A few years ago Stefan Pierer, the CEO of KTM shocked the motorcycle industry by saying quite emphatically that sport bikes were dangerous and didn't belong on the road and then announced the end of the RC8 sport bike. An astonished motorcycling world jumped all over him and the general consensus was that this was KTM tucking their tail and bitterly admitting they can't keep up with the (other) Germans, Italians, & the Japanese.
Fast forward to present and KTM street bikes are as fast and powerful as any and some of the most engaging bikes available to consumers today. But, as Pierer promised, they're not sport bikes. For most of motorcycling's long history racing bikes were modified street bikes. In the late 70's, the idea of selling race replicas was discovered and since then manufacturers have worked tirelessly to lessen the gap between track and street performance (with a pause to reload during the world recession of course). The race replicas were sexy, fast, uncomfortable, and great to ride at 150% for a 20 minute session. Some sport bikes were more friendly than others but generally, they were racers in spirit.
Today, the market wants naked bikes. Bikes that are comfortable, easy to ride with upright postures that optimize vision and leverage. The focus now is fun, practical motorcycles that are still plenty fast and powerful. Maybe the speed wars are over, and like nuclear weapons we've discovered light speed is a capability that is best not used in most circumstances. What does this have to do with the Hayabusa you may be asking?
Well with the Generation 3 Hayabusa due next year as a 20 year anniversary model there are all sorts of speculation about the "next level." I'm not convinced that the next 1300R will be the fastest missile you can roll out of a dealer's door. Maybe the Busa will target bikes like the KTM 1290 GT, Ducati Multistrada or even the MOTUS as excellent all purpose sporty touring motorcycles. I am sure a high speed, ultimate power weapon will be a very low volume seller, maybe even less than the current platform. Not sure Suzuki can afford the development costs on a class leading new model that has such a limited market.
I suppose time will tell. But the new Hayabusa is going to be a pivotal bike for Suzuki and speculating where they will take it is fascinating.
Fast forward to present and KTM street bikes are as fast and powerful as any and some of the most engaging bikes available to consumers today. But, as Pierer promised, they're not sport bikes. For most of motorcycling's long history racing bikes were modified street bikes. In the late 70's, the idea of selling race replicas was discovered and since then manufacturers have worked tirelessly to lessen the gap between track and street performance (with a pause to reload during the world recession of course). The race replicas were sexy, fast, uncomfortable, and great to ride at 150% for a 20 minute session. Some sport bikes were more friendly than others but generally, they were racers in spirit.
Today, the market wants naked bikes. Bikes that are comfortable, easy to ride with upright postures that optimize vision and leverage. The focus now is fun, practical motorcycles that are still plenty fast and powerful. Maybe the speed wars are over, and like nuclear weapons we've discovered light speed is a capability that is best not used in most circumstances. What does this have to do with the Hayabusa you may be asking?
Well with the Generation 3 Hayabusa due next year as a 20 year anniversary model there are all sorts of speculation about the "next level." I'm not convinced that the next 1300R will be the fastest missile you can roll out of a dealer's door. Maybe the Busa will target bikes like the KTM 1290 GT, Ducati Multistrada or even the MOTUS as excellent all purpose sporty touring motorcycles. I am sure a high speed, ultimate power weapon will be a very low volume seller, maybe even less than the current platform. Not sure Suzuki can afford the development costs on a class leading new model that has such a limited market.
I suppose time will tell. But the new Hayabusa is going to be a pivotal bike for Suzuki and speculating where they will take it is fascinating.