Six-gun Busa on way?
From our we'll believe when we see it department come sthe rumour that Suzuki's next generation Hayabusa will bee a sixpot screamer, with a powerplant based on the Stratosphere concept bike (pictured) shown at recent international exhibitions.The Hayabusa 1300 four was first introduced to the market in 1999 and the 175-horse rocketship is now being matched or overtaken in the performance stakes by several sport bikes including the firm's own GSX-R1000.
To make matters worse, rival maker Kawasaki has a ZZ-R1400 on the way, which promises to snatch away the supersport-tourer performance crown, with something in the region of 180-190 horses.
So the question is whether Suzuki will go for the king hit with a bog-bore version of the Stratosphere engine, which claimed 180 horses in 1100cc form. One issue which may put the brakes on the idea is that this corner of the marketplace has gone quiet. Honda has delayed replacing its Blackbird, while Triumph canned its 1300 project, even though it was close to being production-ready.
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