Suzuki celebrates its heritage with the arrival of the New Suzuki Katana – one of its most iconic bikes – Forged to Perfection during the Philippine Moto Heritage Weekend at the Metrotent, Pasig City last weekend. Fresh from its introduction in EICMA last year, Suzuki made a preview of this street bike legend during the 13th IR Bike Festival in March. And now the long wait is over – the 2020 Suzuki Katana is finally in the Philippines.
Design Background
The original Suzuki GSX1100S or the Katana caused a sensation when it was launched in 1981. It won the hearts of riders around the world and forever changed street motorcycle trends. The impact was so great the Katana continues to influence motorcycle designs even today.
Having poured its heart and soul into forging the original Katana, Suzuki never lost its passion for the model. The legend of the Katana lived on within the company as successive generations of designers and engineers anticipated the day they might get to work on new version. Designed by famed motorcycle designer Rodolfo Frascoli and built by Engines Engineering, this new vision of a thoroughly modern Katana sparked a fire in the hearts of all.
Each of the styling features and performance components that distinguish the Katana underwent many iterations to achieve the desired level of refinement and functional beauty. Overall, the development process came to closely resemble the arduous process of creating the Japanese sword from which the model’s name is derived.
Design inspiration for the original 1981 Suzuki KATANA came from the famed Japanese sword of the same name. It is a fitting motif for two reasons. Firstly, it reflects well the sharp lines and outstanding performance of the legendary Katana’s functional beauty. As importantly, it reflects well Suzuki’s philosophy of uncompromising craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Forged to perfection and polished to a magnificent radiance, engineered to provide maximum control and optimum performance, finely crafted to take riding pleasure to a new level – the Suzuki Katana is destined to create a buzz once again all over the world.
The Arrival of the New Suzuki Katana in the Philippines
The Philippines is not unfamiliar with the Katana, in fact numerous Filipinos own the early iterations of the iconic bike. For the arrival of the 2020 Suzuki Katana in the country, Team Suzuki did it during the Philippine Moto Heritage Weekend – a very apt venue to launch a bike the celebrates the heritage of Suzuki as a brand.
The unveiling was attended by Suzuki Philippines’ National Sales Manager Mitsunori Shiraishi, Big Bikes Marketing Supervisor Mary Ann Garcia, Big Bikes Sales Supervisor Allan Panlibuton as well as Wheeltek Motor Sales Corporation’s (Suzuki Big Bikes dealer) General Manager for Big Bikes Bobby Orbe and Suzuki Big Bikes Center Makati Branch Manager Mhae Javier. Ride PH’s host and the man behind the Philippine Moto Heritage Weekend Jay Taruc also joined the launch. Special guest to the occasion was Dr. Ricardo Quintos, owner of a 1992 Katana. He shared his experiences and love for the bike and its design and even dubbed it as one of the first if not the first street sport bike in the country given its design and power. He is also one of the first buyers of the 2020 Katana which was activated the same day to the delight of the spectators.
The 1992 Katana was displayed side by side with the 2020 Katana Black and Silver models during the 2-day event at the brand’s booth aptly called as the Suzuki Hub. Buyers of the 2020 Katana were also treated with a special design Katana Helmet by Arai upon purchase of the bike during the Moto Heritage. Also featured were the V-Twin SV650X/A Café Racer, the sportbike that’s been making a buzz at the MotoGP GSXR1000R, the maxi scooter Burgman 400 ABS and the adventure bike – V-Strom 1000XT.
Features
Design
- Sleek, sporty profile with sharp, sweeping lines
- Gives the distinctive design of the legendary KATANA a totally modern look
- Sharp front end and clean, taut-looking rear end
- Distinctive new LED headlight and LED front position lights design
- Unique satellite rear fender extending from the swingarm
- Red logo decal inherited from the legendary 1980s KATANA
- Two-tone seat designed for comfort and good looks
- Custom black upswept muffler
Performance
- High-performance 999cm3 liquid-cooled inline-four engine inherited from the GSX-R1000 and custom-tuned for the street
- Precision fuel injection system
- Advanced engine control management
- Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve (SDTV) system
- Suzuki Exhaust Tuning (SET) system
- Custom 4-2-1 exhaust system
- Lightweight, compact and highly rigid aluminum frame
- Lightweight, ruggedly braced aluminum swingarm
- Fully adjustable Ø43mm KYB inverted front forks
- Radial mount 4-piston Brembo front brake callipers
Controllability
- 3-mode traction control system
- Low RPM Assist
- Suzuki Easy Start System
- Back-torque limiting clutch
- Tubeless Dunlop tires with custom-designed pattern
- Antilock Braking System (ABS)
- Comfortable upright riding position
- Informative full-LCD instrumentation
Colors
- Metallic Mystic Silver
- Glass Sparkle Black
Price: SRP: Php 817,000
