A 'Busa in the Real World

There's no doubting the impressive performance of Suzuki's Gen 3 GSX13000R Hayabusa, but does it really have a place in the real world today?

- Stuart Barker

Suzuki Hayabusa

I was working on another biking title when the original Suzuki Hayabusa came out in 1999, and still remember all the fuss it caused. My colleague Chris Moss even had to go on the Johnny Walker show on BBC Radio 2 to defend a motorcycle that was capable of doing almost 200mph.

Even some motorcyclists - while being impressed with the figures questioned the need for such a machine. That question remains valid today, some 23 years down the line.

Perhaps even more so because a lot has changed since 1999.

Apart from the fact that I'm now 52, and not 29, our roads have become much more crowded; the potholes have become an awful lot worse; there are speed cameras and average speed traps everywhere; and the hilariously named 'safety camera' vans seem to be lurking around every corner. So, where on earth are you going to give a 187bhp bike its legs?

Oh, so fast

When the original bike came out, I rode a TTS-tuned version at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground (now closed) and tried to break the 200mph barrier. I did, but only on the speedo. While the dial was off the analogue clock (which went to 220mph on the original bike, as opposed to 180mph on the Gen 3 version), our far more accurate timing lights and laser gun showed I was 'only' travelling at 194mph.

The point is, I know what it's like to ride a Hayabusa flat out, and I know it's just not going to happen on a public road. Well, it's possible, I suppose, but I fear I wouldn't be riding bikes again for a long time if I got caught doing that! But an outrageous top speed is just one element of the GSX1300R, and to focus on that alone does the bike a disservice, because it has much more to offer than that.