Suzuki Katana - Design History

Design History

The Katana's design started when Suzuki hired Hans Muth, ex-chief of styling for BMW, to update the company's image.

The three-man Target Design team consisted of Muth, Jan Fellstrom and Hans-Georg Kasten. Kasten was still with Target Design as of 2003.

The design worked through several variations, with the public being allowed to see the ED1 and ED2 versions. This original design was a 650 cc (40 cu in) model called the ED-1 (European Design 1).

The ED1 design featured a forward nose and a shaped, blended fuel tank with a merged fuel tank-to-seat arrangement at a time when squared off fuel tanks and flat-faced bolt-on accessory fairings were the norm. The design also incorporated favorable aerodynamics, with a special emphasis placed on high-speed stability, and was repeatedly wind-tunnel tested in Italy. The same generalized design forms had already been used early in 1979 for a one-off MV Agusta from the same design team, which never saw production.

When the first production Katana hit the street, it was the fastest mass-production motorcycle in the world, ensuring the new looks were matched by unprecedented performance levels. So radical was the design departure from previous mass-market cycles that most major motorcycle magazines of the era thought the design would not appeal to the masses. Nevertheless it was a sales success, and the motorcycle had a lasting impact on motorcycle design. Portions of the design ethos are still visible in many current sport motorcycles, including the faired-in aspects of both the seat and the tank.

In 1980 at Intermot, the Cologne motor show, came the ED-2, an 1,100 cc (67 cu in) version based on the Suzuki GS 1100. Today, the only Katana-prototype outside Japan stands in Austria's Motorradmuseum Eggenburg 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Vienna. This was followed in 1981 with almost no changes to the production version, which is often seen as the Katana, as the design was so distinctive. The design was so successful in its basic form that these additional components were never made, apart from a small wind deflector screen. The unusual overlapping dials on the instrumentation were the result of arranging the mechanical components to fit as closely together as possible to reduce weight and costs.

The petrol filler was offset from the centerline of the tank to allow for a clean continuous seam weld. This design philosophy was applied to all areas of the bike's design, thus reducing the costs, weight, and number of components required.

There were two racing models worthy of note. The GSX1000 (circa 1981) is a now very rare model with more aggressive camshafts, flat-slide carburettors and wire wheels homologated for then international superbike racing rules. The GSX1100SXZ, also from 1981 and with wire wheels, more aggressive camshafts but with CV carburettors in Australia. New Zealand models were fitted with oval bore slide carbs. An extra air inlet hole adjacent to the standard one in the air box and large bore mufflers (same as fitted to the previous Castrol 6 Hour special the GSX100ET). This model was designed for production racing in a number of countries, including Australia and South Africa. Legend says there were 500 made, though it may be up to 800. Chassis numbers began with GS110X-100388. The 1100s were raced with mixed success in Australia in 1981, but rule changes for the 1982 Castrol 6-Hour production race saw teams scrambling to find 1000cc versions. In New Zealand the wire wheeled bike was fielded to meet the then new Honda CB1100R in the production racing series.

The wire wheels were preferred in 1981 because they were lighter than the then cast wheels with slightly wider rims, because the rear tyre width was limited by the rear brake caliper stay bar. There was also a better choice of tyres at the time for production racing, which included 19-inch front rims.

Suzuki also produced 550 cc (34 cu in),650 cc (40 cu in) and 750 cc (46 cu in) versions of the Katana. The 650 had a shaft drive, while the 1984-1986 SE/SF/SG 750 is distinguished by having a pop-up headlight. The air cooled GSX family, of which the Katana was a member, gave way to the equally revolutionary oil-cooled GSX-R series in 1985.

The Katana name was rekindled, primarily in the North American market, for the revised GSX-F series from the end of the 1980s through to 2006. However, in Europe and other markets, the GSX600F, GSX750F and GSX1100F are considered to be the direct replacement for the GSX550E, GSX750E and GSX1100E sports tourers. The GSX-F range comprised five basic models split into two general eras: the 1988–1997 GSX600F and GSX750F, the 1988–1993 GSX1100F, followed by the 1998–2006 GSX600F and GSX750F, both of which were heavily restyled for the 1998 model year.

Disparaging fans of the original Target Design Katanas are known to refer to the GSX-F models as 'Teapots' due to the profile of the faired-in design. These same models were offered in Europe, but without the Katana name; the Katana name was absent in Europe from 1986 until the 1999 arrival of a 49cc/50cc line of Suzuki scooters.

The original design ethos reappeared at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, when Suzuki rolled out a concept bike called the Suzuki Stratosphere, which heavily incorporated many facets of the original ED1/ED2 designs, although tied in a new transversely-mounted narrow 6-cylinder engine. Suzuki has subsequently confirmed in August 2007 that the Stratosphere will enter production.

A model appearing in 1984 was the Katana 750SE with a pop-up headlight, still using an air-oil cooled engine. These were very popular even when their performance was easily out done by other competitors at the time.

Features used by the design team for the original Katana can be seen in many motorcycles of the 1980s through the present, from the XN85 Turbo bike to subtle markings on the RG250 two strokes. The fact that modern sport motorcycles generally have fairing and seats that visually merge into a sloping-at-the-rear fuel tank is directly traceable to the original Katana ED1/ED2 design series.