This article was originally published in the October 1996 issue of Sport Rider.
Hahn Racecraft blew in from the Windy City with an injected, boosted Suzuki GSX-R1117, and left California with two UFO records tucked under its arm: quickest quarter-mile and fastest quarter-mile speed in a mind-blowing 8.90-second/168-mph run. In the last minute of top-speed runs at HPCC, Hahn stormed to over 223 mph—following runs of 199, 208 and 213 mph—as the crew came to grips with the demands of fuel delivery under these harsh conditions. The bike hadn’t peaked yet, but time had run out on the Chicago team. Next year perhaps?
Hahn Racecraft Suzuki GSX-R1117 Turbo
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This ’95 GSX-R has come a long way. Dragracer and Hahn crew member Kent Stotz bought it wrecked in North Carolina, dragged it home to Chicago (no pun intended) and called his pal Bill Hahn Jr., son of turbocharging and fuel delivery guru Bill Hahn. The younger Hahn and Stotz had a significantly fast ’89 GSX-R1100 and wondered what they could do with a fuel-injected and turbocharged, liquid-cooled machine. Quite a bit, as we found out.
Stotz’s bike certainly slammed down the big numbers, but they didn’t come at the expense of drivability, something Hahn stresses in his fuel-management programs; the Hahn Racecraft (HRC) bike set new standards for civility paired with insanity.
A 1995 GSX-R1100 usually wears 36mm carburetors in this spot, but Kent Stotz’s Hahn-built beast wears 46mm throttle bodies with Hahn’s Generation II FI system.
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Hahn and Stotz did a good job tweaking the excellent GSX-R chassis by adding Performance Machine wheels, Kosman adjustable triple clamps and a Fox shock. HRC added a generous amount of rear-wheel adjustability (four inches over) to the JDM Fabrications swingarm, which also houses the air-shifter’s air tank. The strong Suzuki six-piston brakes were left in place, though AirTech fiberglass bodywork was fitted around the extensive plumbing of the turbocharger and intercooler, necessitating a trick and almost-legal fender-mounted headlight. With plenty of stock steel fasteners, Hahn’s bike won the heavyweight contest at 487 pounds, prompting Bill Hahn to smile and say, “I think I see a direction for next year.”
The championship-winning Suzuki chassis (similar to the Hyper-Cycle entry) felt wonderfully composed despite a too-soft rear spring, allowing our testers to enjoy the wonderfully responsive engine with repeatable and heart-pounding results—and lap times surprisingly close to the Hyper-Cycle and Team MR. entries. Hahn was almost a no-show for the first day of street testing due to a testing crash the night before UFO; hasty repairs and a borrowed front wheel got them to the show, but the tired and abused front tire fitted while a PM replacement was purchased held us back considerably during the canyon testing, relegating the Hahn Suzuki to fourth place in this strong field of excellent street bikes.
Dynatek electronics record engine performance and handle ignition chores, including a four-stage turbo system and spark retardation under boost. These sophisticated systems allow the GSX-R to run pump gas on the street but hit hard at the track on race fuel.
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Hahn Racecraft built a wide-shouldered brute of a bike with no excuses. It weighs a lot and pulls like a freight train running off a cliff, yet retains the basic handling manners of a stock ’95 GSX-R1100, running straight and true at more than 223 mph. The adjustability built into the fuel-management and turbocharger systems allows the bike to run eight pounds of boost on the street yet put out 22 pounds of boost on the system’s fourth and most serious boost stage at the end of the quarter-mile.
UFO stresses do-it-all competence in our four testing venues, yet it’s the big numbers that everyone wants. Hahn Racecraft rode off with the best numbers of UFO ’96 on a machine we could have ridden home to Illinois. In record time.
Lag problems are reduced due to the quantity of air these ducts hold, feeding the engine until the turbocharger spools up. Forged MTC pistons bring the displacement up to 1117cc with a 10.0:1 compression ratio.
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| Hahn Racecraft Suzuki GSX-R1117 Turbo | |
|---|---|
| Test Track Lap Time | 1:52.74 |
| Quarter-mile Time (sec) | 8.90 |
| Quarter-mile Speed (mph) | 168.0 |
| Top Speed | 223.881 |
| Dry Weight | 487 lbs |
| Temp Gauge | |
|---|---|
| High | Low |
| Brain-bursting straight-line performance | Chassis development trails engine sophisication |
| Unexpectedly docile street manners | Heaviest bike in test, which hurt overall performance |
ENGINE
- MTC Engineering 1117cc forged piston kit, 10.0:1 compression ratio
- Star Performance cylinder head, piston and cylinder modification; valve springs and retainers
- Falicon Knife rods
- MRE lock-up clutch and air shifter
- Dynatek Datalog ignition retard; shift-light system; Dyna 4000 Pro ignition
- Hahn Racecraft programmable electronic fuel-injection system; Generation II 46mm throttle bodies; turbocharger; progressive boost wastegate; intercooler; exhaust system
- Fornarelli Racing dyno testing
CHASSIS
- JDM Fabrication street and strip swingarm modification with integral air tank
- Fox Twin Clicker rear damper
- Dunlop D364 radials
- Tsubaki Sigma 530 O-ring chain
- AirTech bodywork with fiberglass tank
- Kosman adjustable triple clamps
- Chicago Performance chassis tuning
- Replacement cost: $23,000
And that's a wrap of the 1996 UFO Comparison!