Difference between revisions of "Suzuki Katana"

The original '''Suzuki Katana''' was a sports [[motorcycle]] produced in the early 1980s at the instigation of Suzuki Deutschland specifically for their market needs, and designed at the instigation of Suzuki Deutschland by an outside design team which the project was farmed out to. The Katana name was later applied to a range of sports-touring motorcycles in North America (also offered in Europe but without the Katana moniker) see [[Suzuki GSX Series]], and to a line of 49cc/50cc scooters in Europe.

The original '''Suzuki Katana''' was a sports [[motorcycle]] produced in the early 1980s at the instigation of Suzuki Deutschland specifically for their market needs, and designed at the instigation of Suzuki Deutschland by an outside design team which the project was farmed out to. The Katana name was later applied to a range of sports-touring motorcycles in North America (also offered in Europe but without the Katana moniker) see [[Suzuki GSX Series]], and to a line of 49cc/50cc scooters in Europe.

The  Katana design was a radical departure from the production designs at that time, incorporating the forward nose and a shaped, blended fuel tank with a merged fuel tank-to-seat arrangement at a time when squared off fuel tanks and flat-faced fairings were the norm. The design also incorporates favorable aerodynamics, with emphasis placed on high-speed stability. The same generalized design had already been used in 1979 for a one-off MV Augusta from the same design team, but which never saw production (source: Target Design). When the first production Katana hit the street, it was the fastest mass-production motorcycle on the planet, ensuring the new looks were matched by unprecidented performance levels. So radical was the design departure from previous mass-market cycles that most major motorcycle magazines of the era thought the design wouldn’t fly and that it wouldn’t appeal to the masses. So little they knew — by the mid 1980’s, all the Japanese powerhouses were trying to copy the design to some degree or other, and it can be seen in such bikes as the ‘85 [[Kawasaki motorcycles|Kawasaki]] GPZ 1100. Portions of the design ethos are still visible in some current motorcycles.

The  Katana design was a radical departure from the production designs at that time, incorporating the forward nose and a shaped, blended fuel tank with a merged fuel tank-to-seat arrangement at a time when squared off fuel tanks and flat-faced fairings were the norm. The design also incorporates favorable aerodynamics, with emphasis placed on high-speed stability. The same generalized design had already been used in 1979 for a one-off MV Augusta from the same design team, but which never saw production (source: Target Design). When the first production Katana hit the street, it was the fastest mass-production motorcycle on the planet, ensuring the new looks were matched by unprecidented performance levels. So radical was the design departure from previous mass-market cycles that most major motorcycle magazines of the era thought the design wouldn’t fly and that it wouldn’t appeal to the masses. So little they knew — by the mid 1980’s, all the Japanese powerhouses were trying to copy the design to some degree or other, and it can be seen in such bikes as the ‘85 [[Kawasaki motorcycles|Kawasaki]] GPZ 1100. Portions of the design ethos are still visible in some current motorcycles.