Registered Hayabusa hits 437km/h!

British drag racer Phil Wood has powered a road-legal Suzuki Hayabusa to an incredible 271.821mph (437.453km/h) in a flying quarter-mile during the recent Straightliners top speed event held in Yorkshire, UK.

Powered by a stroked and turbocharged 1547cc engine producing almost 1000hp (746kW), it was built by Sean Mills of Big CC Racing. The wildly modified motor was originally commissioned by a customer who eventually changed his mind, leading Mills to come up with the idea to build a registrable motorcycle around a four-cylinder powerplant.

As well as a high-strength swingarm, an eight-inch-wide rim was created with two standard-sized rear tyres, and a minor alteration to the frame to allow the drive chain to run a straight line to the rear sprocket was the only other chassis modification needed.

Wood had access to an onboard boost controller with a capability of 45psi, which he said was reduced to 21psi for his stunning high-speed run, reducing peak performance to somewhere around 600hp.

“It’s easy to ride. Just like a ’Busa, it will sit comfortably at 70mph (110km/h) in fourth gear just off idle,” Wood told British website visordown. “Handling is really good in a straight line, I had the ’bars going lock-to-lock at about 240 (386km/h) in fourth due to the tyre just skimming the ground.

“I sat back a bit and lifted the front wheel, shifted to fifth to load the motor and the front settled as it came down with a bit of weight on the tyre.”