The attractively styled two-tone seat (black and silver, like the original) doesn’t look especially comfortable, but it truly is, even after an hour or more aboard. The Katana’s riding position is wonderfully neutral for a sporty bike, with a modest lean forward to the tapered aluminum handlebar and a fairly generous amount of leg room. Finish detailing is beyond what we sometimes see from Suzuki, befitting its $ 13,499 MSRP. Suzuki boasts that the Katana is the first U.S.-specification Suzook to be equipped with LED turn signals, the fronts with clear lenses neatly integrated into the front cowl. The rear end is further cleaned up by a stubby exhaust outlet enabled by the muffler canister under the engine, a system that appears identical to the GSX-S’s. Mounted to a braced aluminum swingarm from the 2016 GSX-R1000 is a rear fender appendage incorporating turn signals and license-plate mount, leaving a nicely tidy tail section.
It is simultaneously nostalgic and modern, led by a retro-fabulous rectangular headlight, now LED and bookended by LED position lights. The journey from “Gixxus” to Katana is a visual transformation, eschewing the GSX-S’s rounded forms for sharper-edged creases. This one is packaged on the GSX-S1000 platform, which remains in Suzuki’s lineup as a roadster or, in S1000F form, a faired sporty bike. Like the first Kat, which used the engine from the GS1100E, the new model uses an existing model as its base. There was nothing like it before or since. The key ingredient is the Katana’s distinctive style, cribbing from the original Hans Muth design that shocked riders back when motorcycle designs were much more conservative. There’s a reborn Katana for 2020, and there’s much to appreciate about this new one. That first model is one of the most memorable motorcycles of the last four decades. 5 min read Retro Literbike Wins on Style I was predisposed to like this bike, as I fondly remember the edgy original Katana, a groundbreaking design that stunned the moto world in 1982.
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