There we have it, ladies and gents! The last Suzuki Katana teaser is up and we get to see the bike in full. This is the last teaser of the series before the model’s official unveiling set to happen on October 2 next week. Now that the sword has been completed and unsheathed, it’s time to see it in action and that’s exactly what the teaser gets us.
The saga is complete
As we suspected at this point, Suzuki is going back to its roots with this Katana revival. Forget the low, sporty, stretched out bike from the mid-2000s the model had evolved into before being discontinued. The maker took out its 79 Target Design drawings and gave what was on paper a 2018 twist.
The original look of the GSX-R1000 Katana was the work of a trio of German designers, including BMW’s ex-chief of styling Hans Muth. To be fair, aside from a handful of exceptions, the 80s weren’t kind to vehicles designs, unless you like stuff that looks like it’s been built in Minecraft.
We already had a hunch last week that we were witnessing a revival rather than an evolution with the unveiling of the gas tank design in last week’s teaser. The dramatic gash and retro color scheme were the biggest hints as to what Suzuki is going for. The fourth and last teaser of the series confirms a lot of suspicions (or fears). The new generation Katana looks heavily inspired from its very first iteration.
The single rectangular headlight embedded in the fairing has a more modern feel with rounded edges, underlined by the same beak-like feature as it ancestor. The new model gets a silver fairing complete with blacked out engine block, swingarm, and frame. The dual exhaust pipe from 1981 has been replaced by a single, right-bearing one.
The footpegs look positioned high on the frame, forcing the knees of the rider to hug the tank. The handlebar is high and wide, dramatically sticking out from the bike’s silhouette. The semi-crouched, semi-extended position is interesting and I’m curious to see how it will translate on the road.
We’ll get to see more of the new Suzuki Katana as well as the full specs next Tuesday. The sword is ready to spring into action.