6 April 2008 – 2nd Gen Suzuki Hayabusa long term review – Part 7

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted because I’ve been busy with other duties! So now that everything is as it should be here’s what happened. It’s been raining all over the country side and I’ve been trying to get out on decent rides so that I can get the engine properly run in. It’s not as easy for me these days for various reasons.

So my take on the Hayabusa’s wet weather handling? It’s difficult to tell really since I rarely ride in the rain on the 1999 model yet alone on purpose with my new 2nd Gen Hayabusa! So based on not riding in the rain but on wet roads – take it easy. I recommend the C setting for the engine management setting. It does help by helping you focus on what the traffic is doing rather than concentrating on power delivery. It’s not easy deliberately changing the setting – due to personal pride mainly… Regardless it’s fine in the wet just like any other motorcycle – scary.

What I think Suzuki should have done with the engine management settings is to really go for it with the A mode. Yep max performance with not consideration to engine life span or reliability. Of course they should also well publicize that this mode is for those who have no mechanical sympathy warranty reduction etc… For B mode and the default setting is to use the same power curve as the last Hayabusa and C mode as is.

Which bring me to the power specs and settings. Based on Naoko’s email from Japan the A setting on the Hayabusa ECU settings maps to 146Kw and 154Nm the B setting works out to 130Kw and 127Nm and the C setting to 100Kw and 105Nm. The figures are of course meaningless as it doesn’t display the actual power or dyno curves.