MCN

‘Now’s the time to buy a used Busa’

- NEIL MURRAY Our used bike dealer reveals this week’s smartest buys

The Hayabusa is being discontinu­ed. It’s had an extraordin­ary run of two decades: unusual for any Japanese model and unheard of for a range-topping superbike. Even Kawasaki’s ZZ-R1100 only managed 11 years.

More unusual still, the Busa has remained fundamenta­lly the same bike. Sure, it’s undergone a load of tweaks and one major revision in 2007 in which Suzuki willingly improved what actually needed improving without really altering the overall propositio­n or the looks.

The Hayabusa has rarely been cheap. One thing that limited supplies of used 1300cc models (it grew to 1340cc in 2007) was demand from kit and sports car manufactur­ers: Radical Extreme Sportscars even made a three-litre V8 engine out of two Hayabusa top ends. Another is that it marked the start of the 186mph ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ between the Japanese builders: the early Hayabusas were capable, with a little bit of fettling and a following wind, of 200mph. Most restricted ones were rapidly derestrict­ed, of course.

You still need at least £2500 to get a decent Gen One Busa. That’s £500 more than what you can pay for an early Kawasaki ZX-12R, which was supposed to be Kawasaki’s riposte.

I don’t think the Suzuki is going to depreciate now. It’s legendary: a modern classic and a cult bike, and the fact that they sold boatloads of them won’t dent demand. In fact, I’m twitching myself.

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