XtraPix: 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa - First Look

The Speed Wars have heated up once again, with the familiar duo of Kawasaki and Suzuki leading the charge. Suzuki was first out of the gate, introducing its 2008 Hayabusa to the press this past September in rural Wisconsin. Before putting the peg feelers to the grindstone around the spectacular Road America race course, a pair of passes down the strip at the Great Lakes Dragaway gave me a quick glimpse of the new ’Busa’s straight-line acceleration potential.

The bike has received several significant updates, not least of which is a 2mm-longer stroke that equates to a 41cc displacement increase that makes the 1340cc mill Suzuki’s largest inline-Four yet. With a claimed output of 194 horsepower and 114 foot-pounds of torque, this mega-motor should see quicker times than its predecessor, but it wasn’t to be on this day. My first pass was my best at 10.046 seconds at 143.81 mph, well shy of the 9.86/145.80 mark our ’99 Hayabusa test bike set years ago. The quickest pass turned at the press launch was a 9.95-second E.T. set by Jordan Suzuki roadracer Aaron Yates. We look forward to putting in more runs back home at our regular test site.

Hustling the large road-burner around Road America provided a pretty entertaining experience. The ’Busa may lack the cornering prowess of a GSX-R but accelerates out of corners with a vengeance. With its spacious ergos and rather lengthy reach to the bars, the Hayabusa still feels like a big man’s machine, catering well to the 6-foot-and-over crowd.Of course, as soon as Suzuki showed us the new ’Busa, came word that Kawasaki has beefed up the ZX-14 for ’08. Gonna be a good year for speed freaks.

Sound Off! Who will win the speed wars?