First Gen Katana

Thoes of you who know me know that Im primarly a Honda Motorcycle Guy, there are however certain bikes I want to own before I die. This is one of them.


From Motorcycle Classic's May/June 06

Though the GS1000SZ Katana was not an entirely new motorcycle when it debuted in 1982, it was radically different in design and idea than its predecessors in Suzuki’s GS line of bikes. “What struck me the most,” Richard says, “was the appearance, the way the back of the tank came to a point, and how the seat was ‘scooped out’ to allow the rider to feel like they were a part of the bike, rather than sitting on top of the bike.”
The unusual design was wild on purpose. Though Suzukis of the day were known to be some of the fastest, best-handling machines in their respective classes, the word on the street was their lineup was also a bit boring when it came to looks. Then as now, appearance was key when it came to motorcycle sales, so Suzuki decided it was time to make a bold change.
To update their image, the company hired Hans Muth, a German designer and ex-chief of styling for BMW. Basically, they told him to come up with something so outrageous that no one would be able to ignore it, hoping that somehow just one wild design would draw attention to their whole line.
Underneath its wild appearance lives a more-or-less standard issue GS. The bike’s engine, though a fine dual-overhead-cam 16-valve power plant, is essentially an earlier GS1100 mill with a 2mm-smaller bore and a 1.2mm-shorter stroke. The frame, swingarm and wheels were also basically taken from the GS1100.

Ergonomics are a different story altogether. Clip-on bars and rear-set pegs and controls made the Kat feel like a much more focused beast than its GS1100 brother. Named after a samurai sword, the Katana was meant to be a purposeful tool. Suzuki originally sleeved down the Kat’s engine so that it could qualify for AMA Superbike racing (which had a 1,000cc upper limit), though they figured that consumers were going to expect 1,100cc performance.
To try and make up for the lack of displacement, they added a few tricks, including the Twin Swirl Combustion Chambers (TSCC) that were reshaped for better high-rpm fuel atomization.
Though the performance numbers came close to replicating the larger engine, period tests noted that the 1,000cc engine really had to be wrung out to perform like its big brother, and the GS1000SZ still lacked an obvious amount of torque in comparison. For 1983, they bumped displacement back up to 1,100cc.

Press reports
“The Katana is sharp, slicing through traffic or carving up a twisty stretch of tarmac. It is fast. It screams to be used every time it is pulled out of the garage. It is nothing to be trifled with.”
— Cycle World,
November 1981

“The Suzuki GS1000SZ would be easy to explain if it were Italian. All the buzzwords that apply to European flashbikes — stylish, daring, individualistic, peculiar, race-bred — can be reapplied in full to the Katana.”
— Cycle,
December 1981

“With the arrival of the new Katana, other motorcycles suddenly seem stuck with earthbound styling. The sharply-angled fairing with its mini-shield looks like it can propel the Katana to light-speed velocities all on its own.”
— Cycle Guide,
December 1981
“Displacement means power so the Katana gives away a handful of [horsepower] and fractions of a second to the class rivals. And the suspension is simply too stiff. So the Katana isn’t perfect. Instead it’s wonderful fun.”
— Cycle World,
November 1982