Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction. These days we’ve got three billionaires – Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk – trying to one-up each other in the space race. Ever the showman, Branson beat Bezos by a week in their personal quests to become space cowboys. If you want to book a galactic flight, a ticket could set you back a cool $250,000.<br /><br />What a waste. You can reach hyperspace right here on Earth for less than a tenth as much. Just head down to your local Suzuki dealer and fork over $18,599 for a new Hayabusa. All you have to decide is which color you want your rocket to be.Our test bike is a gorgeous Metallic Matte Sword Silver with Candy Daring Red accents. The ’Busa also looks sharp in Glass Sparkle Black and Candy Burnt Gold, but you can’t go wrong with Pearl Brilliant White and Metallic Matte Stellar Blue either. Ah, the tyranny of choice!<br />TAKING FLIGHT<br /><br />Yes, the Hayabusa, along with all other street-legal production motorcycles, has its top speed electronically limited to 186 mph (300 kph). But with some ingenuity – and money – you can go faster. Much faster.<br /><br />Just ask Becci Ellis. Her husband Mike built a turbocharged Hayabusa, and she rode it to a world-record speed of 264.10 mph in 2014.Greg’s Gear<br />Helmet: Fly Racing Sentinel<br />Gloves: Fly Racing FL-2<br />Jacket/Pants: Olympia Airglide 6<br />Boots: Sidi Gavia Gore-Tex<br />Tailbag: Nelson-Rigg Commuter<br /><br />Or Bill Warner. He’s a tropical fish farmer from Tampa, Florida, who rode a partially streamlined and turbocharged Hayabusa to a record-breaking 272.340 mph in the standing mile at Maxton AFB in 2010.For mere mortals riding on public roads, the Hayabusa’s speed cap is hardly oppressive. And it’s really no big deal that claimed peak horsepower for the third-gen 2022 model is lower than that of the previous model (188 vs. 194). Peak torque is lower too. What matters is the extra grunt in the midrange, which helps the new Hayabusa accelerate faster than ever.<br />HYPERSPORT-TOURING<br /><br />Here at Rider, we gave up quarter-mile and top-speed testing a long time ago. It was just too logistically challenging, and on a bike like the Hayabusa, it would be dangerous and felonious without renting a drag strip. In thrust we trust, and on Jett Tuning’s rear-wheel dyno the big Suzook spun up the drum to the tune of 173 horsepower at 9,800 rpm and 106 lb-ft of torque at 6,900 rpm.We specialize in motorcycle travel and adventure, so after Tom Montano’s first ride mostly on the track at Utah Motor-sports Campus, we wanted to find out how well the Hayabusa works out on the road, ridden until the low-fuel light comes.
