Suzuki Hayabusa 3000kms Touring Review

Touring

I’m going to start with a confession. I never wanted to do long distance on a supersport. The idea of touring on a motorcycle with aggressive riding position, no place for luggage and too much power never made me excited. But I also believe that we should experience everything in life at least once. So I decided to ride the new Suzuki Hayabusa for almost 3000kms. Tanked up the Hayabusa a night before and I left for Chennai early in the morning. I’m not a big fan of starting my ride with truck traffic around me, so I decided to get to Pune as early as I can.

Even after leaving early, the Hayabusa and I did encounter a bit of traffic as soon as we crossed Pune. It felt as if the entire city was heading towards Goa and being a weekend, it turned out to be true. There were hundreds of vehicles on the road, packed with luggage and humans. But I wasn’t complaining because I knew I had a great motorcycle. I mean, the Busa is big and intimidating but not for those who are behind the handlebar.

The motorcycle feels relaxed. It doesn’t feel heavy nor there is any sense of scare while using that throttle in such traffic. It is extremely relaxing and the credit goes to things like that seat ergonomics and that engine. Even with a little aggressive seating triangle, the Hayabusa manages to churn out comfortable riding experience. You aren’t putting a lot of pressure on the wrists nor are you fighting the steering to filter through traffic. Just decide the direction you want to go and the motorcycle flows in easily. This engine likes to play in traffic too. There’s oodles of torque at the low revs and in the mid-range, it is never ending. The tractability of this engine is incredible. I mean u can easily do 50kmph in sixth gear and I never thought a supersport will be able to do this.

Now as the traffic started to reduce, I kind of had the urge to push the bike a bit more, blame the 200bhp power figure. But it is next to impossible to tap Busa’s all power on public road. So I switched to mode C - a mode suitable for wet road conditions. But the interesting part here is that the Hayabusa has so much power that even the C mode feels a bit too much for the Indian roads. The super easy and linear power delivery, couple that with extremely strong mid-range means I was reaching triple digit speeds in a matter of few seconds. The aerodynamic design of the bike cuts through the air so easily that most of time you are shocked to see how the bike masks the speed so easily.

Now if you are one those who are thinking why am I not touring with any luggage? Well, I didn’t want to scratch the panels too bad. So the bags went in the tracking car.

The best aspect of touring with the Hayabusa is that the fatigue level is quite low and the credit for this goes to the windscreen – it is big and nicely designed. There’s hardly any buffeting and that drastically decreases the fatigue that comes with long hours on the saddle.

The other thing I have to talk about is the cruise control. It comes handy, especially when you have long straights with no vehicles around. It drastically increases the comfort level – and the tech is so cool that always have a big smile when you get to use it for longer duration.

I was totally blown away with the way Hayabusa went through all the bad roads. To be honest, the last time I experienced such comfort was when I went touring a big Italian adventure tourer. The Busa feels at home. I mean give it any kind of bad patches. The bike just goes through it without any drama. Be it high speed or low speed. It feels as if you are still sitting at your home couch.

Now we are Indians and it doesn’t really matter how big the bike is, so we still want to know the fuel efficiency of the Busa – well, during the entire trip, the Hayabusa returned FE between 17kmpl and 20kmpl and honestly, that’s a pretty good figure for a motorcycle this size.

After riding for 3000kms, I have learned a few things about the Suzuki Hayabusa. Firstly, it is extremely comfortable. The seats, the ride, the big windscreen – all work together to churn out a fatigue free ride. Then there’s that engine – it is incredibly powerful, has lots of torque and more importantly, is friendly in the city and also on the highway. Plus, it is decently fuel efficient as well. Then there’s the electronics – top spec ones that works well and on time. So in short, would I want to tour on a supersport again? Yes, only if it is the Suzuki Hayabusa.

Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi