Suzuki Hayabusa Generation One Review 

people hated the looks at first, but after 20+ years id say it is one of the most iconic and beautiful bikes made.

IMO the gen 1 is still the best looking. I think it looks awesome from every angle.

I purchased mine Father’s Day weekend 2002 brand new. 19 years later am still amazed every time I ride it. I remember reading an article back then and they likened to a bengal tiger in your closet. You know it’s in there but you still get a big surprise every time you open the door. 😆 Love that analogy

I was using a different superbike till a Busa cooly cruised passed me... Sold off mine and currently am owning a 2016 Gen 2...Supremely powerful and so comfortable... I enjoy it's immense power output as well as the attention it gets everywhere.

I just love the hayabusa looks ,its unique

I have a 2001 K 1 HAYABUSA ..Owned it since near new Bike has been a true pleasure to own and ride on our Australian roads Long live HAYABUSA.. Cheers

I love my gen 1 hayabusa, sooooo much 😋

Ahhhh awesome bike, great footage! Used to own a unrestricted gen 1 2000 model with the 320 kmh dash as well... Such an exciting machine, great memories to that time. A true icon. Thanks 4 sharing!

Spent many happy days on Busas, owned a couple and rode loads of them - making strong torque from 2000 revs made it a superb road bike ❤ it wasn't all about the speed.....very often

The best-looking sportster ever. I had a B-King for over seven years. No ABS or traction control on it.

Original and the best !!! Thanks a lot for bringing this review 🙏

Love the "yoshimura" pipes. Well the stickers anyway as they are scorpion cans 🤣🤣

The Hayabusa is a legend.

In fact, the 99-00 model dash went up to 340kmh and US model up to 220mph

Omg, only non biker said ugly to this old ver looks. Its design was superbly unique until today. It is like zeus on earth

Great report, Don. Close to my heart, your dad very kindly loaned me his new red and black Busa in 1999, which was the first in private hands, I think. Midvaal formed a major part of all of my bike tests for The Star and so it was that I unknowingly became one of the first journos to track test a Hayabusa. It far exceeded anything I could have imagined and by the time I came back to the pits it was drawing a lot of interest. Wish I had one. Magic bikes.

I had an original 1999 Copper & Silver...The best way to describe the Speed of the Hayabusa is "THRUST"...Breathtaking THRUST !!!

2006 Special edition ..Luv the power the unique looks and the comfort

Great review, got a gen1 busa what is impressive is how strong the motor is in any gear at any rev that motor is true masterclass.

Effortless massive performance such a charismatic machine.

Outstanding episode

Great to have you back! 👌. This machine is out of my ride level. KTM 390 adventure 🥵👌

I had a 2001 here in Canada, black and silver. Fantastic bike! Finally downsized to a 2012 Street Triple R, but I wish I'd had the wherewithal to keep the 'Busa as well.

My memory of the original S*** brown coloured one was just after it came out, I was at my local bike meet at Great Bentley near Colchester and a guy turned up on one with the number plate T200MPH. I remember my friends and I all looked over and made disparaging remarks, but secretly we were all jealous, as it did look cool! 😂😂

I think it looks awesome. I had a gen 2 and loved it

Nice spirited riding, great review

Even with gen 3.... Gen one is best of the best.

I personally like the looks of the Busa especially with the rear cowling hump, just like the TL1000R as well as the SRAD

The best looking bike to ever set wheels on the street period

The power is crazy I have a 02 busa tuned ,stretched ,with a 40 shot of nos

VERY NICE BIKE! Thanks. John P.

I think it looks great. Lots of people came to me when I had the gen 2 and said it was ugly. I think it looks amazing

busa is like supra, not meant to be the fastest bike, but you can modify the engine to be super powerful. busa's engine durability is like the 2JZ

Love it just got a 06 best thing on 2wheels to me.

What a fine example. I had a Black/Silver 1999 model with polished rims. Fond memories.

It's a beautiful bike. Donovan, Loved your 17-year old excitement when you cracked that throttle open.

the KING

I have been led to believe that the bike was names hayabusa not for the speed of the falcon but because it eats blackbirds (among other things) and they were competing with the Honda blackbird

This bike looks so mighty. It looks like the Dodge Viper of Superbikes.

Love and like for Hayabusa topic king of speed is back Hayabusa topic is love to watch

I had the 2004 model.. and often travelled the 1400km grom Austria to Paris in one go, stopping only for gas...in 7hr45mins.. and arriving feeling fresh. I had a tank sack pack with clothes etc and which gave me something to rest on.. Incredible engineering.

Absolutely awesome bike have now for over 6 years Very infectious so vercitle still excites me to no end. Done 122.000 k’s it now and just recently checked the valve clearance’s which have probably never been done and they where spot on as well as the compression. I have done an over kill with oil changes every 3000 k’s Anyway I could happily go on and on. Cheers Brian

It kinda looks like a spaceship because it IS a spaceship. Nothing will ever out busa the busa. Most all out wow factor of all motorcycles.

I totally disagree when people call the Hayabusa ugly. They must be blind, I think the Hayabusa is a beautiful speed machine.

I love my 2002 Black/Blue GSX1300R Hayabusa👍🔥🔊I got a deal on it in 2007. It came tuned but the PowerCommander IV was malfunctioning. It already had an Ivans TRE as well. I removed the PowerCommander & installed a 2 Brothers Juice box for fuel injection band width adjustment. It runs best at the lowest setting so it may be something I will eventually remove. I put a Yoshimura 4 into 1 header with Carbon fiber canister on it. I didn't like the sound so I cut off about 8" length of the canister & it sounds great Still not very loud & runs very strong plus it's at least 20lbs lighter. I think I'll look into an LED headlight soon🖖😎☮

The Hayabusa bird eats Blackbirds. I too wanted a turbo or big bore, but you must have noticed how Suzuki haven't fundamentally changed any of their bikes. Anyway, it's a lovely bike to ride.

İ just came home after a ride on my 07 hayabusa it’s my second one the best bike ive owned, i will get a gen2 for summer

Dream bike

A few got into North America will the full MPH on the clocks in 2000. My 2000 and I disagree about the 1999 year being "unlimited". Love the vid. .

Just on my second year of riding here in the UK, thinking about getting a Hayabusa soon, black does nothing for me though, going for a silver/blue one, gorgeous, looks like a massive can of Red Bull.

Thanks!

i,m on my third, nothing else seems adequate after these beasts( i have a ktm supermoto for other types of fun) but for all-out, everyday most tractable engines these rule.

The way that needle went round the clock ,just wow

That Busa was pulling Don!!! He was rolling, get em Don!!

I have the original Gen 1 and a 2002 injected Blackbird. They are both great bikes, but I like the looks of the Honda better. Performance from the Suzuki in comparison is stronger all through the range. But the Blackbird is never far behind.

Still the best for me

I think it was smart for them to scale down the engine a little for the new one. It has loads of power, and it can be upgraded to make obscene power just like the gen 1 and 2. I like how they did it because its a great bike for people who want to keep it stock, still plenty of power, but for those who want to build it, they've got plenty of options.

Funny you said stop all the hate mail, I was getting ready to send some... people ether get the hayabusa or they don't! Most that don't are deftly afraid of the big Suzuki... i personally would be happy with any of the 3 generation's, leaving color to be the true hardest Choice. My 2003 was as close to perfect in my opinion as any bike made at any price... just a pleasure to own 😁

I had a 03 anivirsary Cooper orange black out frame, it was awesome and gave me my nick name dannybusa!

Okay, now your just encouraging me to buy a Busa. 🤣

Yes you are right the Gen 3 needed to be at 1500 cc or turbo or supercharger , they played it safe which is a shame.

In the US mine says 220

320km/h ? my speedo on my busa 1st gen 1999 goes to 340. wonder why NZ would be different to Sth Africa. Unless the guy just meant to say 340.

wish Hayabusa made a huge comeback by way of turbo or supercharging it from the factory like the H2

actually the 99 speedo went up to 350km/h with 340 beeing the biggest number displayed

Dude hayabusa is one of the prettiest bikes on this planet, and h2 as well…. Because of their sheer size they have more road presence than all litre class bikes

I own a gen 1 with only 5,000 miles on it. It’s awesome 👍

Great review, except the front faring if you look at it, and then look at the bird it is named for, you will see the resemblance. It looks like a Falcon. Not a spaceship. BTW I have an 05 gen 1 , silver and black. It's a wonderful bike.

The Hayabusa is a predator of the blackbird right? Haha

Only ever got to 180mph on my Gen2. It was only good on the Motorway. Everywhere else I wanted an R1

Suzuki Hayabusa is the top product from Suzuki. I like Suzuki Motochicle.

Been watching you guys reviews for as long as you’ve been on RU-vid and you are constantly making comments like “it’s certainly not pretty” it’s hilarious because every time ,,,I’m thinking to myself how cool the bike looks..I must have shit taste😂😂😂😂🤣

Heli bars, Russell Day-long sport seat, Puig windscreen, and soft saddlebags makes the Hayabusa into an awesome sport-tourer.

The thing to talk about is hayabusa’s weight. The 1400cc competitor is heavyer. More bulky. Hayabusa is the best handling when it comes to corners in his class. Its a sport tourer that can run 300km/h

The King Hayabusa

Grotesque? It's beautiful.

Hayabusa wasn't named just after the Japanese name for the bird , it was named after the bird because it ate blackbird's

❤❤

I have a ‘98 SRAD 750 and a ZX12R… Put them together, and you kinda get a ‘Busa.. 😄

Still really beautiful!

I just got one😁 ❤

Were you folks at Haie Safari farm?

Imam istu kuci koju sam kupio novu 2006 god.presao samo 10000km do 2023.i mislim sa malim prepravkama da joj ne moze prici ni 2ga,ni 3ca generacija,samo bih joj dodao abs i nista drugo,odlican motocikl za iskusne vozace i ko kaze da nije dobra u krivinama taj gresi jer pojedini vozaci neznaju pravilno gumu da odaberu a kamoli pritisak da podese na busi da bi ona sve izbacila sto moze,pozzz,odlican video

Don likes the 'Boosa? Shocking. He usually HATES fast bikes. 😂

Speedo went to 350 kmh, not 320.

the 1999 hayabusa had a speedo that went up to 340kph, and 220 mph. not 320kph

I've never seen the controls of a gen1 up close. Is that a choke? I thought those were always fuel injected.

They are Scorpion cans with Yoshi fake stickers. Great video though. 👍👍👍👍👍

The engine of the gen 1 Hayabusa is a special peakey. it's THE BEST!

❤️my GEN-1 BUSA You can get her on her side fine. just have to have balls and lean “out”💡 Actually easier than smaller bikes because she’s so heavy you’re hanging out and 👉🏽it doesn’t affect her trajectory😎 Albeit She doesn’t transition well in chicane, with a lot of switchbacks...

Not pretty maybe, but still better looking than the over-styled Gen 2 and 3.

The widow maker ! Great bikes but the brakes were soft.. ahead of its time !

IVANs TRE《☆》Timing Retarder Eliminator. An inexpensive little electric device for Hayabusas that tricks the ECU into thinking the bike is in 5th gear which is not limited by the ECU. It doesn't require any additional tuning and costs less than $20🖖😎☮

My first memory of the Hayabusa, (sadly) was seeing one and saying "why does that sports bike has a peanut butter allergy?". My first MEMORABLE memory of the Hayabusa was hearing Yammie Noob screaming "TURBO BUSA MOTHERF*CKER!"

Top speed 350km/h in stock.❤❤❤

With no rider aids it's like the Dodge Viper of hyperbikes.

Want a busa but don’t want to mess with a choke bike

We need the Ghostrider back, hope Suzuki will develop together with him a turbo, supercharger and we get a new war between Kawasaki and Suzuki,... ♥️♥️♥️💪💪💪

Just a few hours ago I was finally able to acquire a mint Candy Antares Red/Candy Saturn Black '99-model. My life is now complete and I can die a happy man if the Almighty Lord so decides...

After a bit of time has passed, as many reacted to a disappointment in a lack of a power bump, this sure sounds like nonsense today. Given it was much more than what was/is ever needed for any kind of public road riding, and the new model is clearly more than just "about speed", it should suggest to most aware journalists (and readers/viewers) that before not just a short ride review (or pre-ride conjecture!), but only after several, longer-term interactions can anyone actually make an informed determination about how good or bad a new model is.