Suzuki Katana // Low To The Dog, Fly To The Skis

"I'll drive a katana someday" I said to myself in the early eighties and looked dreamily at the big poster Katane, with pins attached to the wall of my room. By the way, for young digital people, posters are enlarged photos of motorcycles, popular singers, bands, actors, etc. that were once published in magazines. We children ripped them out of magazines and beat them on the walls. And dreamed. It was our internet, facebook, instagram and snap chat at the same time. I dreamed of the Katana, that long car with its characteristic rectangular light, square nose and recognizable seat. And, oh, you can imagine the shock when my bike is a little older. Franjo's countryman once, laughing, suggested that he had a new car? Aha, that's right, Katano! And that this machine should be "as low as a dog," but supposedly "like a broken ax." I didn't drive a Katana at the time, I was too young and Japanese cars were too expensive. But at least then I was sitting on it. Well, this spring I rode a Katana. New since 2019. And so he fulfilled his youthful dreams.

Katana

The katana is a traditional Japanese sword in which the master embodies all his art, craftsmanship and sharpness of design. Katana two-wheeled, with official designation GSX-S 1100 Katanawas born in 1981 as a result of the search for new automotive directions by the German designer Hans Muth, who once headed the design department of BMW. The Italians also had a hand in this story, so it is not surprising that it quickly found a crowd of buyers in Europe (as elsewhere), and the motorcycle soon acquired cult status due to its peculiarity. At the time it saw the light of day, it was the fastest production car ever and can still be seen on the tracks of classic superbike races even today. The katana is associated with the kiwami, hagane and kiru chats, which also vividly describe the characteristics of a motorcycle.

kiwami

Kiwami stands for the unrivaled design of the katana, sword. Rodolfo Frascoli is an Italian designer who in 2017 was entrusted by the Japanese to draw a new katana.. At Suzuki, the new Katana was rather late (but later than never) catching a wave of customer enthusiasm for modern retro bikes. Rodolfo succeeded. The new Katana is a good memory of the old, but in its modern style. The distinctive square (LED) headlight is still there, and the two-tone seat, even painted in the second decade of this millennium, is perhaps most reminiscent of big brother Suzuki's red lettering on the sides of the small fuel tank. The new Katana is available in classic silver, but you can also choose black.

make it

In Japanese, the term refers to the forged perfection of the sword, and in the case of a motorcycle, it equates to the pleasure of driving and the capacity of a 999 cubic meter unit with 148 "horses" known from home. model GSX-S1000. The transversely mounted four-cylinder engine is housed in a double aluminum frame that gives the bike with a USD front fork and rear shock absorber the stability it needs. He sits upright on the bike, but you can still drive a circle on the race track. It is primarily intended for shorter trips, possibly to Jezersko.

Or v around the Croatian town of Novi Vinodolski, Opatija and along the rocky walls of the old path in Prelukwhere aces such as Agostini, Nieto, Katayama, even before them Carruthers, Gracetti and Brown - once risked their lives in Grand Prix racing - just to name a few. And yes, in the 50 and 125cc classes they also competed with Suzuki there until the late sixties. Well, we haven't been knife-riding in constant rain, cold, and dark light (hello Primorye, end of May), but we still found out that this Katana is a pretty good machine that has potential. Not for me one day to be a "gaffe". Also with the help of the three-speed anti-skid system, the transmission was smooth, the bike was pleasant to ride, balanced and handled well even in such bad weather.

            

Call

This means a clean cut. And even the two-wheeled Katana has a clean, fluid design, somewhat classic with a touch of modernity. Along with the aforementioned front end, which more closely resembles the original Katana, the rear end is clearly modern, the first such sharp-edged black exhaust system to be replaced by Akrapovich's masterpiece. A variety of accessories are also available, from tinted windshield, side bumpers to various carbon fiber accessories.

Well, my youthful wish came true, and now I really want to seduce a katana on land, so I already clench my fists for a long and hot summer.