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“Fast, Faster & Holy
Toledo!”
The Busa Trilogy - Part 3
Click here for Busa
Trilogy-part 2
Click here for Busa
Trilogy-part 1
When last we met in part 1 & 2, our Suzuki
Hayabusas had under gone some major reconstructive surgery under the
skillful hands of Phil Tinsley, Mike Caputo and Terry McIntosh. I have
already received a ton of e-mails from readers who still cannot
believe the polishing wizardry of Maximum Performance Chrome and
Polishing, so this is for you folks who wanted to see more. And NO,
I'm not telling you Phil's secret for getting the aluminum so shiny.
However, I will tell you that no rags or cloth have touched any parts
of our bikes since he has polished them. Think cotton balls and
straight carnauba wax…Damn, I slipped again.
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So believe it or not, the proof is in the reflection…hey, that's me in
there.
I mentioned earlier in part 1 of the Busa trilogy that we're building
3 Hayabusas for this project. One of the only real cosmetic
distinguishing differences, besides color and year is in the
performance pipes of each bike. The one on my personal 2001 is my
ever-favorite stainless and titanium
Muzzy Performance Pipe from Muzzys Performance while the pipe on my cousin Mike's personal 1999 Hayabusa is an Akropovic Titanium and Carbon Fiber. The pipe chosen
for the Red/Gray 2000 Streetbike Shootout is a Muzzy performance 4
into 1 sidewinder pipe with megaphone. Hellllloooooo, can you say LOUD
& LOW!!!
 Now all of these Pipes offer promises of increased performance and all
will do a great job for you, but the real difference for me was the
sound. For my personal 2001, the Muzzy stainless and titanium pipe
installed quickly and easily with great fit and finish unsurpassed. It
also has another reward; it sounds ba ba ba baaaaad to the bone. I
mean, when you give the throttle a sharp twist, it responds with a
deep resonating, big time WOOF. Ooooh baby that's such a sweeeet
sound. I just happen to be partial to Big Bad sounding pipes. The
Muzzy performance pipe allows the sound of the big 1298cc stock
Hayabusa motor to resonate even deeper and richer than the Akropovic
and I can't wait to hear what it will sound like with the 1397cc
piston kit. I am a major proponent and believer that
loud pipes save
lives on the road and there is a big difference between loud obnoxious
and loud "ooh that sounds sweet" like my Muzzy. Now I know there are
probably a dozen performance exhaust systems out there other than the
Muzzy, and some of you who own them will tell me yours is the best and
maybe this is true. Nevertheless, for now, lets just say, my Muzzy
Performance Exhaust system, looks, sounds and performs just awesome
for me personally.
I spend most of my time on the streets of Toledo watching some of
Toledo's finest keep a close watch looking for those who wish to break
the law. We have a couple of patrol Harleys, which is essential in
fast attack street pursuit of no gooders who fail to obey the law. You
may say, Harleys are slow, but their radios are wickedly fast and
Toledo's police helicopter is really fast (as the crow flies). Never
race on the street boys and girls, it's against the law and you could
get seriously dead quick. Go to your favorite track to enjoy the
fruits of your efforts and live to ride another day (I think that
covers my butt on street racing).
Now that I have a very powerful motor that also has a ton of
compression, I need to make sure that my battery will have enough
power to turn the motor over fast enough so it will start every time.
Fast by Gast to the rescue with their FBG Gel Cell battery. Yea! This
baby has around 70 amps of cranking power to give my 1397cc motor
every needed ounce of oomph. The FBG Battery is one of the finest and
is available from Fast by Gast or many other distributors listed at
the end of our article.
 Now most of you who just read the preceding paragraph are asking
yourselves, how in the hell did he get that big bad FBG battery to fit
into the sub frame of the Hayabusa? Well my friends, I now introduce
to you the latest in fender eliminator kits for the big Busa, from
Tiger Racing in Toledo, Ohio comes the Tiger Tail. This combination
fender eliminator, battery box, license plate holder is the wonder
child of the boys at Tiger Racing. I wasn't about to chop up my sub
frame just so that I could install the FBG battery and I needed
something that would allow me to lower the Busa with my new swingarm.
As you read in part 1, we installed a 4" over swingarm and we need the
wheel well to be deep enough to allow the rear tire to have ample
space to go up into when you launch hard. If you leave the plastic
inner fender in, there is no room what so ever for the tire and you
can't use the FBG battery without grinding on your sub frame. If you
have a stock swingarm, this plate comes very close to the swingarm
shock tower and the underside of the battery compartment so be careful
when slamming your Busa if using a stock arm.
 This very fine crafted work of art mounts in place of your stock
plastic inner fender and now you can easily slip the FBG battery (or
other larger gel type battery) into the sub frame. You also have
plenty of room for the ECU to mount in its stock location and allows
for the Power Commander II® to mount under the rear seat where we all
put it. I modified the tail light assembly by cutting off the square
license plate light housing and modified the remains of the plastic
inner fender to allow me to use my stock turn signals. It has a tail
plate that acts as both a rear mud flap and a license plate holder.
You're always looking for some place to put the license plate anyway
so why not back on its stock mount on the rear fender plate? The Tiger
Tail is laser cut using 5035 aluminum and pre-shaped to fit all the
Busa sub frames of every year. All edges are de-burred by the laser so
there are no sharp edges and all corners are radiused. Way cool if you
ask me. Schnitz Racing and
Fast by Gast are exclusive distributors of
the
"Tiger Tail" and you"Tiger
Tail" can ask them about being a dealer. It retails
for $119.95 (too cheap if you ask me) and bolts directly into the
stock bolt mounts. This fender eliminator allows you to use it on a
stock swingarm all the way up to an extended swingarm of 8" over. It
fits into the aftermarket 5" over tail section and creates a large
area for mounting stuff if you so desire.
Once in place, you can lower your swingarm assembly quite a bit
because of all the room you now enjoy inside the inner fender well. I
did however tighten up on the rear shock spring because I weigh in
around 190lbs and needed just a bit more spring tension due to the
extended swingarm.
I have installed one of my favorite pieces from Muzzys and that is my
Muzzy air shifter assembly. As you can see from the picture, the Busa's rear hump came in quite handy in locating my NOS tank for the
air shifter. You can read all about it by clicking on this link. I
double duty my NOS tank for both the Schnitz Dry Nitrous system and my
air shifter by way of a tee and a regulator that comes with the Muzzy
Air shifter system. If I use it only for air shifting, I can get about
300-400 shifts or more. When I double up it's use for the NOS
system…who knows, I'll let you know once I've tried it.
 Air box Mod. To modify or not to modify, that is the question. If your
NOT going to add a new performance pipe, and Power Commander II®, then
I say don't mess with the air box. Most of my cohorts in crime agree
that unless you are going to add a new performance pipe and a Power
Commander II® fuel injection tuner, then I recommend that you don't
modify. I have some critics who say, "If it can't hurt, maybe it could
help." I have talked to literally dozens of Hayabusa owners who have
told me that the air box modification helped them on the high end when
it came time for massive amounts of air to rush through the head. And
yet when I asked them if they did the air box mod by itself, just
about all who I talked to said that they had installed a performance
pipe and Power Commander II® also. I also agree that if you have a
performance pipe, then absolutely modify the air box or just install a
K&N air filter, which can be found at
www.SchnitzRacing.com. If you
have installed a performance pipe and have had the air box
modification done, then by all means I recommend you invest in a Power
Commander II® to enhance your fuel injection map program to better
utilize the unrestricted airflow you now enjoy.
I can already hear most of you asking, what is the air box
modification? Go to the discussion forums on one of the most awesome
websites around strictly for Hayabusas:
www.suzukihayabusa.org/
and you can read tons of info regarding it. Here is how it's done,
someone takes a dremel and just about hollows out your air box, glues
some filter material in it and puts a shiny billet lid on it. Don't
try this at home until you have seen this mod done or trust someone
else to do it for you. I know many of our racers will be happy to take
your money and perform the modification for you. Then again, you could
just buy a K&N air filter available from many of our Race retailers
which works almost as well.
Here's a techie kind of item that most avid Busa enthusiast already
know about, but let me add to the cacophony of items already presented
for your reading pleasure. Try adding a TRE for your launches. TRE
stands for
"Timing Retard Eliminator". The nice thing about the TRE is
the fact that it plugs into the factory wiring harness. No
cutting/splicing involved. The stock Hayabusa ignition timing is
retarded in 1st thru 5th gear, for obvious reasons -- wheelies anyone?
The TRE fools the ECU into thinking the bike is always in 5th gear, so
it uses the 5th gear-timing map all the time and there's no MPH
restriction as there is in 6th gear. With the TRE, you get full
ignition advance in all gears, and this makes the Busa feel more
responsive in lower gears and lower RPMs. Some owners have claimed a
gain in Dyno HP with it. Some owners have claimed better 60 ft times
at the strip. In addition, a few owners have claimed it did nothing
for them. I have found that if you like wheelies, then install this
bad lad. Personally, it's been my opinion that most racers go slower
at the track but love the power band in 1st gear.
Before we get too deep into the last part of our article, I wanted to
share with you some rebuild pictures as we finally finished up on our
2001 Pro-Street Hayabusa.
 I found the coolest place for my next love, besides chrome, and that
is CARBON FIBER.
Street and Track Accessories is just the place for
Carbon Fiber for just about any bike and any piece you can think of. I
have been able to afford the new inner fairing pieces that removed a
whole heck of a lot more weight for the 2001 and really bring out the
inner class and beauty of this street beast.
I will be installing additional pieces of this lightweight aerospace
stuff as I can afford it and when I do, Street and Track is the place
to get this stuff. They can actually outfit your entire bike; I mean
that almost every piece of your bike can be made of carbon fiber, even
the gas tank. Yes, you would have a most awesome bike and it would
weigh in very light, but keep your wallet and purses tight to your
bodies, it can get a little pricey.
 We added many billet pieces from Schnitz Racing from the reservoir
covers to the kickstand, but one of my favorite pieces is the
Orient
Express Billet Gas Cap.
It truly is a work of art if I do say so myself. No more fiddling with
the key to get the cap open to fill up the tank. Just give the cap a
slight twist and your off and running and you lose a half a pound of
weight in the process. Now what could be sweeter?
My latest look for the front end that not only adds a touch of class,
but is highly functional for racing is my
Zero Gravity Double Bubble
low profile in light smoke Wind Screen. Now that's a mouthful! I've
tried quite a few and this one is my favorite for both looks and
profile. They offer many colors and profiles so look them over and
choose what's best for your style of riding. Just tell em Dragbike.com
sent you.
From TMH Motorsports in Cleveland, Ohio I found a great line of Pro-Tek
pro-lite foot pegs for my baby and they came already chromed. You can
get them anodized in a multitude of colors, polished or chromed (my
favorite color) and they look just awesome. THM Motorsports is also
the place for my Clutch Slave support brace. Can't be without that
little trinket.
Click here to read the story on this little wonder for
your Busa.
I already let the cat out of the bag by telling you I am going to use
1lb. NOS bottle for both my air shifter and my Schnitz Racing Dry
Nitrous Kit. The 1lb. bottle is relatively inexpensive so I have 3 of
them charged and ready to go. Dave Schnitz has a beautiful NOS setup
for fuel injected motorcycles and this particular kit was intended for
the Hayabusa. The Dry NOS System comes with everything you will need
to turn your street machine into a race ready nitrous bike.
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It only has 1 nozzle to install in the air box and hiding the bottle
is easy as pie. Wiring the NOS system was way simple and you can even
do a custom job by wiring the provided switch from the Nitrous kit to
energize your
Schnitz Racing Ignition Retard Unit at the same time.
That way, when the start button is pushed to energize the nitrous, you
also energize the retard unit. Cool, huh? You really need to have one
of these if you want to explore more horsepower possibilities and keep
your motor in one piece while doing so.
Since the first and last views of this bike are so entrancing, I
decided to spend my last few bucks wisely. I chose the
Mototeck clear
signal lens covers and clear rear taillight lens. Now that's a nice
finishing touch don't you think.
Be prepared to sacrifice (destroy) the amber stock turn signal lens to
install the new clear Mototecks. Suzuki, in their infinite wisdom
decided to seal out moisture and dust from the assemblies, using a
very icky, sticky goop booger gunk as the seal. I had to break the
lens and pry it out with a screwdriver bit by bit. I almost poked that
screwdriver through my thigh twice, not a pretty picture I assure you.
If you want to get really trick with your lights, you can install some
Eaglite Plasma/Xenon Bulbs for your High and Low headlights. WOW, are
they bright! Daylight couldn't be brighter.
Here are a few pics of the finished 2000 Street Bike Shootout for your
viewing pleasure
This brings us to the conclusion of our project, we're done, finito,
finished, complete, over and done with, ended, through and otherwise
just damn tired of working on these monsters. Dragbike.com has many
projects planned over the next year and you can read about them on the
greatest website for Motorcycle Drag Racing.
DRAGBIKE.COM
I wish to extend my sincere thanks to you, our readers who have stayed
tuned for every part of this project and to the many loyal
dragbike.com'rs who look forward to every article we present to you.
To Dave Schnitz, for his guidance and expertise in the world of
aftermarket performance motorcycles parts. To Matt Polito my editor,
for his patience and editorial help so that this article actually
looked professional. To Scott Valetti, our Webmaster who tirelessly
keeps our website up and running for your enjoyment. To Phil Tinsley
for his awesome polish work and chroming expertise and to my cousin
Mike Caputo, whose help was very much appreciated and whom I could not
have done this project without.
Here are the finished pictures of the 2001 Pro-Street. Enjoy!
THE END
Maximum Performance Cycles
709 N. Reynolds Road
Toledo, OH. 43615
Mike Caputo - Parts & Service - 419-531-0300
Phil Tinsley - Chrome & Polishing - 419-691-7553
E-Mail: MPRpromod@aol.com
Schnitz Racing
222 N. Third Street - Decatur, IN 46733 USA
Phone: 800-837-9730 - FAX 800-213-3244
Outside US /Canada Phone: 260-728-9457
Outside US /Canada Fax: 260-728-2021
Used Part Hotline: 260-724-2839
info@schnitzracing.com
www.schnitzracing.com
Street & Track
Import Accessories
8441 Greeley Ave.
Kansas City, KS 66109
913-788-4281 fax: 913-788-4294
www.streetntrackimport.com
info@streetntrackimport.com
Until Next Time, Safe Racing to All
Guy Caputo can be reached at Guy@Dragbike.com
Click here for Busa
Trilogy-part 1
Click here for Busa Trilogy-part 2 |
