First off I’d just like to say thanks to you all for filling in my survey about the buggy design, we had a great response to the survey and some awesome suggestions as to what engine we should base our dune buggy plans around. We had everything from twin turbo V8’s to 250cc 2-stokes to imported Japanese car engines. The most popular suggestions for the buggy were jap road bike engines such as Honda’s CBR 600 engine and Yamaha’s R1 & R6, but the winner in the popularity stakes was by far the famed Suzuki Hayabusa power plant. It was a tough decision but as you will soon see the performance of this engine is mind blowing and and with prices falling and availability on the rise it made the choice a whole lot easier.
The history of the Hayabusa:
Suzuki obviously wanted to make it clear from the start that they wanted the title of the worlds fastest production bike above their name back in 1999 when thay came up with the name. It obviously has some kind of Japanese meaning to it? I hear you ask. It sure does because the geniuses at suzuki named it after the Peregrine Falcon, the bird capable of achieving speeds over 200 mph (322 km/h) and predator of (perhaps not coincidently) the common blackbird. How ironic considering that the first model to roll off the production line topped the speed traps at a blistering 319 Km/h!
The Hayabusa which is also known as the GSX1300R in some countries was originally introduced by Suzuki back in 1999. Back then it had a 1299 cc (79 cu in) inline-4 engine and was known as the fastest production bike in the world before the 2001 detuning agreement came into force.
In stock form the 99 model was capable of the following:
- 1/4 mile: 10.02 seconds @ 143.7 mph (231 km/h)
- 60–80 mph: 3.13 seconds
- 80–100 mph: 3.31 seconds
- Top speed: 189.6 mph (305 km/h)
- Power: 156.1 hp (116.4 kW) @ 9,500 rpm (rear wheel)
Fast forward almost a decade later and the legend still lives on albeit with more capacity and more power to boot. Determined to hold the title of the fastest production bike on the planet, and with BMW and Kawasaki breathing down their neck with the K1200S, Ninja ZX-12R, and Ninja ZX-14, Suzuki upped the anti for the 2008 model busa by increasing displacement from 1299cc to 1340cc and pushing the power figure up to 171hp.
Ok so what does this mean for us buggy builders?
Well apart from the obviously blistering power figure, the Suzuki engine has a rock solid reputation for reliability and quality. Not only that but it is a great platform for building a big power engine, with just some small tweaks such as exhausts and ECU people have been getting over 200Hp. Start adding turbos and you’re looking at bone jarring power figures as high as 700Hp! No that is not a misprint, check this out if you don’t believe me!
See what im talking about? This engine really is a buggy builders dream especially when you consider that most local bike shops can not only service this engine but provide you with spare parts and performance bits.
The best part - I’ve seen these engines for sale on Ebay for as little as$1000. Why would you not use one of these in your buggy?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below
Nick
