24 February 2008 – 2nd Gen Suzuki Hayabusa long term review – Part 6

I’ve had the first service – so has anything changed? Well, it the the obvious thing, the bike is noticeably smoother. The excessive vibrations I wrote about was apparently caused by some loose screws in the engine bay and fuel tank area somewhere. So if your bike has them then get it checked out ASAP it is a simple fix. As a result the whole bike sounds tighter. Overall better than the bag of bolts sound with the original.

As for handling, the Hayabusa is a big bike and will always feel relatively heavy, purely because the weight distribution is not sports bike optimal – in my opinion. Unless you have muscular thighs… Nevertheless it does go round corners in a surprising fashion and the power out is something a 1000cc rider would be surprised at because it so effortless yet satisfying. It’s difficult to write anything new in this area because I’ve said it all before!

The engine is loosening up slowly which is good and the more lumpy bits have finally smoothened out. Mind you I thought my old 1999 was impressively refined for 1300cc engine from 0 k’s this one not as much.

So far so good, it’s nice to have a new Hayabusa, although I wish the design was more aero and slightly edgier than the final result, the original with lumpy bits attached. I know I keep carrying on about design but really, the original was a revelation, it really stood out. The 2nd generation is conservative…

That said we can be thankful that they didn’t simply clone the GSXR1000 design because that would really a sad day. (The GSX-R is a great looking bike but enough of the brand design themes like BMWs etc…it’s so 90’s.) Each model needs it’s own identity keeps customers happy.