I know this is a honda site, but I rode my boy's new 2004 hayabusa and found out the Japanese meaning of hayabusa translated to English is "Hold the FUCK on!" I thought my 954 pulls hard, but after riding that bike the thing just seems to leap down the road. I was surprised how well it handles. I'd never sell the 954 because of how wheelie happy the bike is, but Suzuki does make a nice machine.

LOL.....hold the fuck on is right, but somebody shoulda told that dude that looped out in front of us last night when to let up a little :lol: what a fuck. a real squid shady....shorts and t-shirt and helmet hanging off the rear seat. :roll: :roll: :roll:

anyway......it really means "Bird of Prey" or falcon if you really wanted to know :wink:

is the new 2004 hayabusa the larger cc bike I was hearing about?

Tis is a lot to read but here you go everything you didn't wat to know about the naing of the busa...

The Kanji (symbol) on the Hayabusa fairing

Finally, more details on the meaning of the graphic adorning (Kanji) our favourite bike ! So what does Hayabusa mean ?

Further emails from Nomad (UH) has detailed that the symbol does not represent hayato - which actually is a title of a
religious man. Furthermore hayato has 2 characters. Hence the pronounciation of the symbol is actually 'jun' or 'hayabusa'. The symbol definitely represents the hayabusa.

For the record this is what I initially worte : According to a Japanese colleague, the Japanese writing on the fairing is pronounced hayato or hayabusa. (See below for new details) Regardless of the pronunciation the symbol has a meaning approximating to strong and fast.

Hayabusa Background

Based on many sources I have ascertained the following historical information about the Hayabusa. The name as you may have not heard comes from the Japanese Peregrine falcon. It is one of the few animals which can travel at about 300km per hour (in a dive). The designer apparently came up with the name whilst walking along the beach and seeing this bird. The colour scheme of gold/bronze and silver are similar to those of the falcon its self.
Believe of not - it is said that this falcon often hunts actual Blackbirds which I still think is a PR stunt !

Having done further research, the 'Japanese Very Fast Train' which travels at about the same speeds is also called the Hayabusa. I think this was this pre-dates the Suzuki use of the Hayabusa term.

*I have recently been informed that the term Hayabusa was also used to name a WWII Japanese aircraft. Designated the KI-43 it was built by the Nakajima conglomerate and was classed a fighter. This was apparently the first use of bird names for aircraft. *Thxs to the Aviator for the additional information !

The Hayabusa was first rumoured to exist during 1998. It was finally launched in Spain on the Catalunya circuit in April 1999. It joins the lists of top speed limit breaking bikes over the years. In fact it is the first production motorcycle to break the 300kph barrier ! The namer of the bike is reported to be Suzuki Product Planning group - Akihiko Muramatsu.

cool. 8)

2k2954 thanks for all the great info. I'll definetely get my boy to check out the site and read the post. I've heard that the symbol does mean the Japanese Peregrine falcon. That's a cool name for a bike. I am still impressed with how quick it is.