First impressions of my 2017 Hayabusa

Hayabusa Wannabe

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HayaWakened said, "Enjoy it, and let the forum know your adventures!" So not very adventurous but here it is.

I just got my first ride on my Hayabusa. Weather.com had predicted 0% precipitation from 7 AM to 10 AM and then definitive storms moving in. I launched somewhere about 7:45 or 8 AM (the bike clock was off so I lost my bearing, but never fear that problem has been resolved.

Did you know that I had not even sat on this bike? I had only ridden the VFR and the dual sport at the MSF. So this is first sitting, first start, first everything. I love trying stuff out for the first time, particularly vehicles. My memory is bad but I may have bought my last car without a test ride. So this was quite cool.

It was dead quiet this morning when I put the key in. I toggled the shutoff switch and the fuel pump actually startled me. It is much more in-your-face than the old VFR! It sounded to me like the intro chord to Ziggy Stardust coming out of nowhere. (Feel free to compare and contrast.)

Back up one week: When my mechanic rode it home it was raining. As we left the city where I purchased it, I think we were leaving the gas station and he made a left and fishtailed out onto the road. When we got back he said that he was merely rolling on and not even stabbing it, and warned me about what I was dealing with. Now I had read a great deal here about how tame the bike is at low speeds but he put a bit of a fright in me! Fast forward one week and I finally get a chance to try it. (Now he races a turbo Hayabusa and is a former stunt rider. So yes, I am taking his experience into consideration lol.)

The ride was from 25 to 40 mph and inadvertently including some very technical roads, tight turns through inclines and declines. Those are my favorite but I stumbled onto them accidentally on this first ride!

Prediction: The inline four will be an extremely smooth and a contrast to the Honda V4. Bingo. I noticed that there is a bit of vibration at 4,000 RPM. I spent a little time above that and I think it began to smooth out, but there is plenty of time to experience that later. I did far too much thinking on this ride. The next ride will be much more by feel.

The first thing that stuck out like a sea on fire: This bike has a gear indicator. HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY. Did I mention this bike has a gear indicator? YAY! HAAAAALELUJAH! HAAAAAAAAALELUJAH!

I got on it a bit a couple times in the city, for example, leaving an intersection then heading up a hill, where I could add some throttle without reaching an excessive speed. I think the engine worked just perfectly! It is insanely smooth! Using the controls on this bike and the character of the engine feels like driving a Lexus.

The inline 4 responds instantly while pulling the throttle and it also drops like a rock when letting up on the throttle and pulling the clutch. One over-rev on a shift was excessive and I can see, there is no forgiving the engine if I give it too much power. I got a little yank on what should be a simple shift. I have not ridden much these past couple of months (actually December was quite active but dropped off from there.) It stinks being rusty! But that does provide the worst case scenario for this road test.

My buddy said two things: "You are not going to ride this quite like the VFR." He also said that I will not ride the VFR at all after getting on this bike. HAH. These two statements cannot exist in the same time-space continuum! Yes, the girth of the Hayabusa means I will not be riding those technical roads quite as aggressively, I can feel that already. I ride the VFR like I stole it each and every outing. So these two bikes will have a slightly different place in my life. I can see the VFR staying long term. And the sound of the VFR, sorry folks, but nothing humanity has created reaches that level of audible perfection.

Well the exhaust gases from a 2017 Suzuki is far more tame to breath in than the 1999 bike! Eek, I hope if I get rid of the cat, that will not completely destroy the cleanliness effect. Clearly the fuel injection and everything involved is as refined as it gets today on the Hayabusa. The nose knows.

The throttle rotates with ease, the clutch is predictable, and the shifting is like pushing an elevator button. One could argue shifting is too easy, too smooth, with too little character and not enough feedback. Comparing this ride to the 1999 VFR800, this classic old-versus-new technology argument kept dancing in my brain. Ultimately it is a benefit to me to be able to ride both and experience this contrast. The conclusion that I am forced to provide you is that the Hayabusa is highly, even amazingly refined.

I hit neutral twice instead of second and one time had a little trouble getting into first. That happened way before the light, I had been downshifting smoothly through the gears, and had the clutch in for plenty of time. Now I have not owned a new bike, so any repercussions of break-in will be new to me. I am pretty good with that "minimum required effort" with the shift foot, but admittedly was thinking too much on this first ride as well, so we will see.

The rear brake seems to have a long movement. It works great but like the other controls (I am a slow learner) it will take me a bit to find that happy setting for tight turns and slow riding. Actually, both brakes have somewhat of a long movement before they do anything. I will probably adjust the front brake in fully, like my other bike.

I was in a crowded area, I think the speed limit was 30 mph. I ended up on a light that I know is a short yellow. People were in front of me turning left and in the business to the right of the road waiting to turn out in front of me. In a case where I would normally hit the gas this event had to be a stop, even though I thought it would be too aggressive. The stop happened perfectly. The bike remained level. I stopped before the white line and when it was all done I could not believe how perfectly it happened. I guess this is where the massive brakes and also heft of the bike keep the event remarkably smooth.

I now understand one particular impetus for aftermarket exhausts. This 2017 Hayabusa is far too quiet (and I have a significant aversion to noise!) Sound contributes a lot to my judgement of the controls but unfortunately all I heard was the mighty but medium rumble of the engine itself. I imagine the effect is similar to idling around town in a tank.

Exactly what my mechanic had experienced, a small movement in how high I keep my torso determined if I could see the turn signal indicator. It is nice and bright so I can say no matter what happened I never accidentally left it on. Perhaps because I was paying too close of attention to everything, or perhaps because the lights are a lot brighter than my old bike. We will see how lackadaisical I might on the turn signals later on as I get comfortable and start to zone out.

My mechanic had told me that he smelled the Cosmoline from the factory burning off (and this was an additional sign that the mileage had not been altered.) I smelled that as well as I was warming up the engine. He also warned me that the pegs are a bit high for six-footers like us. Yep, the top of my hip hurt a bit at first from the tight leg angle. He suggested Buell pegs. I really like choices in life, like a wide variety of control adjustments, and would love some rearsets, but if they are all higher than stock, that would be self-defeating. To be determined.

Hugging the tank with the legs: Being forward and right on the tank it feels okay but not a greatly beneficial shape for the legs. Moving back a bit on the seat, shifting my weight more onto the rear, my arms were just fine but I found that just the tips of my knees could still hold the tank. I do not feel quite as confident with this grip as with the VFR. It may necessitate some tank grips.

The suspension worked pretty well on roads with occasional bumps. It was a bit too harsh on an unfortunately extremely bumpy road. I have not checked the sag or rebound/damping. The first thing I have to check with my mechanic is the proper tools. I am obsessive-compulsive and if I mark up the adjusters I will get quite aggravated! Irrespective, the dream is to get this suspension to Jamie Daugherty for about a $900 rebuild. That created a dream bike out of the VFR and to me is a spectacular value.

Around 9 it began raining. DANGIT! That is one hour ahead of schedule! I had just made the decision to stay on side roads and not go testing the freeway performance. The gut instinct always knows and this was a good move. In this area I know perfectly I ended up being fine with the rain going from light to harsh then back. Then as I hit my side street the skies opened up. Okay that was good event. I made the emotional decision to drop all worries, synonymous to when people put their fingers in their ears and say "la la la la la la la." As soon as I did that, I found myself in a heavy downpour, with not a care in the world and just kept it steady over the last mile to my house, laughing inside the helmet as for only the second time I had experienced a heavy downpour on a motorcycle. While the risk of a slick road is real, the mental part of selecting anguish or joy is pure choice. So I chose joy. This was a good experience. My fear and adverse feelings to rain just dropped one big notch. I will never ever elect to intentionally ride in rain, but when it happens, my attitude will be much better, via choice.

Dang the VFR gas is now several weeks old and I had not put preservative in it. The opportunities to ride have been too slim, but I now have to see what I can do to keep the VFR happy and also getting plenty of seat time on the Hayabusa.

Honestly I am generally poor at describing experiences and only good at taking chances and living them. That said I hope that even some small thoughts above are beneficial to someone out there.
 
Great presentation of your first ride! I remember the first ride on my '03 from the dealership and likely was not experience enough to have the same reflections. First rides in the rain are generally a positive sign.
 
A couple of weeks ago I had the first maintenance performed.

First off, I had ridden down a road that was scraped in preparation for new asphalt. I had also ridden across some fresh asphalt. Apparently the result was "rocks and sticky black specs in every nook and cranny of the bike." My tech was extremely aggravated, but he also has a blank check to fix such. He did tell me I better do some cleanup myself moving forward. He detailed every square inch of the bike, down to plucking the asphalt specs out of the radiator with the tiniest tweezers. He sprayed the engine with what did he called "encapsulation coating" (a strange term to me.) He said the name once and it had a number in it. Perhaps ACF50?

I had him remove the blue kanji on the windshield (you can barely see it here:
Good news everyone, I bought a blue 2017 Hayabusa! | New Owners Forum). We had seen that the area around it was extremely scratched, so the sticker had to go to fix the windscreen. The tech fixed it, likely with sanding and polish. There is one deep scratch left. No biggee. Like he said, "If you want to keep it perfect put it in a glass case."

I had removed the crooked wheel decals. Tech said I should have left them for him because he had trouble getting the glue off. However, I did use a hair dryer on them, but the glue was completely dried. I had to scrape most of it off with my fingernail.

The chain was black, gooey, and the initial adjustment was quite loose. When my tech took the bike apart he found goo all over the rectifier, over everything. "What is this stuff, I cannot get it off. Can you find out?"

I messaged the prior owner.

"Can you tell me what lubricant you used on the chain? I am cleaning the chain and that information will help with the job."

Direct quote: "Cleaning the chain? Wow! You are meticulous. Lol."

He said this is a spray chain lube from the Suzuki dealership. I called the dealer and they have 8 chain lube sprays. (ARE YOU SERIOUS?) Oh well, I cannot succinctly identify it.

Tech says he never had a harder time than this cleaning something off of a bike. That alone took a lot of time.

The coolant was not up to the minimum line in the reservoir. So, the setup people save $2 and pocket it on every bike rather than filling the fluid levels to spec. Really? Tech had not anticipated that so had to make an extra trip to a dealer to get the blue Suzuki coolant. He suspects that this is "Engine Ice" (?). I told him engine ice did not improve cooling at all on my VFR which continued to run at 230°F, thus I am apathetic as to what he uses in the Hayabusa in the future.

Tech was going to check Suzuki's intervals for the hydraulic fluids. I told him to purge them now. I take the position that events happen and a year or more can go by when maintenance cannot be arranged. So, I like having the fluids purged yearly and then I know I can skip a year or two at any time.

We learned that the current OEM brake fluid is dark, which is why we could not see in the site glass of the bikes at the dealership. He used a large amount of fluid to make sure and purge all of the OEM fluid. Great!

The brakes feel is a lot stiffer. I had a gut feeling from the initial soft feel. Either the person who setup the bike was poor at installing the fluid or there is already significant moisture in the fluid of this 2017 bike. Since everything is screw-sealed nowadays, I am guessing the former.

When I picked up the bike my tech adjusted the rear brake for me. It had far too much movement where it did nothing. "Way way up please!" Now I can tap on it and start dragging the brake quickly. Beautiful.

A good opportunity to ask: Are these ABS brakes linked? My tech told me so as he described a hose going from front to rear and what he thinks is a proportioning valve. I have seen no mention of linked brakes here! My uneducated guess is that ABS has to be applied to both wheels simultaneously otherwise it could introduce tire skip (?). But regular use of the brakes? Feel free to educate me.

He added fuel cleaner and I burned half of that tank off with two fine rides at 50°F out last week. I know that this weekend salt has been applied to the roads in the region so **that is it for my first Hayabusa riding season.** I topped off the tank and added some Seafoam. My batteries went into the basement last night.

I had trouble getting the key in with the steering in the locked position. I did not mention this to him, but tech lubed the keyhole and that mitigated the problem. He provided two extra, but ugly plain metal keys (no plastic grips.) LOL. That's fine. The OEM keys are like new and will stay like that in a drawer, mission accomplished.

I am obsessive compulsive and also know that additive makers recommend using more than is necessary. To avoid giving them excessive money I finally got a couple of these:


Notwithstanding that glass can easily break with a fall in the garage, which is why I purchased two, I should have done this a long time ago. These were rated highly. One thing I looked to avoid were measuring cups that buyers criticize as having the labeling wear off quickly and thus cannot be read. Users seemed to be happy with these. Of course we will see if harsh automotive chemicals harm the volumetric markings.

My tech suggested full synthetic but only "after break in." "I took it to 10 grand. It is broken in. Might as well use synthetic this change." (The bike has around 1100 miles, I bought it with 300.) He stressed that he is not responsible for mishaps. FINE, I do not race and I have no concerns about clutches. If it were to burn up, and it won't, we could upgrade it LOL. He used Spectro Golden 4 Synthetic Motorcycle 10w40.

I know that he re-torqued every bolt that he could access. I do not have any paperwork yet with the details. Great techs are spectacular with the actual work but communication and paperwork come at a premium. The job was $750. After payment of $700 he jokingly asked for $50 due all of my interruptive phone calls. "Wife, pay the man." No problem. A significant portion of the bill was the cleanup and detailing. The bike is as close to new as it could be. Great!

I wanted to adjust the chain on day one but avoided doing so as I do not have a stand. (Love my VFR center stand!) I was concerned about the lateral torque this would apply as the tire would drag. I recently asked the tech about this. His response was something to the effect (I forgot his wording) that the associated parts are extremely robust on this bike, so it would be fine for me to do it. He mentioned other bikes, not sure, 750 or 1000 GSXRs (do not quote me on that) on which he would not adjust without a stand.

You might enjoy the banter between us. He loves Suzuki. I love my VFR but am somewhat brand agnostic. Tech sent me this L O L:

Kawasaki vs Suzuki vs Honda Winnie_resize.png


My tech mentioned that the VFR is a knuckle scraper and he despises working on it. Even us owners feel that it is a bit under-powered. But he then commented on how he wishes Suzuki would use better part coating for the shiny bits, and he pointed to some of those metal connections in the cockpit that already appear corroded. He chastised me for allowing the gas to get low, which I did on purpose to keep it fresh. He told me the tank will rust fast. "Yes I notice this is a major issue among Suzuki owners. Hrm, the VFR sat with zero maintenance for a long time but the tank looks like new inside." He responded something about all of the OEMs using the same tank coatings. You tell me, but I don't think so!

I originally told him I thought the setup guys over-torqued the mirrors. They are extremely difficult to adjust. He said something like, "These need to stay stable at 190 mph, unlike that puny VFR of yours." Okay, duly noted L O L.

It is a problem with the mirror assembly being stiff all the way through. I have seen complaints here: The mirrors shake like crazy. They need some vibration isolation. For a better view past my elbow I was thinking about mirror spacers and possibly going with the plastic ones over the billet ones as perhaps the plastic might reduce some of the vibration (?) I wonder if a squishy gasket can fit in-line with the bolt lengths that are sold with spacers (?). Would that help? I see some go to other Gixxer mirrors and I can consider that long-term.

Yes, I usually take my tech's advice and thus will consistently use Seafoam and keep my bike tanks (more?) full moving forward.

I fully enjoyed the 700+ miles I put on this bike from May until early November. It is very comfortable but takes a bit more muscle than the VFR on the twisty roads that I ride. Nothing new to you, I've read this many times here.

I can advise this to everyone: Ride a bike significantly heavier than your main bike, for the same reason that a batter uses a bat doughnut during warmup. The VFR now feels to me like an ultra-light race bike. So where can I ride a 700 lb behemoth next spring so that the Hayabusa then feels lightweight?
 
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Good write up and glad you are learning and enjoying your bike.

The big difference between your VFR and a Busa is when you twist your right wrist-to that, there is no contest between them.

I've found the Busa handles pretty well in tight fast corners, it can lay waste to many other bikes out there in this regard. Mine's lighter than stock and tuned differently so it's hard to compare between it and a stock Busa.
 
The big difference between your VFR and a Busa is when you twist your right wrist-to that, there is no contest between them.

I am continually astounded that this bike has torque and horsepower numbers that are on par with my last car. :shocked:

I see the Hayabusa is a full second faster at 0-60 than the VFR. I certainly cannot feel it, only see it on the speedo. The VFR takes more work and is outright screaming when racing onto the freeway. The Hayabusa just sends me flying past the speed that I really wanted to go (60/70) before I notice anything. Crazy power!
 
I am continually astounded that this bike has torque and horsepower numbers that are on par with my last car. :shocked:

I see the Hayabusa is a full second faster at 0-60 than the VFR. I certainly cannot feel it, only see it on the speedo. The VFR takes more work and is outright screaming when racing onto the freeway. The Hayabusa just sends me flying past the speed that I really wanted to go (60/70) before I notice anything. Crazy power!
If and when you start modding it, it's even faster which is hard to believe sometimes.

The Hayabusa is pretty docile until the revs get up and then it turns into a beast
 
If and when you start modding it, it's even faster which is hard to believe sometimes.

The Hayabusa is pretty docile until the revs get up and then it turns into a beast

Yes, believe me, I can feel how they deadened it off the line, perhaps so that riders (like me?) do not loop the bike. "B" mode? LOL, seriously what is the purpose of that switch?

The deceleration fuel cutoff is miserable, akin to slamming on the brakes. The timing cut, or whatever is happening to slow it off the line, is disappointing. But then, disabling these restrictions will reduce the fuel efficiency and pollute more. When the initial upgrade budget comes in, these decisions will not be easy ones for me. I am more of a "stocker" by nature, but struggling between that and the bike's compromises. I did get it for fun and excitement. The little devil on my shoulder does want the ECU flashed...
 
Yes, believe me, I can feel how they deadened it off the line, perhaps so that riders (like me?) do not loop the bike. "B" mode? LOL, seriously what is the purpose of that switch?

The deceleration fuel cutoff is miserable, akin to slamming on the brakes. The timing cut, or whatever is happening to slow it off the line, is disappointing. But then, disabling these restrictions will reduce the fuel efficiency and pollute more. When the initial upgrade budget comes in, these decisions will not be easy ones for me. I am more of a "stocker" by nature, but struggling between that and the bike's compromises. I did get it for fun and excitement. The little devil on my shoulder does want the ECU flashed...

My ECU isn't flashed but I have a Bazzaz programmer on it which set up the AFR to perfection....I can't see myself needing to go over 300kms/hr any time soon.

The Logitech quick shifter makes a big difference, sometimes I don't notice how fast I am going when I'm shifting gears as I'm not clutching or dropping revs, it just builds speed at an alarming rate.

You can do the clutch mod to get rid of the off the line quicker but I find mine works just fine the way it is.
 
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