Q-ship capable of walking away from anything on two wheels in an outright speed contest. Its top speed was clocked at more than 190 mph—so dazzlingly fast that the Hayabusa’s existence prompted an industry-wide handshake agreement limiting the top speed of production machines to 300km/h, or 186 mph. And this exceptional motorcycle wasn’t merely street legal; it was utterly reliable. It was even reasonably comfortable.
These days the Hayabusa is properly regarded as an icon, albeit a dusty one. A major refresh for model year 2008 and an update in 2013 were subtle enough to keep the spirit of the bike—and the livelihoods of the legions of enthusiastic tuners who had built a thriving ‘Busa aftermarket community—fully intact. However, the long gaps between updates left the Hayabusa sitting on the sidelines as technology and power creep pushed motorcycles into entirely new frontiers.
Today any superbike worth its salt is good for 200 hp or more. Some machines have even taken the ludicrous, glorious step of tacking on a supercharger. Simultaneously, advanced traction control and cornering ABS have made modern machines safer and more approachable. The famously powerful Hayabusa, once a technological and engineering marvel, felt overdue for a little modernizing.
Lucky sods that we are, Suzuki invited us to an early test ride to preview a set of updates that, with any luck, will jump the Hayabusa into this modern age.
New for ‘22
Suzuki says the 2022 Hayabusa is about 50 percent new. That sounds about right, as at its heart this motorcycle represents a very 2000s take on speed. The pegs are sportbike-high and the seat low, making lockdown-sedentary legs ache after half a day of riding. But those tall pegs mean cornering clearance. The big machine pours into sweepers with charming ease. And it’s surprisingly wasp-waisted. You might expect to dismount a big motorcycle like the Hayabusa and walk away like you've been riding a Clydesdale. But those same sportbike aspirations keep your knees tucked in close, leaving room for weight-shifting heroics over the tank when road conditions call for it.
And sometimes they do, because the superb 1340-cc inline-four still has that maglev knack for silkily swooshing you into the steep end of the speedometer. Suzuki reps tell us the bike has more than 550 new parts. More than half of those were in the engine, facilitating improved breathing, fueling, cooling, and oiling. The new ride-by-wire digital throttle has a heavy, glassy pull, like turning the weighted knob of an old amplifier. This pleasant heaviness has a downside, which is right-wrist fatigue. It would be a problem on long hauls if not for the new cruise control.
An up/down quick-shifter allows for clutchless full-throttle clicking through the gears, or for dropping down a couple and using brake deceleration to ease into a corner while keeping the engine on boil for a speedy exit. Some quick-shifters are fussy, requiring a little help from the throttle to get smooth selections. But gear changes on the Hayabusa are excellent, each shift up or down a satisfying and precise mechanical click. If there’s a better quick-shifter in motorcycling, it doesn’t come to mind.
