Racers and builders alike made some big plans to ride out lockdowns during the pandemic. Team Classic Suzuki, which races vintage motorcycles in races all over the world, spent its time away from the track building a beautiful homage to the classic Suzuki Katana.
Team Classic Suzuki is supported by the Suzuki Vintage Parts program and the team is known for racing a variety of classic Suzukis in races around the world. The motorcycle is based on a 2008 Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbike and pays homage to the GSX1100S Katana sportbike with some modern touches. Here’s what the Katana looks like, for reference.
The Katana build borrows a lot of parts from Team Alstare, a superbike racing team. These parts include the frame, engine and headers. The Katana is a road-going machine, but its race parts give it 200 horsepower and the goodies don’t stop there.
A custom subframe comes from Alpha Performance Fabrications, Dymag CH3 wheels and Öhlins threw in a suspension for the build.
But I think the coolest part is the bodywork. You cannot even tell that the Katana was at one time a GSX-R1000. The front fairing is actually new, old stock from the Suzuki Vintage Parts program and molds were created to make finishing touches. LED lighting is used for that perfect touch of modernity.
The one way I could see the build being even even cooler is if they built an homage to the GSX750S3 Katana with its wild pop-up headlight.
Unfortunately, there’s a catch. While the motorcycle shows off what the racing team could accomplish given oodles of time, the build is only a one-off. That’s a shame, because the concept of old streetbikes modernized and given a ton of power sounds like a lot of fun.
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