15th Nov, 2023 13:00
National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
1980s Suzuki GSX1000S Katana
Recently imported from the USA with a NOVA number
Estimated at £4,500 - £5,500
Registration No: Unregistered
Frame No: 100611
Engine No: 100974
CC: 1000
MOT: Exempt
- Rare US spec 1000cc Katana
- Standard original condition
- Supplied with a NOVA number
* RESERVE REDUCED
The Suzuki Motor Co. was established in 1909 by Michio Suzuki to produce machinery for the cotton industry. An initial diversification into 4 wheeled transport was curtailed by WW2 but after the war Japan had a need for cheap reliable transport so Suzuki, like a lot of others around the world, began to produce clip-on engines for pushbikes. These proved to be an immediate success and soon they were making full motorcycles and by the early '60s were second only to Honda in numbers of two-wheelers manufactured. In the early 1980s Suzuki commissioned Hans Muth of Target Design in Germany to design a radical new look to break the mold of motorcycle design, the result being the distinctive Katana shape named and styled after a Japanese sword. Muth added the Japanese character for the Katana sword interleaved with a red image of the same sword saying “The sword first serves as a weapon, but a Katana also has a mythological meaning in Japan” and when he presented the design to Osamu Suzuki “If you don’t treat it right, its sharpness can be lethal. The same is true for a motorcycle.”
The 1000cc version of the Katana was a limited edition model produced in sufficient numbers to homologate it for racing under various international superbike and production racing rules at the time. The GSX1000SZ had frame numbers beginning with GS10X-500001 and were fitted by the factory with a performance inlet camshaft paired with the same exhaust camshaft as the standard GSX1100SZ. In the UK the bike was supplied with Mikuni VM32SS slide carburettors but the US models had CV carbs like the more common 1100cc version. This bike has been recently imported from the USA and comes supplied with a NOVA number to aid registration in the UK.
For more information, please contact:
Ian Cunningham
ian.cunningham@handh.co.uk
07415 871189
Auction: National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands, 15th Nov, 2023
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