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 Ultimate 10: Speed
Machines
The
Learning Channel
recently aired a show about the world's
ultimate speed machines... Click on the one of the logos below to
see why they chose the Suzuki Hayabusa as one of the world's ultimate speed machines! (sorry
Kawi fans...)
 
Which bike is
faster?
It
all depends on whom you ask. One thing is for sure; these 2 bikes are the
fastest and hardest acceleration production motorcycles in the world. They are also
the hardest accelerating production vehicles in the world. They are both capable
of top speeds in excess of 186MPH or 300KPH, and run 9 second 1/4 miles in
the 145MPH range. Click on the logo below to watch a very interesting Busa VS.
ZX12R shoot-out.
Why choose
2000 model year bikes?
Here's a little history lesson for those of you who may not
be familiar with the Suzuki and
Kawasaki's battle to build the world's fastest bike. Suzuki introduced the Hayabusa in 1999 as
the undisputed king of top speed. It was capable of burying it's
somewhat optimistic 340KMPH (210MPH) speedometer and they where not exactly trying to hide it's outlandish
performance capabilities. The bike magazines confirmed it's potential with top speed
tests that vary between 185 to 195MPH. Kawasaki planned on
punching back with a machine that was supposed to dethrone the Hayabusa. This
machine was the ZX12R, click here to read more about how the ZX12R came
about.
The word on the street at the time was the ZX12R was going to be capable of a
legitimate top speed of 200MPH (322KPH). As the hype for the ZX12R began to
build up prior to it's official release, the fine folks that make up the
"European Motorcycle Industry Council" (aka ACEM) got wind of this and
asked the question "Does the world really need a 200MPH (322KPH) motorcycle?".
They answered their own question, the answer was "NO!". Rumour has
it, that the ACEM threatened Kawasaki that if they actually released such a
beast that it would not be allowed in Europe. Kawasaki delayed the much
anticipated release of the ZX12R, most people believe that this in order to give
them the chance to slightly slow down the ZX12R. When the ZX12R was finally
released, it was to the disappointment of those that where expecting the
"World's Fastest Motorcycle"... it was ONLY about as fast as the Hayabusa. From
this point on, things only got worse for the motorcycle world's high speed
junkies. Starting in 2001 all the major motorcycle vendors 'voluntarily' agreed
to the so-called "ACEM TOP-SPEED DECREE". All bikes from the point on would be
restricted to 300KPH (186.4MPH), this was confirmed by the revised speedometers
that could only read until 300KPH or 190MPH.
Today, the
Hayabusa and ZX12R's speedometers only display up to 280KPH in Canada and most
expect this number to gradually go down over time. It's also expected that top
speeds will continue to be restricted to speeds below the current 300KPH
(186.4MPH) limit. Here are some more details of the "ACEM TOP-SPEED DECREE"
(taken from Suzuki's 2001 new model technical update seminar P42).
Is this
really the end of high performance motorcycles?
The
good news
is, probably not... at least not for the time being. The major motorcycle manufacturers
continue to develop machines that are even lighter and more powerful.
A perfect example of this is Suzuki's recently redesigned GSXR1000. The only
thing that is being restricted is the top speed... and as any 'gear head' knows,
for any restrictor there exists a de-restrictor. Click here to read about what happened when Sport Rider Magazine de-restricted the Busa and
ZX12R.
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