ZigTests The New Hayabusa Against The Old Busa On A Drag Strip

Published July 5, 2021
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2 min read

Is the new Busa quicker? Is the old Busa faster? Which is the better drag bike?

2021 Suzuki Hayabusa Vs 2019 Suzuki Hayabusa

The most important question that anyone had on their lips when the third generation Suzuki Hayabusa was revealed was, “Has the Busa become slower?” Naturally, the thought would arise given that it has lost 7PS and 5Nm now.

So, has it? That’s why we had to get the new bike and the previous gen Busa at an air strip to set things straight. The outcome will surprise you:

	2021 Hayabusa	2019 Hayabusa
0-100kmph	3.38 seconds	4.08 seconds
0-160kmph	5.97 seconds	6.56 seconds

Firstly, the conditions were far from perfect when we did the runs with the two bikes. The monsoons had arrived and we had to wait quite a while before we could actually get going. And that’s one of the main reasons why the new Busa gains an upper hand here. With some serious electronics now on-board, it literally shoots off into the distance. It’s angrier now thanks to a meatier mid-range, which the old Busa lacked. Plus, with the bi-directional quickshifter, gear shifts are faster and you aren’t losing precious hundredths of a second.

With the old one, you’d have to have a steady right hand. Launching the bike could send its tail in a tizzy or worse, launch the front wheel into the sky. None of the launches that we had with the old-gen bike were flawless and hence, it got off the line way, way slower and with more drama

	2021 Hayabusa	2019 Hayabusa
0-402m	10.78s at 218.73kmph	11.16s at 217.27kmph
Top speed recorded	256.87kmph	257.13kmph

No surprises then that the new Busa posted a significantly faster quarter-mile time. And even if the conditions were bone-dry, we would wager that it would have the edge.

So the new Busa is obviously quicker. But the question was, “Has the Busa become slower?” To that, we have to say that it certainly lacks the top-end grunt that the previous-gen Busa had.

	2021 Hayabusa	2019 Hayabusa
200-250kmph	6.39 seconds	6.56 seconds
220-250kmph	4.22 seconds	4.22 seconds

The old Busa took far less ground to reach its top speed of 257.13kmph than what the new Busa took to record 256.87kmph. Plus, when you look at the 220-250kmph times, they are identical. Sadly, the Aamby Valley airstrip isn’t quite as long to brave it out and try to aim for higher speeds. Thus, we have to conclude that the new Busa has become slower.

But does that rob you off the Busa experience? We shall have our video up on Youtube.com/Zigwheels. Until then, you can whet your appetite with what our colleagues over at Powerdift have to say about the updated peregrine falcon.