All too often we overhear riders boasting of 200 mph late night runs and claims about their built bikes' capabilities. These assertions don't really seem that outlandish after all, particularly when considering that a mega monster like the Hayabusa actually is speed restricted to 186 mph. Wouldn't bypassing the restrictor and adding a few more horsepower easily put the beast past the 200 mph point?
What really sparked our attention, in addition to the bike night banter, was news that a lightly modded 2008 Hayabusa hit 200 mph. We're talking about simply a pipe, fuel management and a handful of other minor mods. The tantalizing bit was that there was no mention of nitrous, turbos or a big bore engine kit. Could this really be true? Is any player with a 'Busa capable of riding 200 mph without going crazy on aftermarket engine tuning?
We wanted answers.
PreparationTo get our 2008 Hayabusa running as strongly as possible we started with an exhaust, air filter and fuel management system. This is the foundation of any street tune job and the most common series of mods for street riders. The "stage 1" mods consisted of a KR Tuned full exhaust, Dynojet Power Commander/quickshifter combo and a K&N air filter. We picked up 16 horsepower and reduced weight significantly.
At 186 horsepower the 'Busa was quite a belter, but deep down we doubted it was going to get 200 mph based on the data we've collected from testing in the past. A major consideration was that the size of the test rider-me-is significantly larger than the standard "jockey" that would usually pilot a bike for a top speed run. Hell, you don't see many 240 pound riders whipping on the horses at the Kentucky Derby do you? There's a reason for that, you know-it's called power to weight ratio. Generally speaking, if two identical vehicles race side-by-side and one carries a heavier load, the lighter of the two will be faster.
The second round of upgrades was meant more to complete the high performance theme rather than to offer a direct effect on the 200 mph target. Weight was reduced further however with the addition of aluminum Galespeed wheels, and braking performance was dramatically improved with a Beringer brake kit.
The third and final phase of the high-speed test preparation included a trump card-nitrous oxide. As a final measure just in case the bike struggled to break 200 mph in its basic street tuned form we wanted the ability to instantly add 25 horsepower to help push it over the hump. During the nitrous installation we also hooked up an Ivan's TRE (timing retard eliminator). It effectively tricks the stock computer to operate as if the bike is actually in fifth gear at all times-thereby bypassing the 186 mph sixth gear speed restrictor.