Suzuki Hayabusa Naked Speed | WILD FILE

There's a good reason modern sportbikes are fitted with fairings. Not only do they slice through the atmosphere with impressive aerodynamic efficiency, they also protect the rider from windblast, making it easier to hold onto the handlebars at triple-digit speeds. It's no small feat to hold onto a naked bike at 150 mph, to say nothing of an unthinkable speed like 254.449 mph. Yet that's exactly how fast Tampa, Florida's Bill Warner went on his naked Suzuki Hayabusa earlier this spring at the Texas Mile in Goliad, obliterating every unfaired speed record. This was the first, and remains the only, officially recorded pass over 250 mph on a naked bike, ever. Talk about forearms of steel!

Warner originally entered the East Coast Timing Association's exclusive 200-mph club in March of 2007 riding a highly tuned, completely naked Yamaha V-Max, before making the jump to a Hayabusa better suited to chasing seriously big speed. His is a 2000 model, fitted with a RCC Ultra turbo kit, Falicon crank and rods and custom, turbo-spec JE pistons--and it produces upward of 550 horsepower with the boost cranked up. The chassis is stretched 6 inches with a JMC double-braced swingarm, holding an 8.5-inch Carrozzeria aluminum wheel covered by a 240mm-wide Pirelli tire. Bodywork is by Houdini.

Warner now has his sights set on the ultimate motorcycle speed record at North Carolina's Maxton Monster Mile: 260.288 mph, set by a similarly tuned, fully faired Hayabusa. Talk about naked ambition!