Photo: Shohei ninomiya / WikipediaIn this series we present legendary motorcycles at irregular intervals. The futuristic Suzuki Katana begins.

At the end of the 1970s, Suzuki had a problem: If the engine and transmission of the large models were highly praised, the design was completely different. Contemporary models such as the GSX versions of the Japanese simply looked old-fashioned compared to the competition.
What to do? The Suzuki makers faced the classic problem: Do they do their own business or shop externally? The bosses decided to rely on external help. It was found after a short search in the German team Target-Design. At this time the designer Hans A. Muth worked in it. Is there something ringing? Exactly, this designer not only worked for the car manufacturers Mercedes or Porsche, but later became the chief designer of the BMW motorcycle division. His pen was designed such as the R 90 S or the world's first fully-clad motorcycle, the BMW R 100 RS. Still not enough? Okay, he also designed the enduro sales hit BMW GS 80.
Muth and his team sat down at the drawing table. The result was something that was everything else, but not old-fashioned. Long and stretched in shape, a pointed, frame-resistant cladding with headlights and the whole still visually connected to the tank - wow. Just by the way: In export markets such as the USA, the Katana later even had the just-fashioned folding headlight ... In 1981 the large variant with 1100 cubic meters was released and in Germany 101 hp. Later there were smaller models with, for example, 650 cubic meters and a retracted design.


Photo: Rainmaker47/Wikipedia

The engine of the 1100s was open and underlined the claim as a super sportsman. Also the name and the small graphic on the tank were not really discreet: Katana is designated in Japanese the Japanese longsword (Daita) and decorated stylized model name and logo. Any questions?
Yes, according to technology, for example. Here, however, Suzuki may have jumped too short. The developers had not dared the big cut and relied on good, but well-known technology. Every engine of the Katana was installed in other series, the Suzuki Katana relies purely on the design.
The beauty of legends is that the hero doesn't necessarily have to leave the battlefield as the victor to be considered such. Nor did the Suzuki Katana, because it was not a sales success. As early as 1985, the much more restrained lystyled successor model arrived. Today, original katanas are mainly sought - and they were and are rare. When had I seen the last one on the street?
But rescue is approaching. Following the classic, Suzuki will launch a new Katana in 2019. The first pictures of the new version caused discussions on the net, which criticized this time Italian design - so nothing has changed.
As with the original, Suzuki did not develop the technology any new, but the Katana 2019 takes over the drive, which is already used in the GSX-S 1000. This means that the liquid-cooled four-cylinder engine with 999 cm3 150 hp at 10,000 rpm and brings 108 Nm at 9,500 rpm. Pleasing: The retro trend does not go so far that the developers do not do without modern assistants. The new Katana comes with a three-stage and switch-off traction control (modes: Sport, City, and Wet), LCD instruments, anti-hopping clutch and ABS.