Suzuki Philippines has finally unsheathed the Katana sport bike in the Philippines. The Katana was revealed at the Moto Heritage Weekend event at Metrotent in Metrowalk, Ortigas to the large crowd gathered for the Manila Distinguished Gentleman's Ride.
The 2020 Suzuki Katana was first unveiled at the International Motorcycle & Scooter Fair (Intermot) in 2018 in Cologne, Germany.
The new iteration draws heavy inspiration from the original motorcycle, the 1981 GSX 1100S Katana. In fact, Suzuki also displayed an early-model Katana to show how faithful it is to the original.
Like the original, the 2020 Suzuki Katana employs angular, chiseled lines to give it that boxy 80s look. Despite its square shape, the Katana lights up the night with an LED headlamp. A more modern touch is the swingarm-mounted satellite rear fender to keep the tail section looking clean and aggressive.
Underneath all that fairing, the Katana rides on the GSX-S1000 platform that uses a twin-spar aluminum frame. The new motorcycle is also powered by the same 999cc four-cylinder derived from the 2005-2006 K5/K6 GSX-R1000 — making 150 PS at 10,000 rpm and 108 Nm of torque at 9,500 rpm. It features a 12 L fuel tank and a wet weight of 215 kg (1 kg heavier than the faired GSX-1000F).
Keeping it above ground are fully-adjustable 43 mm KYB inverted front forks and a monoshock with adjustable preload and damping. It's brought to a stop with dual 310 mm discs with Brembo Monobloc four-piston calipers in front, and a single disc with a Nissin caliper in the rear.
As for the rider, he'll have a new LCD instrument panel, and aids like Easy Start, Low RPM Assist, ABS, and three-mode traction control that can be switched off.
The Katana is now available in either Metallic Mystic Silver or Glass Sparkle Black, priced at PhP 817,000. Those that ordered during the Moto Heritage Weekend were given a free, matching Katana helmet by Arai.
