The 2022 version’s 110 pound-feet of torque is also down a smidge, but Suzuki does promise there’s a wider powerband, though for the life of me, I never ever heard anyone complain about the big ‘Busa’s paucity of mid-range grunt. Suzuki still lists the top speed as 299 kilometres per hour, but as anyone who’s ever ridden a Hayabusa in anger knows, that has more to do with calming regulators’ nerves than actually limiting speed.
The same familiarity applies to the basic chassis, which, though somewhat lightened, remains the familiar twin-spar aluminum jobbie of the original. Oh, the front brakes are a little larger, the rotors now measuring 320 millimetres in diameter and the calipers some stylish and powerful Brembo Stylemas. But other than the details the rear subframe is a little lighter it’s all familiar territory. One minor detail that aging Suzuki fans of speed might appreciate, however, is that the handlebars are now some 12-mm closer to the rider; no more