Remaining Version Katana, Radicalized by AC Sanctuary…
In 1980, the unique Suzuki Katana 1100 rocked the motorcycling world with its angular, space-age design. It was the imaginative and prescient of legendary German designer Hans Muth, who’d been design chief at BMW and liable for iconic machines such because the R90S and R100RS — juicy, brightly coloured bikes that remodeled the as soon as staid picture of the German model.
In 1979, Suzuki enlisted Muth and his agency, Goal Design, to replace their very own picture with a groundbreaking new machine. Newly impartial of BMW, Muth hit the bottom operating, delving deep into Japanese tradition and historical past for inspiration.
“Particularly influential had been two books: Eugene Herrigel’s Zen within the Artwork of Archery and Reinhard Kammer’s Zen and Confucius within the Artwork of Swordsmanship. And it’s from this second title that the idea emerges, impressed by the traditional, gently curved Japanese sword named katana.” –Cycle World
Muth conceived the bike in accordance with a unified “flyline,” which integrated the headlight, gasoline tank, seat, and fenders right into a single steady design factor. The bike was silver, like a sword, with the purple Japanese character for katana on the aspect. The clip-ons had been beneath the highest yoke, like an actual racebike, and the using place was far more aggressive than different superbikes of the period.
When he introduced the design to Osamu Suzuki, Muth mentioned:
“The sword first serves as a weapon, however a katana additionally has a mythological which means in Japan. For those who don’t deal with it proper, its sharpness might be deadly. The identical is true for a bike.”
The novel design was polarizing, however nobody may argue with the efficiency. On the time, it was the quickest (acceleration) and quickest (high velocity) 1000cc manufacturing bike Cycle World had ever examined. Nevertheless, it was a dizzying time for superbike evolution, and the arrival of the Suzuki GSX-R sequence in 1984-85 solid the Katana in shadow.
“The Katana was a short, excellent second in all of it, drawn by a person whose genius has stood the take a look at of time, with a design that continues to resonate and switch heads 40 years later.” –Cycle World
Right now, we consider the Katana as a time capsule of the early Nineteen Eighties — a motorbike that’s lengthy been out of manufacturing. Nevertheless, the Katana 1100 was produced for much longer than you would possibly suppose…in Japan, not less than. In actual fact, you’ll be shocked to study a model of the unique air-cooled bike was obtainable as just lately because the yr 2000!
In 1994, Suzuki launched an version for the Japanese Home Market with a number of updates: bigger oil cooler, electrical power-assisted clutch, rear piggyback shocks, and barely decrease seat top. Then, in 2000, twenty years after its look on the 1980 Cologne Bike Present, the Remaining Version Katana 1100 was provided. Sure, simply 24 years in the past, you may nonetheless purchase an air-cooled 1100 Katana — when you lived in Japan.
The bike you see right here started life as certainly one of these yr 2000 Remaining Version fashions, and the proprietor had owned and loved the bike for a few years earlier than bringing it to Hiroyuki Nakamura of AC Sanctuary for the RCM (Radical Customized Manufacture) restomod remedy for which the Japanese workshop is world famend.
Usually, a full engine rebuild is de rigeur for any RCM construct. Says Nakamura:
“Particularly when the engine is from an previous bike, it may be mentioned to be a requirement, however some newer fashions such because the ZRX DAEG and Z900RS don’t require it… The newer the mannequin yr of the bottom car, the much less overhaul it is going to require.”
On this case, the low mileage and nice situation of the engine precluded the necessity for a rebuild, so Nakamura and his workforce may deal with different areas of tuning and customization: body reinforcement, suspension, consumption and exhaust, ignition system, instrumentation.
The body was strengthened and modified to RCM specs, then kitted out with a Sculpture swingarm made for a 17-inch rear wheel with 180 tire and a Katana-specific Sculpture steering stem for mounting the Öhlins forks.
The bike is now rolling on 17-inch OZ Racing GASS sequence wheels at each ends:
- Entrance: GASS RS-A for ZRX1200, 3.50-17
- Rear: GASS RS-A for ZRX1200, 5.50-17
The brakes have been upgraded with Brembo and Nissin elements, and the rear shocks are Öhlins items.
The OEM gauges had been changed with a customized instrument panel, constructed round a STACK model tachometer with built-in speedometer / odometer capabilities.
All in all, RCM-607 could be essentially the most drool-worthy street-going Katana we’ve seen, and it’s just the start, because the proprietor can go for a Stage II engine optimization when the time is correct!
Observe the Builder
Web site: www.ac-sanctuary.co.jp
Fb: www.fb.com/ac.sanctuary
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Radicalized: Suzuki Katana 1100 Restomod – Remaining Version Katana, Radicalized by AC Sanctuary… In 1980, the unique Suzuki Katana 1100 rocked the motorcycling world with its angular, space-age design. It was the imaginative and prescient of legendary German designer Hans Muth, who’d been […]
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