Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa
Two-wheeler compensates for its impracticality with incredible pace.
It's not often that you will see a motorbike on the pages of Auto Express…but this is no ordinary two-wheeler! The Suzuki Hayabusa is an amazing piece of machinery and, with an aerodynamic hump replacing the pillion, it’s a genuine one-seater.
The company built the ’Busa with one aim: to be the fastest bike on the planet. The name refers to a Japanese falcon which is known for eating blackbirds – a subtle reference to its Honda rival, the Blackbird.
First challenge for the 194bhp 1.3-litre bike was to record a 0-60mph time. As it weighs only 220kg and doesn’t have the stability of four wheels, accelerating off the line is very difficult. Using full throttle in first gear, the front wheel was keen to leave the ground, so a delicate touch was required.
The Suzuki was as quick as a supercar from 0-60mph, with a time of 3.8 seconds. But what put the Hayabusa in a league of its own was the 6.9-second 0-100mph sprint. However, such outstanding performance is simply unusable within the legal limits of public roads.
As with all motorbikes, the Suzuki struggles to match the braking abilities of most cars because of its tiny contact area on the tarmac. The two-wheeler posted the worst 70-0mph stopping distance here: 60.1 metres.
And practicality is non-existent. There’s a small cubby under the rear hump, but the rider has no weather or safety protection. At least the Suzuki can become a two-seater.
One thing no car can match is the room the Suzuki takes up. While its 1,170mm wheelbase is long for a bike, the one-seater occupies such a small amount of tarmac, it makes the i800’s dimensions look ludicrous.
