King of the 1980s: 1983 SUZUKI KATANA 1100

This entry has been published on January 8, 2011 and links to eBay may have been updated to point to similar bikes of interest.

For Sale: 1983 SUZUKI KATANA 1100

As far as mass-produced sportbikes go, this is the Bigfoot of the motorcycle world. Rarely seen, and often only in grainy pictures, the Katana 1100 rocked the press and public with wild styling and power to match. Designed by the legendary Hans Muth and powered by a bored-out version of the air-cooled, 2 valve GS mill, this bike was a real head turner. Unfortunately, our seller has provided only marginal pictures of this mighty beast.

From the seller:
1983 RARE SUZUKI KATANA WITH ONLY 8350 MILES THIS BIKE LOOKS AND RUNS NEW.

NEW TIRES MANY NEW ITEMS THIS BIKE RUNS 100%

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES CALL ME TO SEE

There is so little information in the ad or the pictures, one would be forgiven to ignore this bike. Still, it is a true icon of the power era of the 1980s, where style and originality was as important as performance. And just so you can see what a Katana REALLY looks like, here is a stock photo of an original bike.

So what is this motorcycle equivalent of Sasquatch worth? This is a hard call. In prime condition, these bikes will pull in upwards of $8k+. But that is for museum quality hardware, which this bike is not (you can see that despite the poor photography). However it still is a Katana, and still remains a desirable motorcycle as evidenced by the high number of bids thus far. Perhaps Step #1 would be to contact the seller for more pictures.

Bidding is currently in the $2k range, which is a bargain for this collectable. For contact info on the seller and to see all the details,