21 June 2009 – 2nd Gen Suzuki Hayabusa long term review – Part 14

It’s been awhile since the last update – busy with writing up my trip to Tasmania to escape the build up daily stresses. Back to the track session…

Basically whilst I enjoyed my riding and I did not even attempt to push myself to going faster. Yes, getting old means you just enjoy a more laid back approach to things in fact I was actually enjoying watching the others improve their riding and one case probably over do it. Anyway back to the purpose of my visit to see how well the CBR was modded.

As I said before it takes a lot of still to mod a bike for track performance from the original setup these days. In that regard I think yes the bike is faster and much more alive. Almost 250cc like in terms of agility but suspension firmed up to almost maximum however there where issues with the fuel injection power curve. The dips in the factory dyno settings are there for a reason and removing them is not an easy task. I do not know how others seeming get smooth mountain like curves without causing problems with the torque – funny that. I see some charts on the web and see a lot of Photoshop work that’s for sure! You need a combination of both to get the best performance.

So the main problem with the modded CBR1000RR was that there was too much power too stiff setup, incorrect ECU settings and standard gear ratios and not experienced enough to use the new setup. Should have done one mod at a time rather than as much as possible! It was not just the one thing that made it quite scary to ride. The bog standard 600cc sporties where going just as fast in the cornering sections BTW. I have to be diplomatic for obvious reasons!

Mind you know we have some experience with the bike! We know its faster than the standard bike purely based on power output. It’s not a drag bike so we have to workout the ECU settings matched to the standard gear ratios and what gears we where using for the majority of corners. This is going be complicated… Hopefully Brad will allow me to post the details soon.