The bike was developed to challenge the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11 as the world's fastest production motorcycle,[9] and Honda succeeded with a top speed of 177 mph (285 km/h).

[2][10] Two years later the title passed to the Suzuki Hayabusa, which reached 193 mph (311 km/h).

In the mid-1990s, Honda was determined to produce the world's fastest production motorcycle and to take over the associated bragging rights and marketing impact, at the time held by Kawasaki's Ninja ZX11.

[14] Its supremacy over the ZX-11 was confirmed in April 2007 by Motorcycle Consumer News, although the speeds achieved were slightly lower and the margin was narrower.

It was listed in the 2000 Millennium Edition of Guinness World Records as the world's fastest production bike with a top speed of 194 mph (312 km/h) Hayabusa is the Japanese term for the Peregrine Falcon, a species of raptor which preys on blackbirds.