Although our Haya had been set up just fine for blasting down the expressway it was way too soft at that setting to control the sprung weight when ridden hard. After experimenting with tightening the suspension up we soon found nirvana. Because of the available adjustibility of the Hayabusa's suspension we were able to transform the bike from a nasty, swaggering beast into a very nicely handling sportbike. If the bike we had started out with at the beginning of the day had been the total package - no adjustments possible - we would have flatly stated that the Bus ain't no sportbike. But by just turning a few screws and things here and there the Haya transformed into a ripping sportbike that, although will never corner as fast as a lighter bike, will never corner with shame.

Although the Hayabusa surprised us with its incredibly competent sporting abilities, there are a few minuses in its performance that merit mention. The mapping of the Hayabusa's efi causes the bike to lurch when rolling the throttle on from full-off, much like the GSX-R750 does. It's certainly no cause for alarm, but it is annoying. It is not as bothersome as with the Gixxer, probably because when it happens on the Bus the engine is usually at a lower rpm. The good news is it should be possible to tune out this problem.

The re-mapping boxes that Yoshimura sells for tuning the efi of the GSX-R can also be used to modify the Happy's brain, too. Racers have discovered that by going 10% richer on the high-end mapping the lurching of the GSX-R all but disappears. If that doesn't cure the problem with the Hayabusa then try richening the low end, too. Or…

The next thing to try after that is to change the resisters that tell the bike what gear it's in. There's a rumor going around that cutting a pink wire will increase second gear performance, but it is doubtful that there is any gain from doing so. It's true that cutting the red wire on the GSX-R1100 improved first gear performance on that bike. But the Bus is wired much differently, allowing it to recognize each of its gears through differing resisters. Getting no message does not allow the bike to properly select the best map for conditions. Again, those racing 750s have experimented with this on that bike and some of them have found out that by using the third gear resistor for all of the gears produced the best results. We're sorry that we can't be more specific, but no one we've talked to has yet identified the best alteration for the Hayabusa. Just get some beer for your electronics buddy and start experimenting on your own.

The other thing the Bus does that's less than honorable is that it has a tendency to stand up during mid-corner braking much more than any other sportbike we've ridden in the last couple of years. Our suspension tuning allowed for better rider control of this, but we were unable to find any solution that inhibited the behavior.

We learned quickly that when taking full advantage of the Hayabusa's acceleration, it's important to keep in mind that the closing speed of this bike to other traffic is well beyond the concept of those sitting in cars. It's also a bit beyond what your average motorcyclists might anticipate. Just a turn of the wrist gets the bike from here to there in a compression of time and space that demands serious respect and attention.

In short, it's not so much that the Hayabusa's fast: it's that it's also so easy to ride slow. It's not so much that the Hayabusa's fast; it's that it goes fast so easy. It's not so much that the Hayabusa's fast; it's that it's also a real sportbike. It's not so much that the Hayabusa's fast; it's that it is really fast. Because of that we recommend that only experienced riders should consider owning this bike. Or rather, all experienced riders must consider owning this bike.

Peter Jones