![]() ![]() ![]() Tyres take a while to warm up and in the cold and wet and you wish the Suzuki would hold a line that little bit tighter and change direction faster. ![]() Steering, grip and general handling are sharp and it cuts through corners in a way that the 80s Kat could have only dreamed, but it lacks the refinement and composure of something like a Kawasaki Z900RS, Triumph Speed Triple, Yamaha MT-10 and any given European super naked. They clocked the Italian-penned ‘Katana 3.0 Concept’ at the Milan international show in 2017 and loved it so much they produced their own and revealed it in Cologne a year later.ĭoes that mean the Suzuki is a rush job, or is it the Samurai sword it’s named after? Its more upright riding position gives the Katana a shorter, squatter feel than the 6kg lighter GSX-S1000, but the way it rides and handles is basically the same. Suzuki didn’t hang around building the Katana. New Dunlop Roadsmart 2 tyres (half way between sports touring and sports rubber) make their debut appearance on a production bike. It’s fitting, then, that Suzuki should revive the Katana now with a mixture of old and new detail touches, from the aluminium front mudguard strut, which apes the original, to modern LED lights and a swingarm-mounted number plate hanger (a first for a Suzuki), which leaves the tail unit, my favourite feature, looking uncluttered and racy.Ī new narrow-hipped, 25mm taller seat and upright bars give the Suzuki a more streetfighter-like riding position and the KYB suspension has been tweaked to suit the revised weight distribution – firmer on the front, softer at the rear. Those old Kats are having something of a resurgence at the moment – restorations are rife and they prowl classic racing grids, tuned to the hilt, turning in incredible lap times. New bodywork is a modern take on the Hans Muth-designed 1982 GSXS1100 Katana and is striking in the flesh. ![]()
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