2019 Katana test: new fit for the Suzuki maxiroadster
Suzuki is making a daring bet on the roadster segment in 2019 by launching a new Katana. A motorcycle based on the underrated GSX-S1000, with the cult name but with a contested look. Site was able to try it in Japan and two months before its release in France. Banzai !
Katana Test 2019 page 1: One sword, two blows
Are you charmed by the look of the BMW R90S, the first production motorcycle equipped with a fork crown fairing? Do you like the look of the Suzuki Katana? Whatever your answers, dear Moto-Nautes, know that these two machines were designed by the same person: Hans Muth !
- MNC Video Trial : New Katana 2019
- MNC special file :
- Historical and subjective panorama : The 20 ugliest motorcycles
But yes, "Herr Muth", this German designer also at the origin of the "Kolossale"! Here is a man who literally changed the lines of the motorcycle. And those of the GSX-1100S in particular…
Very classic in appearance – too much even, according to senior officials of the brand – the big Japanese roadster was unveiled at the 1980 Cologne Motor Show in a very, very original version: the Katana. So much so that much ink flowed following its presentation … in the letters of readers of the specialized press (in paper at the time!), But much less on the order books…
The Katana 1100 was a commercial failure in France and more generally in Europe. It is only in Japan, where the reference to the swords of the venerable Samurai has undoubtedly had more impact, that the Katana has long remained in the catalog of the Hamamatsu firm..
The family has welcomed many members (750, 400 and 250 cc) but some have never put their wheels in Europe. In the Land of the Rising Sun, the Katana made its last appearance in 2000 via a limited series of 1100 copies of the GSX1100SY … The circle was thus closed. But she was just begging to be revived !
It was in 2017 that the revered appellation – by some, shunned or even hated by others – made a noticeable comeback at the Eicma show in Milan, this time with an Italian, Rodolfo Frascoli. "This new vision of a resolutely modern Katana has ignited the hearts of all", the Japanese themselves set ablaze.
"Listening attentively to visitors ‘feedback and excited about the potential contained in the’ Concept Katana 3.0, Suzuki felt the time had come to introduce a new version of the legendary Katana", describe the marketing managers.
Convinced that the iron had to be beaten while it was hot, Hamamatsu’s firm decided to bet again on the quirky and appreciated look – commented anyway – of the Katana. And to do of a stone with a two-stroke saber, she leaned on a solid and undoubtedly underestimated base: the .
In order to create the new Katana in barely a year, Suzuki has completely (or almost, read our technical point on the third page) taken over the mechanics of its maxiroadster which, thanks to its beefy 4-cylinder and its balanced cycle part, s ‘was imposed in the MNC comparison opposing it to its two compatriots of the moment: the last Kawasaki Z1000 and the old Honda CB1000R.
- Comparo MNC :
- Comparo MNC :
On the strength of this victory, the Suz ‘took part in a second game that was also very tough, against the all new Aprilia Tuono V4R and Yamaha MT-10. Here again, the "Gexesse" had put forward its strengths. But it had tilted because of its jerks of injection, its vibrations too present from mid-revs … and a bland look !
Passing under the knife – the Katana? – Japanese designers, the GSX-S1000 thus sees one of the weak points that Site reproached it for: its already seen air of a Japanese maxiroadster, this "manga" style initiated by the Z1000 … at the beginning of the century ( millennium) !
Thanks to its straight and slashed lines, this 2019 novelty stands out from the rest of the current production of maxiroadsters: if many competing brands have long scented and exploited the trail of neo-retro by relaunching a model or surfing a style – more or less – modernized from the 60s and 70s, Suzuki is the first to offer a "remake" of the 80s! Smart, no ?
Star of the years four… two thousand twenty ?
Extremely close to the GSX-S1000 mechanically, the Katana is quite different from a cosmetic point of view. Its "Full LED" headlight – like all the lighting on this motorcycle from the year 2019 – is neither round nor misshapen: it is square, as we found on many road and sports cars of the 80s -90.
Likewise, behind the small and pretty black windshield hides a 100% digital instrumentation, 100% complete but unfortunately 0% colors (read our technical point on the third page). Just ahead, the wires of the left commodo attached to the clutch cable sheath are a bit stained. We would have preferred that they go behind the handlebars instead. Or inside, outright !
Le Journal moto du Net issues another criticism – constructive, as always – about the semi-fairing this time: a few extra centimeters would have been enough to hide the first of the two rather thick welds of the aluminum perimeter frame. An idea for a future facelift ?
Suzuki is also innovating by adopting a license plate holder – and turn signals – offset on the swingarm. "It’s a first on a Suzuki", underline the Yellow Hamamtsu who found inspiration, not on the old Katana, but on the side of the MT-09 of the Blues of Iwata and the roadsters of the Reds from Varese…
This configuration skilfully lightens the truncated, muscular, dark and completely new part of the Katana. Placed on its side stand – no power plant to maintain the chain, grrr – the bike exhibits a particularly successful straight profile. In return, his left profile is found considerably weighed down by the support and its – essential? – raw plastic cover.
The matt black aluminum handlebars mounted on silent-blocks and the front fender mounting bracket – also in aluminum -, the two-tone gray and black saddle (a tempting red and black is available as an accessory) must legitimize the high placement of range of the Katana in the family of Suzuki roadsters.
Expected in May in French dealerships, the Katana is available in two colors: the original gray should represent "70% of sales here", calculates Suzuki France, "therefore 30% for black which particularly appeals to young people" … less sensitive to the look of the 80s, no doubt.
The choice of paint will clearly not be guided by the price: unlike many Suzuki, the Katana and the "Katanoire" will be offered at the same price: 13,699 euros, or 1000 euros more than the GSX-S1000, 400 of more than the semi-faired version GSX-S1000F.
Site underlines in passing the excellent initiative of Suzuki France: the subsidiary reserves for its each of its new owners a book which presents in detail their Katana of the XXIst century, but also draws up the history of the Katana range – those of the XXth century -, and give voice to their various designers.
This pretty book cannot of course justify the purchase of the motorcycle on its own. Should we fall for the new Katana? Site gives you its opinion, after a short, intense and informative ride on a closed mountain road in Japan. Where the Katana is made…
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