Project Turbo Hayabusa Part One: Front End

Most of the horror stories stem from backyard tuners and careless owners. Our goal was to demonstrate that with proper planning and a reputable tuner there's no drama in living with a highly modded bike-even as a daily rider (or thereabouts).

The idea was simple; buy used and upgrade heavily. The end result should be a ride that looks good enough to be the star at a bike night but in the same trim also go land speed racing and break 225 mph. In other words, the ultimate performance and style machine.

One of the main issues many turbo bike owners have had to deal with is complete engine failure, but that's largely their own fault. Any respectable engine builder will offer strict guidelines about pushing boost limits, required octane levels and general usage. The biggest problem generally comes from the owner's right wrist; once that first hit of boost is tasted they want more, but without taking the proper steps to support bigger boost the motor will essentially melt.

Finances tend to be the major hindrance in (not) performing a thorough build; a Stage 1 turbo kit bolts right on and is ready to go in a day's labor and for an affordable price-a lot of boost junkies obviously take that route. It's a fine option if you have self-control, but push the limits and you'll soon be pushing your bike home. This is why we opted for a Stage 2 kit that includes an internal engine build. Yes, it's pricier, but considering the money we saved on the bike and the reliability we'll have down the road it was the only sensible option.

In support of the heavily tuned engine we gathered a handful of exterior bolt-on parts. To drastically improve our performance and style we've had to ditch some stock parts, but our frugal bike purchase allowed for these upgrades in the overall budget.

The damage appeared to be quite minimal, and it could have been road-ready with simply a new headlight, upper fairing and turn signal. Hell, a good portion of the bike was even polished and chromed already. It was our first time utilizing a resource like Argo, and it was a lot less stressful than chasing dreams on Craigslist.

The first order of business was to get the front end updated and ready for serious action, and that largely was based on a fork upgrade. In 2008 the Hayabusa switched to a radial brake fork lower, and we scored a good pair of the second-generation tubes on eBay. They conveniently slip right into the stock triple trees, but before doing that they were sent to Progressive Suspension for lowering. Progressive's Drop In Fork Lowering System lowers the fork internally, eliminating the need to purchase an aftermarket top tree and then drop the forks through.

The stock wheel and worn tire were shelved for Performance Machine's Assault Race Weight wheel with Dunlop Q2 rubber, then dual Beringer cast iron rotors went on to complete the front end set up. Reduced weight, killer style and massive braking power were all added in an afternoon.

The front end went together easily and without any hiccups, which tends to be the trend when using high-end products. Everything fit properly and all the hardware needed for installation was included. Though some of the chrome has been eliminated we've replaced it with understated bling-the happy medium of performance and style.