Much hay has been made around here about the rebirth of Suzuki's 80s-tastic GSX-series Katana. After a 14-year hiatus the new Katana thundered back on to the scene (and into our hearts) at EICMA 2018 and we couldn't be more excited. On February 18, 2019, Team Suzuki released a short video showing another late-80s/early-90s-era motorcycling relic—former MotoGP racer and all-around cool dude Nobuatsu Aoki—thrashing the bike around and giving us a running commentary on it. After watching the video we are, in a word, stoked.

Shot somewhere in Japan (we think), the video packs a lot of action and style into a short three-minutes. Throughout, Aoki flogs the Katana through an increasingly beautiful series of shots of sweeping corners, leaf-strewn asphalt, and gorgeous autumn foliage. He waxes poetic about the bike, it's powertrain, and the added sense of control granted by the various rider aids Suzuki fitted to it.

"I couldn't believe how much fun the bike is," said Aoki in the video. "A proper engine in a proper chassis, and the riding position is fantastic. I was surprised how easy to ride it is."

As for the traction control, ABS, and other electronic doohickeys, he was suitably impressed.

"The road surface is wet today and strewn with fallen leaves (one scene where he speeds through a huge drift of leaves on the road made me a little anxious), yet the traction control and ABS support the bike for easy riding with complete confidence."

The video is well worth your time. While the music is hilariously dramatic and a bit overwhelming at times, the sound coming from the Katana and Aoki's soothing voice more than make up for it. It's a great look at the new Katana and does an excellent job of getting us hype for it. My only complaint is that it's not long enough. Oh, and the music. Yeesh.

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