It has been a long time coming… and I am SO happy to have been a part of last night!
A few years ago, a very important person to me lost something, something that at one time he was very passionate about. For those of you who know us, you know he is where my passion started. It devastated me to see him lose it… but I am elated to share with you that he FOUND it again! I’m speaking of the passion of DRAG RACING!
Joey recently purchased a brand new 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa and she’s a BEAUTY! She is a beautiful mix of black and charcoal. The color specs for the bike say its black black/gray, but it’s definitely not gray it’s a gorgeous deep tone of charcoal. When designing the new 08’ they seemed to have left nothing out. Joey took me for a ride not too long ago and it feels so good. It pulls hard and feels smooth through every gear. Equipped with a 1340 cc motor, 12.5:1 compression, 3 factory power settings (similar to the GSXR-1000) and a factory shift light to boot, Suzuki created a BEAST! When compared to the ZX-14, Cycle World Magazine reported “No word in the early press materials as to what kind of electronic hocus-pocus (if any) will be used to keep the new ’Busa from becoming a human fly-swatter at the dragstrip, but certainly the ZX-14’s production-record 9.78-second pass is in danger”. They were nothing less then accurate! This baby is BEAUTY and the BEAST all wrapped together in one killer package!
With nothing more then an aftermarket pipe, Joey’s first pass was a 9.80 @ 147 mph against a stretched ZX-14 who ran a 9.81. Quickly followed up by a 9.72 pass. His worst pass of the night (if you could call it that) was a 9.90 with MPH throughout the evening consistently between 147 - 150. After obtaining a strap from Alicia Karstens of GoMoto (www.gomotoriders.com), his best and final pass of the night was a 9.47 @ 150.9 mph. It was a BEAUTIFUL pass from launch to the ¼ mile mark. We got him in a fairly sticky patch at the line, he launched her good and she went straight as an arrow. Almost as if that was exactly what she had been waiting for. You could see her pulling hard the entire way, which is pretty impressive considering you typically don’t see that type of performance.
Keep in mind he hasn’t raced in a about a year-n-half and every rider questions if they remember “how to do this”. Without any more questions needed, he absolutely proved that this is in his blood to-stay. THANK GOD! We both feel VERY confident with the right day (good traction, good track prep, good air, sunny conditions, etc.) that we will see a .30 pass (low or high – that would kick ass for a bone stock Busa).
We are excited to just have fun with her and see what else she can do. I’ll keep you updated on her progress…
Till next time…watch out 14’s – no cryin’ because you bought an inferior machine! ;)
I LOVE YOU JOEY! Thank you for letting me be a part of your first night back!
Keep the rubber side down (at least for awhile) and bee safe!
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