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Suzuki GSX 1000SV Katana

A 1000 cc version of the new GSX1000S was made to homogenized the model for racing purposes. By decreasing the bore by 2,6 mm the cylinder displacement was decreased to 998 cc, just below the one-liter mark. The GSX1000SD was available in shops already in 1981.

The UK 1000SZ, built for racing, had slide carburetors, whereas the 1100's had CV carbs. The US 1000S, however, had CV carbs! Also, the US versions never had the black ”fins”under the nose fairing - the mounting holes were blanked-off on all US bikes.
Only 3000 units of the 1000 cc Katana were produced.

Amazing but true: Not everyone thought this bike was easy on the eyes when it debuted in 1982.

To realize why, consider exactly which molds were broken when Suzuki unleashed the GS1000SV Katana. Back in the early ’80s, the norm in motorcycling was big-bore standards, complete with squared-off tanks. Think Honda CB900F. Think Kawasaki KZ1000. Heck, Windjammer fairings were still considered state-of-the-art.

Into this world blasted one of the most radical styling departures ever mass-produced. The Katana, named after a samurai sword, was shaped with help from designer Hans Muth to look like nothing else on two wheels.

In hindsight, it’s easy to get a premonition of today’s sportbikes in the design. The humpback, racer-inspired gas tank. The ready-to-pounce posture. But there’s something that remains unique about the Katana as well. You can see it in the two-tone suede-finish seat, the fairing-which is more accent than fully enclosing bodywork-and the yin-and-yang speedo/tach.

The design actually drew a lukewarm response in magazines of the day. Editors harrumphed that the bike was “an eyeful,” or that the “shapes don’t quite add up.” Even Suzuki seemed timid about diving head-first into the future, continuing to incorporate more mainstream styling in its GS550 and GS1100 models that sold alongside the limited-edition Katana.

Underneath the bodywork, the bike was all ’80s Superbike, which is to say capable, but hardly as innovative as the skin. Sleeved down from the previous year’s GS1100, the Katana sported a double-spine frame, dual rear shocks and dual front discs with anti-dive forks. It all added up to respectable, but hardly earth-shaking, performance.

In the end, the Katana was a concept bike for the masses. As such, it was not an overwhelming sales success. Offered for only a year, the limited-edition bike then faded from the scene, although the Katana name continues on a 750cc machine today.

But sales numbers aren’t everything. And with the Katana, Suzuki carved itself a niche as a styling innovator, a role that continues with the new GSX1300R Hayabusa.

Meanwhile, a machine that may have seemed merely strange in 1982 has since become a classic.