Two years ago, we said Suzuki would discontinue one of their biggest and fastest sportbikes, the Hayabusa. Due to tightening emissions regulations it is unable to meet, the Hayabusa had to be retired.
Now it seems Suzuki is keen to bring it back, with a few changes. When it was last sold, the Hayabusa came with a 1340cc inline four engine. Now it will be bumped up to 1440cc to meet the emissions restrictions while still producing competitive power.
Suzuki has recently filed patent applications in Japan that reveals these changes. First of all, the Hayabusa will sport a new, more lightweight frame. Next is the possible 100cc increase to produce the same or slightly more power while being Euro-5 emissions compliant. Experts suggest it will still produce somewhere around 200 hp. Finally, the Hayabusa could be offered with a choice between two transmissions: a manual or a semi-automatic type of transmission.
It’s still quite hard to determine any specifics based on the very technical patent files, however, it’s certainly safe to say that Suzuki hasn’t given up on the Hayabusa.
The bike is still, clearly, in the development stages. The very soonest we may seem a production model based on these patents is either late 2020 or early 2021.
Nonetheless, at least we can be sure that the Hayabusa will return.
