A Hayabusa-Swapped Banned EV Is a Thing, and It's Wild

This should be the only way you're allowed to repurpose a banned electric vehicle.

53:25

Robbie Bacon

By: Robbie Bacon

Aug 6, 2024 at 7:07am ET

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Two words will get my click faster than any others, and they're "Hayabusa-swapped". Now, when the vehicle in question is a banned, three-wheeled, solo-cockpit EV, you have my attention locked in for as long as it takes to see how this contraption gets built and how it runs.

But there's an added element of danger to this build, and it has to do with one of the reasons the EV in question, the ElectraMeccanica Solo, was banned.

Several owners of the ElectraMeccanica Solo complained that the vehicle lost propulsion while they were driving, which led to a recall of almost every vehicle sold to customers in the US. But this wasn't what caused the guys at Grind Hard Plumbing to be concerned when they took on the project.

Basically, vehicles have anti-squat suspension geometry, which puts a load on the suspension linkage rather than the springs when the vehicle accelerates. So, when you hit the gas, the vehicle squats down or doesn't squat at all, but the Solo has such a bad anti-squat design that, instead of squatting when accelerating, the Solo's rear would lift.

So, yeah, it was dangerous and was the main inherent problem that needed to be fixed before sending a Hayabusa's 200 horsepower to the single rear wheel. Now, all the ElectraMeccanica Solos were supposed to be destroyed, so I think we should all be grateful the folks at Grind Hard managed to buy one of the last remaining models.

Seeing the extended swingarm with the new suspension setup come together is easily one of my favorite parts of the video. But, come on, any gearhead's favorite part of a Hayabusa-swap video will be seeing the final product bounce off the redline and shred rubber. Don't worry, just watch till the end and you shall be rewarded.

What do you think?

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The end result is an absolute ripper, that's made to drift and blow eardrums. The whole point of this project was to create something that the guys from Grind Hard Plumbing could bring to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, so keep an eye on the channel to see how that goes. Something tells me a couple of welds might not be able to withstand the torture.

Let us know your favorite Hayabusa-swapped machine you've ever seen in the comments. Was this it?