Jeffw's Busa Mods

Wheels

As it comes from the factory, the Hayabusa is a bit on the heavy side, 550 lb. My goal is to  shed a few pounds off of the fat beast. I decided to start with the wheels since the stock ones are very heavy, 17/22 lb. front/rear. This reduction in weight would also give less rotating mass and, hopefully, a bit quicker acceleration.

I chose Dymag Custom Carbon from Superbike Racing in Valdosta, Georgia. These are one of the lightest wheels on the market. Not only do I get an overall weight reduction but also reduced unsprung weight. This will improve performance, handling and braking. I have been told that every ounce removed from the rim is equal to 25 pounds at 100 mph!

I ordered my wheels from Andrew who is a nice "chap". I had them shipped and they got lost in transit - nothing like two days of wondering whether someone else had my new wheels on their bike! It was a simple install at around 10 minutes. These wheels simply bolted on my bike with no modification at all! Although I had been running Dunlops for the last 4,000 miles, I chose the Michelin Pilot Sport for a change of pace.

One additional thought on wheels, it appears that the cush drive assembly on the Hayabusa is taking tremendous stress. I noticed this when I removed the stock wheel and looked at the rubber wheel dampers and found what looked like huge stress cracks.  The Dymag wheels, use a different cush drive setup and I no longer worry about stress cracks.

Send questions to: webmaster. Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,2007 JSD Products