One of the downsides of building a streetfighter, or any custom bike, car, skateboard or wheelbarrow, is that you are very unlikely to recover the amount of cash put into creating it. Occasionally the right deal comes along where you can come out a winner though. Tom Sawyer already owned a 'fightered Honda CBR929RR, and while he fancied a Hayabusa for his next project, he reasoned that as nice as his CBR was, it wouldn't generate 'Busa money in a straight sale. As luck would have it he found someone who had a modified 'Busa he wanted to get rid of in favor of a Honda. With a Honda in the garage and a soft spot for Suzuki, Tom made contact and the deal was done.
After RS Custom Works modified a ZX-6R subframe to fit the 'Busa frame, Tom was happy with the result. Not so happy, though, was the previous owner's marriage of an SV650 headlight and fairing to the Hayabusa front end. A random scooter headlight cluster did the trick however.
Tom reckons that he lightened the original Hayabusa wiring harness by at least three pounds in weight by relocating the battery and relays to a new position under the gas tank, and by eliminating the stock gauges in favor of a "do-everything" Acewell unit. This move also shifted the ignition switch to a redundant hole in the right side of the frame just behind the engine. Front and rear turn signals are located in the Honda headlight and original ZX-6R rear light unit respectively.
Being a fully-faired bike at birth, the engine aesthetics of a 'Busa leave much to be desired when the wind cheating panels are pulled off. The side view of the motor has all the visual appeal of road kill. There's not much you can do about it, as even attaching expensive billet outer cases to the faceless 'Busa engine is only tantamount to putting lipstick on a pig.
The ugly gaps between the tank and frame were easily remedied with a pair of bulging frame-filler air ducts from Big Bike in Germany that Tom color matched to the rest of the bike he'd already painted himself.
Polishing the frame and swingarm gave the rest of the bike the desired luster to match the paintwork, however the handling failed to shine as the ragged edges of the worn nitride coating on the 'Busa fork legs popped the fork seals twice. Replating the stanchions was going to prove expensive, but a complete GSX-R750 front-end from eBay wasn't. Modifying the Gixxer top triple for Bandit risers and the Rental bars was a necessity, and the 2005 CBR1000RR brake and clutch master cylinder assemblies, with matching red anodized levers, were more of a nicety.
While the previous owner couldn't wait to be rid of a beaten-down 'Busa that was collecting dust in the garage, Tom saw it as his golden ticket to blissful 'Busadom. With some wheeling and dealing he managed to nearly break even and turn one man's burden into his own desire.
2005 Suzuki Hayabusa
Front end: 2002 Suzuki GSX-R750 front end, HEL brake and clutch lines, Renthal bars
Rear end: ZX-6R subframe, HEL brake line
Motor: Boz Bros exhaust, modified coolant hoses
Accessories: Big Bike frame ducts, Honda scooter headlight
Owner: Tom Sawyer
Builder: Tom Sawyer and RS Custom Works