Gold Digger – 2006 Suzuki Hayabusa

Posted on March 30, 2015 by StreetSeen Magazine

Purchase your copy of StreetSeen Magazine Vol. 37
by clicking this link: https://streetseen.com/shopstreetseen

Story by Jeff Ermann / [email protected]

The name of David Walters‘ bike, “Gold Digger” is fitting in more ways than just the obvious one. “It’s the color,” he said, “and I’m always spending money on it.”

How much? Well, the wide-tire kit ran him about $8,000 and the customized motor ended up racking up another six grand or so. So while that phrase may usually be reserved for women trying to get into a man’s wallet, it’s unlikely he’s ever spent as much on any female as he has on the ’06 Suzuki Hayabusa. “Oh, never,” Walters says, laughing.

Still, like most anyone who’s poured time and money into custom cars and bikes, he wouldn’t change a thing. The bike is a steady winner at shows, a beast on the quarter-mile track and a blur on the street, where Walter says it’s topped out around 200 miles an hour.

“The bike was set up originally for a quarter-mile track. The motor’s been polished and blueprinted. It’s a 1,300 motor punched out, running probably at 1,400, would be the size of the motor now,” he says. “That was one of the first things I did. After that, when you put that much power into it, the bike’s going to do wheelies automatically. So I did a custom stretch and put in a 240 wide-tire kit by RC Components.”

Walters bought the now chrome-laced bike in stock condition in 2012, but had no plans to do anything other than ride it. “It just kind of happened. I got it because they’re the top bike on the block. They’re one of the biggest quarter-mile bikes,” he said. “I’ve been into it for years and years, so it was just natural for me to do chrome and custom paint.”

The finishing touch on Gold Digger, which is decorated in House of Color Aztec Gold with red and black graphics, was a custom-made iPad-power audio system. Walters altered an Audiovox case and added Sony Xplod speaks and a Sony amp.

Walters, a member of the Panty Droppers Bike Crew in Houston, required no help on the bike, which was a challenge because all of his’ custom jobs before had been with lowriders. This was his first two-wheel project, and his next will be on a ’63 convertible. “It was a lot of work for sure,” he says. “Countless hours, because I did everything myself.”