Talk:Suzuki Katana

May 2005

Zed1, how come you removed my mention of Hans Muth? Your claim that he did not design the Katana is a bold one. Please show your research because I am pretty certain that Muth was, if not the sole designer, then the head designer (in which case he would presumably get most of the kudos anyway). Refer the following:

• http://www.katanacentral.co.uk/history/targetdesign.asp
• http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_history.htm
• http://home.ama-cycle.org/forms/museum/classic/bike.asp?id=31

The latter seems to indicate that Muth was not the sole designer and may in fact just be a contributor to the design. At any rate, his name is indelibly linked to the Katana, whether sole designer or not, and I believe that this should be specifically mentioned in the article. If you mean that Muth did not design the bike mechanically but only the styling, I don't believe my original wording was misleading in this way. --Mintie 06:47, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

Hello Mintie

Hans Muth was not the designer that is a fact. He was also not the chief designer. He never put pen to paper and was rarely to be seen as the bikes were being designed. I was there. Hans Muth got the contract to design the bikes. Hans-Georg Kasten, Jan Fellstrom and several modellers including Karl-Heinz Abe, and Joachim Saaksmeier did the work. It ended in a legal dispute with the out come that either the name 'Target design' should be used in connection with the Katanas or the following 3 names: Hans Muth, Hans-Georg Kasten and Jan Fellstrom. To keep it short I have always restricted it to Target design but if you wish to add all 3 names please do so. However I cannot allow only his name to be mentioned. Hope you understand, I cannot be responsible for all that is written over the Katanas in the general press - do you believe everything you read! I would like this to be an unbiased account for histories sake. Hans Muth was also responsible for the later 750 updated model but whether he designed it I cannot say as Target design had nothing to do with that design. You can always check the facts with Hans-Georg Kasten at Target design.

You also say styling, well it was designed and not just 'styled' there is a big difference and a great deal of effort, emotion and thought went into its creation and maybe that is why it has stood the test of time.

Hi Zed1 - I presume it is you - may I suggest adding --~~~~ at the end of your discussion so as to sign and date it? (Click the signature button above the editing field). I've also added colons at the beginning of your paragraphs for readability, hope you don't mind.

Anyway, I would be happy enough with leaving the designers as Target Design, since that's not under dispute. It would be helpful if you could provide any references to back up your claim, though. By the "later 750 updated model" I presume you mean the popup headlight 1984 design? Yes, it's also my understanding that this was a design by the in-house Suzuki team.

With reference to your comments about "styling" vs. "design", I hear you. I use the term "styling" for lack of a better one. I was trying to differentiate between designing an entire motorcycle (engine, frame, etc.) mechanically, and the work carried out by Target Design, which as I understand was predominantly to do with the styling and not the engine, suspension, frame, etc. I know that there is a lot of effort that goes into the styling of the motorcycle and that it is not just a matter of drawing shapes on paper. But it doesn't matter, it's just semantics anyway! :-) Cheers. --Mintie 07:15, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hello Mintie

Thanks for the tips re: editing

The problem with reference material is it is all based on what has already been written about the bikes, which is rarely ever totally correct...you only need to read a few articles to see conflicting statements even on the websites you have quoted...although they are better than some. Yes, I did mean the '84 stylised version of the original. I say 'stylised' because who needs a pop-up headlamp on a bike, (extra weight, extra costs). That is the difference between design and style.

Designers sometimes get involved with the concept design of a bike which can determine the engine type, location and frame structure. As a designer myself I hate the word Styling because it reduces our work to something superficial and only about appearances. Nothing could be further than the truth. Though I agree with you it is to a large extent semantics. Anyway good talking to you:) Adios--Zed1 10:43, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

PS well I thought Wikipedia would provide a great opportunity for me to write something I knew about. Sadly most of what I had carefully written was rewritten with many errors and finally my images were removed...How I am supposed to prove I have copyright I do not know. But it has finished my interest in Wikipedia and makes it clear to me that it is no better than any other encyclopedia!--Zed1 14:33, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

A free licensed photo or two would be nice

added a photo of an original Suzuki Katana 1100 (1984) 84.227.234.105 (talk) 16:14, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

Renaming of Suzuki range wikis?

Please follow the discussion on talk:Suzuki GS series if you're interested. Thank you.--Cancun771 08:11, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Squished Photo

Looking at the photo on this article, it's readily apparent to me that the image has been shortened sideways and ended up squishing the picture. The bike certainly isn't that short, and a lot of the engine elements look severely distorted from what they are in real life. --71.231.131.200 (talk) 21:23, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Why the external link to a forum?

Please see External links normally to be avoided, the policy that external links to forums are normally not desirable. Any reason as to why http://katanazone.com/ should be an exception? Thanks.--Dbratland (talk) 00:03, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Last model year 2006?

Why does the article list 2006 as the last year when I have a 2007 Katana bought straight from a Suzuki dealer? Total Motorcycle also says there was a 2007 model. 68.179.255.175 (talk) 22:54, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

Not all stock sells out in the year it is made. Some bikes are such slow sellers they're still around 2, 3, or more years after their model year. I wouldn't trust Total Motorcycle but if there's a good source for the final model year we could use that. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 21:15, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

References

Dubious

One source claims this was the fastest production motorcycle, however never does it appear at List of fastest production motorcycles nor can I find this backed up by other sources. — Brianhe (talk) 00:02, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

- The text makes clear that Suzuki made this claim, which is accurate. Whether the Katana was actually the fastest production model is another matter! Vintagent (talk) 21:01, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

So if the MV Agusta Monza (145 mph according to Roland Brown) went out of production in 1978, then the fastest new bike you could buy from 79-81 would have been the Laverta Jota, made 1976–1981, which means that using Brown alone as a source the Katana could have been tied for fastest at 140mph in 1980 and 1981. With the Jota gone by 1982, the Katna would be last bike standing, by default, until a number of faster bikes appeared in 1984. So we should actually update the list to reflect this, confusing as it is in tabular form.

If Suzuki tested the bike at 140.1 mph, then it could crow that it beat the Jota, but that's just one example of why this sort of thing is not an exact science. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 21:11, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

Tested speed in 1/2 mile was 140 mph (230 km/h) in Girdler, Alan, ed. (November 1981), "Suzuki GS1000S; "Let Us Leave Pretty Women To Men Of No Imagination" …Marcel Proust", Cycle World, vol. 20, no. 11, Brian Van Mols, pp. 30–38. Redlined in 5th it could have gone to 141, if there was enough room and it had the power, but we don't know that. Stock it couldn't have gone over 141. Yes, they quoted Proust there in the headline. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 21:43, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

E24 SXZ Katanas

The article has been modified to say that the the E24 SXZ Katanas got all the parts listed in E24 SXZ Parts book. Unfortunately, while the book may have been printed, unlike the E27 SXZ, the Aussie Katana SXZ are standard apart from the wheels. You may want to contact the Suzuki Katana Australia Owners Group to confirm. BTW all Katana GSX1100 have a 98 link 630 chain... Jellymen (talk) 03:38, 12 June 2018 (UTC)

Also the fenders, mounting mirrors and seat strap were common to all the 750/1100 Kats Jellymen (talk) 03:41, 12 June 2018 (UTC)