2008 Suzuki GSX 1300 R Hayabusa

The first Hayabusas made a profound impression. No previous motorcycle has broken the production model top speed record by such a margin, 16 to 23 km/h (10 to 14 mph), depending on which measured speeds the source was relying on for the CBR1100XX and the GSX-1300R.

Clearly attempting to unseat Suzuki and regain lucrative bragging rights, the speed war appeared to be escalating. There were growing fears of carnage and mayhem from motorcycles getting outrageously faster every year, and there was talk of regulating hyper sport motorcycles, or banning their import…

Models, and those since, the question of which bike was fastest could only be answered by tampering with the speed limiting system, meaning that it was no longer a contest between stock, production motorcycles, absolving the manufacturer of blame and letting those not quite as fast avoid losing face… The Hayabusa remained substantially the same through the 2007 model year. An exception was a response to the problem of the aluminum rear subframe on 1999 and 2000 models breaking when the bike may have been overloaded with a passenger and luggage, and/or stressed by an aftermarket exhaust modificat…

Market researchers from the US and Japan began working to identify which elements of the Hayabusa design had attracted so many buyers, discovering that, in spite of having its looks sometimes disparaged in print, customers were much enamored with the old Hayabusa. A redesign meant to strengthen the…

With a minor restyling of the bodywork, and fine-tuning of the engine's head, pistons and exhaust. Though the engine changes were relatively limited, they still yielded a large horsepower increase, and brought the bike into compliance with new noise and emissions requirements. Model include a higher windscreen, and interlocking gauge faces with a digital speedometer, as well as a new gear indicator and adjustable shift light. The fairing fasteners were hidden to uncomplicate custom paint work. Resulted in a dry weight of 490 lb (222 kg), 5 lb (2 kg) heavier than the prior generation.