‘MCN’s YouTube video clocked over a million views in a week’
because they haven’t turned the Busa upside down and inside out, they’ve been able to stop the price becoming OTT. £16,499 is roughly base model superbike money and you get a lot of very well-made metal and plastic for your cash (264kg-worth, to be exact, 2kg less than before). That’s a hike over the previous model’s £11,599 before it was discontinued in 2018, but the world and its wallet have moved on.
Even more grunt…
Despite a host of new engine parts, the Hayabusa actually makes less peak power and torque than before. That may sound disappointing as you’re sitting calmly reading this, but out on the road, going flat-stick on a Busa is still a lesson in brutality and hanging on for dear life.
Granted, you’ll feel the power flatten-off at the top if you’re used to riding 200bhp-plus superbikes because its claimed 188bhp will be more like 170bhp-ish at the back wheel. But the Suzuki isn’t about chasing big revs, instead it’s all about leaving it in sixth gear and letting thick, meaty wodges of midrange torque whoosh you along. The Busa may have a sweet new gearbox and a peachy fresh up/down shifter, but unless you’re pulling away or stopping, you’ll rarely need to use it. Suzuki claim a chunk more oomph between 5000-6000rpm over the old model, and that’s exactly where you feel the sting of its punch on the road. Those revs might sound low on paper, but in top gear you’ll be travelling at over 100mph. With instant thrust only ever a millimetre of throttle away, the engine never feels flat at low revs like a superbike’s does after you’ve tasted its fruits, so you’re never chasing your next hit and riding ever faster, which