Suzuki Hayabusa takes on the high-tech Kawasaki H2 SX SE
It might be the end of the road for Suzuki’s Hayabusa, but it will still knock your block off... as Kawasaki’s H2 SX discovers on the MCN250
Winding its way from Cirencester to Buckingham our route is wide, fast and flowing. Most bikes feel lost through here, rattling around between the trees. Long straights and shallow curves usually seem to take forever, but now they’re being shrunk with ridiculous ease, screwed up and tossed nonchalantly behind. Never has the MCN250 felt so small. It’s official, the Busa has still got it. Even standing still the big Suzuki looks fast. It was born
to make mincemeat of European motorways; flat in sixth, white road lines firing at you like lasers. Breakfast in Calais, lunch in Paris and tea in the Cote d’Azur.
Next year Suzuki are celebrating the Hayabusa’s 20th birthday… by dropping it from the range, so taking it around the new MCN250 is our way of bidding the 194bhp, 1340cc monster a fond farewell. We’re also eager to see if Kawasaki’s supercharged H2 SX is the Busa’s 21st century, spiritual successor. But more on that later; right now it’s 8.30am and I’ve a tank full of unleaded to burn on the Suzuki. Pumped full of speed-infused calories, the Busa’s bodywork almost bursts at the seams. It’s a 90s throwback with analogue clocks, a low screen and race-rep ergonomics.
Electronic rider aids are limited to three basic power maps and ABS and, while the brake calipers are Brembo, it can take decades to stop when you pull on the lever. A boot on the rear is the only way to get the old girl slowed down in a hurry. Modern bikes like the H2 SX sit taller with chiselled lines. The Suzuki may look dated, but I think it looks better with age. That droopy back end, its startled face and the monstrous cans have a certain charm. Looking like a cross between a bread maker and an ice cream truck, white doesn’t suit it, but in other colours it’s fantastic. Despite being engineered for brain-skewering acceleration, the Hayabusa is easy to manage on the crawl to Northampton. The clutch and gearbox are light and its non ride-by-wire throttle has a honeyglazed pick-up while its whooshing power delivery would make an electric bike seem a bit lumpy. Big mirrors are clear and the analogue fuel gauge, which hasn’t budged in the past 50 miles, is still showing full. We later discover the 21-litre tank will transport you over 240 miles between fill-ups.
At a standstill it’s easy to think the Suzuki is going to be clumsy, but it’s surprisingly sprightly on the move. Sitting so long and low it’ll never dart from corner to corner like a Panigale V4, but it’s not bad and what you lose in agility you gain in stability. It carves through heartin-the-mouth curves with the kind of poise a flighty, lightweight superbike could only dream of.
Although the padded seat doesn’t bother my backside, my wrists start to burn after a few hours, especially with so much effort yanking at the front brake lever. But all’s forgiven every time the Busa’s motor begins its euphoric climb through the revs. It’s one of the greatest engines ever, combining dippy egg-levels of smoothness with the kind of rich bottom-end power you’ll only ever get with big cubes. Sixth gear can be called upon for just about everything, all the time, but stirring the Suzuki’s sweet box sends the world into fast-forward. Busa owners arrive everywhere ten minutes early. Back in the day the Suzuki was the fastest thing you could buy on two wheels. Superbikes are just as fast now, but they’re frantic and border on the unstable. It’s hard to unscramble your brain on a race replica, but the Busa delivers its speed in a kind of slow motion way; it’s more relentless, gut-wrenching thrust than short sharp, necksnapping bouts of acceleration. Kawasaki have always been Suzuki’s hyper-touring nemesis. The ZZR and GTR are variations on the theme, but in terms of moving the game on, the H2 SX is the modern equivalent. Kawasaki have brought high speed travelling into the 21st century with supercharging, a more relaxed riding position and, on this SE Touring model, electronics galore. Traction and wheelie control, a quickshifter, autoblipper, cruise control, heated grips, a TFT colour dash and cornering headlights are all things the Hayabusa design team could only have dreamed of.
But all this comes at a price. The H2 SX may be cleverer than the Suzuki but it’s also £7300 more expensive. By today’s standards there isn’t a better sports tourer around, which is why the Kawasaki won MCN’s 2018 Best All-rounder award. The H2 SX is happy to gently stroll through the countryside wearing its green smoking jacket and comfortable slippers, but it’ll equally rip your face off like a hungry guard dog. Jumping on the SX from the Suzuki is like stepping into the future. The Kawasaki is thinner, taller, shorter and although it weighs 10kg less it carries its weight so well it feels more
‘Jumping on the SX is like stepping into the future’
like a 50kg reduction.
A clear colour display is like going from the Busa’s abacus to an iPad and a more spacious cockpit sees my wrists and knees let out a sigh of relief. The H2 SX’s supercharged motor delivers a stronger surge up top, it steers more sweetly in slow corners and the Brembos have so much power I nearly go over the bars the first time I brush the lever. As new and shiny as it is, the Kawasaki’s smaller 998cc motor lacks the Suzuki’s creamy bottom end and immaculate fuelling. Push it hard on ultra-fast sweepers and the Kawasaki sways, shimmies and isn’t as planted. Bridgestone S21 tyres take longer to warm up than the Busa’s BT-015s and don’t offer the same confidence in the wet and cold conditions we’re facing.
Crisp and accurate on the way up the quickshifter works beautifully, but the blipper is clumsy on the way down. Disappointingly, the supercharger doesn’t whine or chirp like on the H2. They may be separated by almost two decades, but the Kawasaki still can’t get close to matching the Busa’s industrial strength spread of power, its high speed cornering confidence and stability. The Suzuki is more frugal and has a bigger fuel range, too. Who said superchargers were more efficient? The H2 SX is phenomenal and overall the better bike, but riding both monsters on the MCN250 just goes to show how spectacularly right Suzuki got it all those years ago.