Grab your leg warmers and get ready to dial up your favorite Tommy Tutone number – we’re going back to the 1980s! Hard to believe that Suzuki dropped the Katana on a flabbergasted world more than 35 years ago. With looks dominated by a big-block inline four and scantily clad with an itty-bitty bikini fairing,…
If we were to ask RSBFS readers what 750cc sportbike of the 1990’s they would most like to own now, I would bet most would choose a Suzuki GSX-750R Limited Edition or maybe a Yamaha OW01 or perhaps a Kawasaki ZX7R/ ZX7RR. A few intrepid souls might throw a Honda VFR750 or Ducati 748 into…
In ancient Japan, the Katana was known as the samurai sword. Smaller than the long broadswords of the day, the Katana changed the art of Japanese warfare; quick to draw, the lighter blade could strike quickly before the enemy could react. When victory depended upon response times, the Katana became the weapon of choice. Sadly,…
Up for grabs today is something so rare that in the States most people won’t even know it exists. I know you think you’re looking at a 1000cc Katana from 1981. But in fact, this 400cc version was produced nearly 20 years after the fact! Retro was very big in Japan (and continues to be),…
Introduced in Europe in 1981, the Suzuki GSX1100S “Katana” and its littler siblings like this rare, apparently very late-production GSX400S stunned the motorcycle buying public. A quick glance at bikes available from other manufacturers at the time shows us deep in the era of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle, and the Big Four were clearly following,…
Here on RSBFS we occasionally see an early 1980’s Suzuki Katana 1000 but today we are fortunate to be able to post the very rare “little brother” Katana, the Suzuki GS750SE Edition. Suzuki created the 750cc version for people who liked the look of the larger edition but wanted something not as bulky. An upgraded…
Introduced in 1981, the GSX1100S “Katana” was styled by Hans Muth, formerly of BMW and appeared to have been sculpted by someone wielding its namesake. So much for “conservative German design”! The new bike was powered by Suzuki’s 1074cc, air/oil-cooled four-cylinder hung in a relatively conventional twin-shock frame. While the technology under the skin was…
In an era of mass-produced sportbikes, it’s easy to miss the details that made bikes like the Bimota SB4 so special. Virtually every modern manufacturer makes concessions to mass-production, and machines that, at first glance, look gorgeous can get a bit ugly in the details. MV Agusta’s F3 675 is a beautiful sleek, wasp of…