26 September 1999

Latest update 26 / 9 / 1999

You must pardon my grammar.  I blame it on the speed which I tend to do the updates.  This week I have got a few issues, the RPM dial is exposed to direct sunlight when the bike is parked with the steering lock on.  Hence I have noticed some fine scratches on the surface when riding with the sun in about the noon position, which is not too often.  Not exactly earth shattering but still….  Strange that the fairing is weathering the very hot sun very well and hence no sun scratches.   (I do live in the tropics) Furthermore, on the move heat flowing from the engine can be felt on the right side, the left side is fine.  Damn annoying when the ambient temperature is always at least  30C during the day.

Check out the  1999 Australian Suzuki Hayabusa brochure here !  (See Pictures part of the website)  Check out the 1st impression page for the reason I bought the Hayabusa, you may think me weird.

Anyway to the more important stuff : Suspension adjustment.  I have hardened the pre-load? the screws on the top of the steering clamps.  It has been adjusted 2 turns/clicks from maximum hardness.  The result is weird ; I can feel the tyre flex when entering the drive way or braking but there is little nose dive under braking.  However the front now feels pretty skittish under power, lucky the thing has a steering damper.  The rear tyre seems to  lose traction under hard acceleration too – not surprising! I usually weigh under 80kgs but have no trouble positioning hence no accidental wheelies.  After all that I think the standard settings are fine.  Or maybe I have to set the other settings too ?  Not forgetting that the rear tyre is not standard these observations may not be true with the standard tyres!

As I understand it the rear trye (standard BT56) is more flexible than the J spec.  Hence after chatting with the Suzuki Territory staff they reckon that lowering pressures on the front and pumping up the rear should make the front shimming disappear.  I’ll post the results next week.  But for that I think I’ll have to have the standard suspension settings.

Further comparisons with the 1999 CBR600.  That flat spot at 5000-7000rpm is horrible, how can Honda do this !  5000 rpm in top gear coincides with the major city road speed limit  of 100kph.  Hence changing gears is always required when overtaking.  This sort of thing really hammers home the point of linear power delivery by the Hayabusa.  Well for me, I always keep the revs down purely for licensing purposes, but the Hayabusa honestly makes you want to go faster.  Whilst on the CBR, it seems to look after your license by not wanting to go past 100kph due to the flat spot.

Next week :  what’s it like carrying a pillion on the Hayabusa !