Asphalt & Rubber says a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa will debut in 2018.
A&R’s Jensen Beeler actually broke the news on his Two Enthusiasts podcast, with co-host Quentin Wilson (a great listen, if you want a good insider’s perspective on the industry). According to the duo, sources inside Suzuki have told them the new Hayabusa will be released in the middle of 2018 as a 2019 model.
It’s not surprising to hear Suzuki talk about releasing a bike with forced induction, but it is surprising it’s taken this long. For some time now, Suzuki has been flogging the Recursion concept bike on the show circuit, and we’ve been waiting on the turbocharged mid-sized naked bike to hit the market since at least 2015, when initial reports hinted it would debut.
Two years later, we’re still waiting.
It’s hard to imagine Suzuki simply re-naming the Recursion as the Hayabusa and entering the market with that machine; for 20 years, the Hayabusa was Suzuki’s biggest, baddest hyperbike, and even today is a force to be reckoned with. But it falls far behind Kawasaki’s H2 series in performance; surely, the benchmarks Kawasaki established with its supercharged H2 lineup are the goals Suzuki is aiming for. It would certainly make more sense for Suzuki to be releasing a full-sized turbocharged ‘Busa along with a smaller turbocharged Recursion. But, we don’t know for sure at this point, and probably won’t for several months.
Let me guess how affordable this might be……. More toy’s for rich folks!
In Canada I bought a 2002 Hayabusa new in 2002 for $14K and 15 years later I can still buy a new 2017 for the same price .. do definitely not a bike for a rich Tony.