The Tesla S I drove the other day was a serious machine...far too "techy" for me though.....
The Honda is a limited release full closed circuit , street replica , as we all know . It is very tall , short wheelbase , slipper clutch , all things that negate quick 1/4 mile performance for a sport bike . But if it was lowered / strapped , and you got a eager , good ride tester like say , that pretty capable fella from our past Nick Ienatsch ( Sport Rider etc. ) on it , you might find a 160mph and low 9 to high 8 second 1/4 mile . The clutch being the last constant issue thing to modulate successfully . That Honda has 213mph top speed and the necessary aerodynamics up its sleeve .
I'm going to defend my sweet spot Theory, and the Suzuki engineers brainstorming different configurations for the Gen 3 and deciding the engine was already perfect. The ZX12R (lighter, shorter wheelbase) is faster in the twisties than a Hayabusa (although possibly even with my raised gen 3 with carbon wheels), but doesn't have the nuclear torque thrust coming out of the curves. Call it what you will, sport torque, or I use sooner power, I love the combination of grunt and sportiness I get from my gen 3. I like it better than the 12R, but the green bike is still a very good one (I just don't want to pay for the valve job).
Smaller very high revving engines are amazing! My sister had some kind of freak limited Honda civic stick, I'm not up on them, but it was an absolute joy to drive and astonishing in the breadth of the power band. As opposed to modern liter bikes, it was not geared too tall.
Suzuki tuned the Gen 3 for mid range where they know most people spend the most time...
Your perspective is still only about straight line rolling / drag competition. And from that perspective you're not wrong. But from the sport perspective, the Gen one was and still is a 500 lb GSXR. Even MotoGP has been more evolutionary than revolutionary in the past 25 years, and what made for great handling them is still valid today, and I would argue the spec numbers are only small changes rather than the Hayabusa being totally out of date. If anyone else can get 550 lbs through a lap with a quicker time, I'd like to know how. When I rode my gen 3 home from the dealer, there were no handling improvements I could imagine (but at that time I was still clueless about raising links). My point is that there aren't any reviews which complain about a lack of handling improvements. *Except that yeah I would like to try semi active suspension and maybe a lighter rear shock...
Bro , going to argue you got it wrong about the ZX14R standard handling , it will at least match any Gen Hayabusa , and tweaked , it will be a real race with anyone riding a Busa . Some people prefer the Busa Gen s handling over the ZX14R , but the flip side also applies . I like the way both handle , but I am still riding ZX14R .
You can't take out competition that has never surpassed your bike. Yeah the ZX-14 took the quarter mile, but nobody writes about it or talks about it as a sport bike. It is single focused dedicated. That's not a Hyper bike which sort of implies all around abilities. But I get what you're saying, it would have been nice for the Gen 3 to make the same impression the gen one did. I think internal combustion vehicles are simply a mature technology. We ran out of room for gobsmacking improvement. (Without expensive turbo setups that is)...
I hope you're not arguing that the ZX-14, any flavor with any mods, could keep up with a Busa in the twisties. And especially not in traffic. It's simply too large and too heavy. Lovely and fun bike to ride, but cannot compete with the Busa in sport mode. *Or at a track recording lap times.
I think my comparison is the Hayabusa was designed and built for a specific purpose.....to dominate....something it no longer does.
Yes I am arguing that mate , I have own both , from stock , to each with full handling updates , so I know what I like , and I know what each is capable off handling wise . The ZX14R at least matches the Busa , I have ridden all 3 , and you got some updates to do to your Gen 3 , to stay with my ZX14R , but I can also help you there .
The beam frame goes over the engine cover. I was under the impression you had to drop the engine to do a valve job and get the engine cover off.
Love to ride your bike, maybe later R models are slimmed down from the demo I rode, but I'm pretty skeptical you could put yours on enough of a diet to keep up with mine on a track. I'm pretty sure you're talking about a straight line in 'keeping up' with your ZX-14R. I'm not arguing that. But my gen 3 has Carbon wheels and raising links, and feels like a 600 in terms of handling. I would like to get the whole bike weighed one of these days and need to figure out how to do that, but as I say I think this is The Sweet Spot, I don't think you could make the weight, and your wrestling division simply isn't built for the obstacle course. But what do I know, I could be wrong.
I was specifically referring to the 12R. And would argue that Kawasaki made a real effort to improve things with the 14 series engine and frame...
My instinct is to quibble, but essentially you're right. Your objections to the Hayabusa are only 1/10 of my objections to the 'new' 2020 Katana. Because I actually owned and loved my GS1000SZ. Talk about a head turner, that thing snapped necks wherever I took it! That UJM abortion wasn't worthy of the name or logo, not remotely.
