FUTURE PROOF

Does the new Katana have the edge to achieve what its forefathers had achieved?

-  Janak Sorap

It’s half past four in the morning. That’s two hours before daybreak, and I’ve only slept for three hours, despite having tried my best to call it an early night. I just couldn’t sleep even though I knew she was going to arrive only by afternoon. She’s an icon from the past that has been resurrected, all modernised and updated with firepower giving it a new edge. I can go as to how long I have stared at the pictures and posters of her. Absorbing every possible design element, maybe even creating a 3D image on her in my mind. I wish I could show you what I meant, but it seems that won’t be necessary anymore.

The Suzuki Katana is an icon that somehow stands out from other distinctive motorcycles that have existed. Its design was something that was never seen before and even today looks futuristic and space-age. The original motorcycle was based on the standard GSX1000. But the Katana had such an influence on the motorcycling community that there was even an animated cartoon series, featuring the motorcycle as the ultimate machine of choice. Unlike other Japanese-origin superbikes that were designed and built in Japan, the Katana’s design took shape through a German motorcycle magazine Motorrad, wherein design houses were asked to represent how motorcycles would look in the forthcoming space-age future. Out of the three design houses that participated, Target Design won the competition which caught Suzuki’s attention, and the rest as we know, is legacy.