We are just a couple day away from Suzuki’s big motorcycle announcement for 2021, and the full might of the Japanese marketing is busy getting us excited for the next generation of Hayabusa hyperbike.
Suzuki wasn’t exactly coy when it began its teaser campaign for the new model reveal, and of course it didn’t take long for details, teaser images, and even a promotional video, to leak onto the internet.
Fueling the fire even before all of this, there has been no shortage of rumors regarding the next Hayabusa’s look and performance characteristics.
Make no mistake, this new Hayabusa is a highly anticipated model from Suzuki, and I would argue that this is the most important motorcycle release ever from Suzuki.
I do not make that statement lightly.
Wherefore Art Thou Hayabusa?
A little over eight years ago, I wrote a story titled “Wanting, Hoping, Praying for Hayabusa” – it was a mental exercise by someone, who as a kid, grew up fixated on the Suzuki Hayabusa and what it stood for in the motorcycle industry.
You see, before I knew I was even interested in motorcycles (I was more of a car geek back then), I was a huge fan of the Suzuki Hayabusa. I was a huge fan of the Hayabusa because it was the definition of the ultimate motorcycle.
The Suzuki Hayabusa was built when the Japanese brands were all jockeying for dominance in the sport bike space, and were constantly one-up each other on a yearly basis. So, Suzuki built the Hayabusa to settle the question – definitively.
Reading my words now from eight years ago, I see little has changed in my mind about what has happened to the Hayabusa, which is really just an allegory for what has happened to Suzuki.
It is time for the Hayabusa to return to its hyperbike roots, and once again captivate the imagination of little boys and grown men with what is possible on two wheels.
When I read this phrase, it is just as relevant today as it was eight years ago, and it astounds me that 23 years after its first debut, the Suzuki Hayabusa is just now about to receive the new chapter its story so richly deserves.
For many in the motorcycle industry, there is only one way this story ends on Friday, and it is with a motorcycle that is the absolute pinnacle of what can be achieved with a no rules, clean-slate, motorcycle.
Hayabusa lovers, myself included, hope, pray, and wish for Suzuki to debut a Hayabusa that sets a new standard in sport bike performance; that is modern in all of its touches; and that represents the very best of what Suzuki can offer.
More importantly though, we long to see something new, original, and cutting edge from Suzuki in order to show us that there are signs of life still in this Japanese brand.
The Long Goodbye & The Katana Debacle
While there are plenty with high hopes in motorcycling’s ranks, there are also those with low expectations – and those two camps are not mutually exclusive.
I say that the Hayabusa as a motorcycle has been an allegory for Suzuki as a brand because the two have shared the same trajectory into obscurity.
The Hayabusa is no longer the baddest thing on two wheels, and Suzuki is no longer the king of sport bikes.
A quick look at Suzuki’s motorcycle lineup, and it is hard to find anything that stands out in particular – or has even been truly updated in the past decade…or two.
The Suzuki GSX-R1000 is perhaps the exception that proves the rule. New for the 2017 model year, this superbike has yet to see a a real update, even as all of its competitors have either revamped their existing models or debuted a brand new one.
Even in its debut, the current generation GSX-R1000 was a tough look for Suzuki. The bike was good, but it was not great (especially in its neutered American form). On the track by itself, it is a perfectly enjoyable motorcycle, but put it next to one of its competitors and the gloss begins to fade.
The best you can say about the Suzuki GSX-R1000 is that it is an excellent value machine.
Starting at $14,700, the Suzuki GSX-R1000 is considerably cheaper than the rest of the superbike lot, and if you were doing a dollars-per-grins analysis, the math would certainly be in the GSX-R’s favor.
In many ways, this has been Suzuki’s niche all along, but there were also times when the House of Hamamatsu offered the very best in outright performance.
Over its history, Suzuki has dominated the sport bike sector, not only with its GSX-R models, but also with bikes like the Hayabusa and Katana.
It is that last name that keeps me up at night as I wait for the dawn of Friday’s morning – because the push and hype for the Hayabusa feels very similar to what we saw with the re-introduction of the Katana name.
Much was expected from Suzuki when it became clear that the Katana was coming back as a sport bike model, and many two-wheeled enthusiasts felt like they were holding the bag when the bike was finally shown at INTERMOT.
A Suzuki GSX-S1000F with reworked bodywork, the Katana was based off one of Suzuki’s most puzzling machines, and created an enigma in itself.
To be fair, the Katana of now if very similar to the Katana of then – this is a bike that has always been a watered-down GSX-R superbike that was designed to be the more reasonable offering from Suzuki for sport bike fans.
Maybe we mismanaged our expectations? Or maybe Suzuki misunderstood ours?
The effect was clear though, and Suzuki sent a message that it was more than willing to continue to massage life into its aging lineup of motorcycles, rather than truly develop something new and exciting. It is easier to remember history than make it.
Worse yet, Suzuki didn’t mind treading over the grave of one of their most sacred brands, and that is the worry today.
What happens if Friday shows us a tarted up rehash of the same Hayabusa we have been looking at for 23 years? What does that say about the future of the Suzuki brand in the western markets?
If that proves to be the case, I suspect it will be the death-rattle that will be heard around the motorcycle industry, as we say one last long goodbye to the Suzuki brand that we used to know.
The Sky Isn’t the Limit When There Are Footsteps on the Moon
I am, however, an optimist – and so far, the teaser images and videos we have seen of the 2021 Suzuki Hayabusa give me hope.
We are literally about to see the Suzuki Hayabusa pulled out of the 20th century, and into the 21st, which is mind-bending concept to think about. But…it also means that there is great potential here.
I was shocked the other day to see the curb weight of the current generation Hayabusa tipped the scales wet at a portly 586 lbs.
Maybe that figure was more reasonable in the past, but to put it into a modern perspective, the BMW R1250GS Adventure, filled to the top with its 7.9 gallons of fuel, weighs just five pounds more than the current Suzuki Hayabusa.
Surely, some of this mass can be lost, despite the near-1,400cc engine displacement that is expected from this four-cylinder machine. In fact, it is not that crazy to think that Suzuki could trim 100 lbs off its venerable hyperbike this time around.
In fact, the technology and expectations of the sport bike category have progressed so much that I am not even sure that 100 lbs is enough of diet to avoid ridicule – a 496 lbs sport bike will still get plenty of body-shaming in 2021.
On the other side of the power-to-weight ratio equation, it isn’t unreasonable to think (even with current emission laws) that the 2021 Suzuki Hayabusa could put up big horsepower numbers in its stock trim.
Suzuki’s own liter bike design shows a company capable of creating close to 200hp per liter of engine displacement. With some gorilla math, a 280hp monster should be achievable from a 1,400cc lump of similar spec and technology.
Now, I know that the calculation isn’t that easy to make, but it proves a point: the basic Hayabusa platform and ethos, taken to modern standards by Suzuki, should debut an absolute street-killer of a machine.
Throw in some “MotoGP inspired” electronics and the latest in aerodynamic theory, and the script for the Suzuki Hayabusa writes itself as a true no-holds-barred motorcycle.
This is all before we get into fanciful ideas of turbochargers, hybrid-assist motors, and other wonders of internal combustion wizardry, which at this point I am willing to forgo if Suzuki meets just the basic requirements of what our hearts desire.
I get excited at the thought of what could be. It is right there. It is so achievable.
Price-Point, And Why the Hayabusa Won’t Be an H2 Killer
I am a reasonable human, however, and I come back to what Suzuki is – not what I want Suzuki to be.
I know in my heart that the Hayabusa is going to ruled by accountants. I know this bike will be a great “value” sport bike, for what it is.
But, I also know what this bike isn’t going to be.
Where I want to see the Suzuki Hayabusa take on the Kawasaki Ninja H2 as the fastest, most ridiculous, motorcycle on the street – the pinnacle of what a brand can do when it tosses out the rulebook, I know that will not be the case.
At just under $30,000 a pop, the Kawasaki Ninja H2 is certainly not a value motorcycle, even if you value highly the price of outright speed. However, it is crazy, ludicrous, beautiful machine for simply existing.
The Ninja H2 is Kawasaki doing its best Hayabusa impersonation, and they have done it better than Suzuki ever has. But, the bike also shows the price (and market) that comes from shooting for the stars in a motorcycle’s design.
Knowing Suzuki’s value ethos, it seems impossible to expect them to double the $14,700 price tag of the current Hayabusa to go chase the high-water mark that Kawasaki has left on the market. That is not what Suzuki does – not anymore, at least.
The proof of that last statement will be the litmus test on Friday.
Will we see Suzuki once again redefine a category? Will see a motorcycle that defies all the limits as we knew them? Will the 2021 Suzuki Hayabusa end the 23-year wait for a motorcycle that resembles what this little boy used to dream about?
Or, will Suzuki take the safe route? Will we see a motorcycle that is updated and refreshed, but a shadow of its former light? The bare minimum to say that they did it. “Here is your new Hayabusa, now stop asking about it.”
The choice that Suzuki unveils between those two options will dictate the future of the Japanese brand’s two-wheeled future. This makes Friday the most important day for the Suzuki Motor Corporation.
Photos: Suzuki
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