RETRO MALAYSIAN RIDERS

Timeline

After its starting appearance at all the international motorcycle shows in 1979, the target DESIGNed GSX1100S Katana was officially launched in early 1980. It is impossible to over-estimate the impact of the Katana on the motorcycling world - it may as well have been from another planet...
No-one had used a design house to style a motorcycle before, and if the original Katana had never happened, a bike released this year utilising the flowing lines of the prototype would still look pretty impressive, 17 years on.
Being an old fart, I can remember the first arrivals hitting the local showrooms. It really was a case of love it or hate it, and although I thought it looked mega, in general the conservative motorcycle buying public found it a bit avant-garde for their tastes. It wasn't a massive seller initially, but as punters became more used to its in-yer-face styling, more and more found their way out onto the roads.
I think Suzuki bottled it after the first months or so, because the inevitable smaller versions in the Suzuki range utilised the Katana styling in a much diluted form. Although the original Kat died out in Europe in late 1983, it had mage a big impact on the global market as a whole, and Suzuki road motorcycles continued to be derivative of the original design for some years to come.

The original target designed pre-production prototype, at first glance very similar to the subsequent production machine, on closer inspection reveals how the purity of the design was compromised when Suzuki got around to actually manufacturing the bike for the real world. The way the prototype's fairing curve blends into the top of the very shallow wedge-shaped tank, the way the rider's portion of the seat is raised above the pillion, the rear seat unit itself being almost custom-bike short. the prototype also lacks anti-dive forks, and a flyscreen (the fairing simply curving neatly over the headlight), and the work's style stubby four-into-one never actually appeared on a production Katana. Well okay, it did, but not until the release of the homage models in the early Nineties.

Late 1980 saw the official production release of the GSX1100S Katana. Although closely resembling the prototype which had done the rounds on the show circuit, production realities had taken their toll on the original concept design. Even so, it was still a stunning motorcycle, its space-age styling being literally years ahead of its time.

Quick Specs: GSX1100SZ
Capacity	1075cc
Bore & Stroke	72x66mm
Power	111ps/8500rpm
Torque	9.8kgm/6500rpm
Tyres	3.50-19 Front 4.50-17 Rear
Weight	232kg.

By early 1981, the big Kat had been joined in the Suzuki line up by the GS650G Katana, this shaft-drive all rounder being basically just a cleverly face-lifted GS. For Europe we also got a chain drive GS550 version, and for most markets, the GSX400F, although the 400 didn't carry the Katana moniker, it very obviously drew most of its design elements from the Katana line up.
More interesting for real Katana aficionados, late 1981 saw the release of the Superbike-homologated Katana 1000S. To qualify for the popular international Superbike racing series of that time, bikes raced in this series had to be derived from an actual production motorcycle not exceeding 1000cc. Other regulations stated that certain mechanical parts could also not be changed, hence the production model copped for a rather nice set of expensive looking Mikuni smoothbores, and various other racing-orientated mods. Production of this model was limited and a good original Kat thou can command pretty serious dough these days.

Quick Specs: GS650G
Capacity	673cc
Bore & Stroke	62x55.8mm
Power	65ps/9500rpm
Torque	5.3kgm/8500rpm
Tyres	3.25-19 Front 4.25-17 Rear
Weight	210kg

This year the big Kat disappeared from quite a few international markets, including the US. The Yanks big 1100 replacement was the GSX1100E, whose styling although giving more than a cursory nod to the Kat, had otherwise been severely toned down for the sensitive US market, the end result being neither one thing nor the other, and overall pretty damn ugly. On the other side of the Pacific, parallel-imported big Kats had made such an impact on the Japanese domestic market, that a Japan-only 750 version was produced. Basically identical to the 1100, but with the shell-crank GSX750E engine fitted, and a larger diameter back wheel. Suzuki had become concerned that the rather long dimensions of the Katana would make life difficult for Jap punters, so they rather unwisely fitted the most bizarre set of aluminium pull-back clip-ons ever to grace a motorcycle before or since! Thankfully the majority of Japanese customers slung these horrors into the nearest skip, although original-barred examples still find their way to these shores occasionally. The GSX750S was a real sales success in Japan, and Suzuki's reservations about motorcycle size and diminutive customers seem a little amusing now when you consider what a big seller the 1200 Bandit is over there, these days. 1982 saw the continuation of the GS650 and 550 Kats, and two baby versions being the GSX400 and 250 four-stroke parallel twins. This year also saw the release of the GS125E, and even this humble little tiddler copped for a Kat-style tank.

Quick Specs: GSX750S
Capacity	747cc
Bore & Stroke	67x53mm
Power	69ps/8500rpm
Torque	6.2kgm/7000rpm
Tyres	3.25-19 Front 4.00-18 Rear
Weight	222.5kg

Saw the original big Kat made available in some markets, including Europe, in a slightly modified MkII version. Apart from some rather more adventurous paint jobs, the bike also sported aluminium one-piece footrest hangers, new wheel spoke design to bring it into line with the EFE range of Suzuki models, and some other very minor detail changes. Over in Japan changes were also afoot with the release of the GSX750S2. The 750 also had its spoke pattern changed, but rather more radically it now sported a 16" front wheel. It had also picked up a couple of extra bhp along the way. The 650 (now with nose cone fairing), 550 and other smaller variants were still available in many other markets, but the obsolescence bell was beginning to toll rather loudly.

Big Kats were still available in some European markets, but one rather suspects these were left over stock from previous years, Suzuki's flagship big bike now being the GSX1100EFE. As with most Suzuki's at the time, the EF range continued to use the rather flattened out shallow S-shaped tank/seat/tailpiece design inspired by the original Katana. However, over in Japan, am all-new GSX750S3 Katana, based on the GSX750EFE was launched. Although very much Katana in design, the original (and some would say essential), nose cowling had been replaced by a much bigger three-quarter affair, which housed a motorised flip-up headlight. With yet another power increase, the S3 was very popular in Japan, and also sold in Australia, and about twelve months later a batch of 200 turned up in official Suzuki UK showrooms, but, strangely, in unmodified Japanese domestic specification...

Quick Specs: GSX750S3
Capacity	747cc
Bore & Stroke	67x53mm
Power	77ps/9000rpm
Torque	6.4kgm/7500rpm
Tyres	100/90-17 Front 120/90-17 Rear
Weight	212kg

There might still have been a couple of brand new MkII spec 1100 Kats kicking around, although they'd certainly have been produced a couple of years earlier, otherwise in Europe the Katana moniker could be considered dead and buried. In Japan the S3 was still available, now being sold alongside the GSXR750F - the S3 didn't actually bow out in Japan till 1986- but with an international perspective, it appeared the Katana had been laid to rest.

Whilst in Europe and Japan the Katana range was drifting into either obscurity or cult-like status, those crazy crazy Yanks decided to resurrect the Katana by slapping stickers on US-spec GSX600/750/1100F models. The legendary Katana name was now being used to market the soft sports/touring versions of the GSXR throughout the US, strangely so, as the Katana had never been a big seller in America, and to many anoraks, myself included, this decision seemed to devalue the Katana legend.

More Yankee shenanigans, although all was not lost...

To celebrate Suzuki's 70th anniversary, Suzuki took the unprecedented step of remanufacturing a batch of 200 Katana 1100's in totally original 1980 specification. These bikes were individually numbered, all silver, and all sold on the day of their release.

Not wanting to miss out on a good thing, Suzuki released another 200 1100 Kats for 1991, presumably to celebrate their 71st anniversary...! Also not wanting to miss out on what is essentially the biggest market in Japan, they also released a 250 Bandit-based Katana replica. So faithful was this reproduction of the original prototype that it even carried the stubby four-into-one exhaust system which had never actually found its way into production previously. At a distance, the 250 Katana is almost indistinguishable from its larger ancestor, the biggest give-away being the single front disc, three spoke Bandit mags, and subtly understated radiator. Ironically, the rubber found on this 250 replica is as wide as the original 1100, and when, with crushing predictability, Suzuki released a 400 replica later that year, not only did this pocket rocket have bigger rubber than the 1100, it also had bigger and better brakes. The 400 was even more faithful in its reproduction, as its wheel pattern mimicked the classic Suzuki cross-over star pattern, and it carried a black chrome four-into-two exhaust system with long tapered silencers.

Quick Specs: GSX250S
Capacity	248cc
Bore & Stroke	49x33mm
Power	40ps/13500rpm
Torque	<2.7kgm/11000rpm
Tyres	110/70-17 Front 140/70-17 Rear
Weight	160kg

 

Quick Specs: GSX400S
Capacity	399cc
Bore & Stroke	52x47mm
Power	53ps/10500rpm
Torque	3.8kgm/8000rpm
Tyres	100/80-18 Front 140/70-17 Rear
Weight	182kg

No 1100 for this year, but zillions of 250's and 400's.

Popularity of the pocket Katana's was beginning to wain on the Japanese domestic market, and with the release of the Impluse and revamped Bandit, Suzuki's 400 retro range was getting a little confused.

This was the last year for production for the smaller Katana replicas, but later this year would see the remanufactured 1100 Katana obtaining full unlimited production (GSX1100SY), and a place in Suzuki's general line-up which it retained to 2001. One of the strangest things about the big Kat's re-emergence as one of Suzuki Japan's present models is that its claimed power output is the highest of all Suzuki domestic models currently available. And if you want one, the exchange rates as we go to press (August 1997), mean it would cost you just shy of £8000.

After just over 20 years, production of the Katana finally ends in Japan with a limited edition. Only 1100 kats were produced before they dismantled the assembly line. They are for the Japanese market only like the GSX-1100SR (1994-1999) and this GSX-1100SY (2000) are both for the Japanese market only. The GSX-1100SY comes in only one colour (called "sonic silver"). Also the wheels and engine are coloured black.

Changes from the GSX-1100SR:

• Braces in the frame near the pivot
• Better front brakes (Nissin 4 pot) 300mm floating discs
• Tubeless tires
• Gold chain
• Special top bridge (upper bracket)
• Serial number engraved on emblem on top bridge
• Bolt on foot rests (that means they are removable)
• Hazard indicators

In case you are not familiar with the GSX-1100SR:

• For the Japanese market
• Silver colour only
• Clocks show only up to 180km/h
• Ignition de-tuned for Japanese regulations (the "limiter" will not allow the bike to achieve more than 180km/h)
• Smaller inner diameter of exhaust pipes
• Smaller air intake passage of airbox
• Electric power assisted clutch
• 19 litre petrol tank because of space taken by the clutch motor
• Max power 96ps

target DESIGN: Director - H-G. Kasten

Target design specialises in the design and development of transport and industrial design products from the concept to production. We are a flexible team capable of working on any project, in house or as consultants within a company. We have considerable experience working alongside marketing and engineering departments in both large and small companies. With a high standard of drawing and modelling we pride ourselves in seeing out designs through into production with few changes from the original concept drawings: An indication of the thoroughness with which the first stages of design are approached. This is an important aspect in ensuring that we maintain our reputation for meeting pre -determined costs and deadlines. Our vast knowledge of the design industry enables us to predict with astounding accuracy future trends and developments many years in advance. This ability and enthusiasm has made us leaders in the field of motorcycle design. Our clients have included many international names from the UK, to Japan, Germany and Switzerland. Our products range from Helicopters, automobiles and motorcycles to radios, helmets and small household products.

From TARGET you can expect to receive:

• Exciting, innovative design
• Logical technical and ergonomic layouts.
• Cost effective use of production techniques & materials.
• Improved continuity of corporate image.
• A product to be proud of, that will stand the test of time.

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In the Bavarian pastoral scenery target DESIGN is a name to remember. For companies like Suzuki, Hepco, Recaro, Marker, ATS, Audi, BMW, Schuberth, Tecoplan, Dornier or Beru, it is a name which already today stands for out-of-the-ordinary creative industrial and automobile design solutions. The young German team's approach is to place the human factor firmly in the centre of its styling concept by means of individualistic design. The team's success certainly goes to substantiate this company philosophy.

target DESIGN is located in the idyllic rural "Five Lakes" region of Bavaria. To the south the snow-topped peaks of the German-Austrian Alps frame the breathtaking panorama. In all directions pastureland, woods and crystal-clear lakes dominate the scene. The two most famous of the lakes, the Starnberger See and the Ammersee, are popular tourist destinations. But, despite the rural idyll, the cosmopolitan city of Munich is only 30 minutes away by car.
Hechendorf, the small village which accommodates target DESIGN, fulfils the romantic promise of the surrounding scenery. The young company is housed in the centre of well-kept grounds dotted with old trees, where the air is clean and invigorating-enough to breathe creativity into the busy day-to-day work of design that goes on here.

The target studios are housed in a single story building. You enter through a foyer which is used at the same time for presentation purposes. This foyer / presentation area is kept strictly separate from the "holy" studios and the model-making shops. Visitors are received at a round table. One wall has been turned into the company's own cinema with the aid of back lighting, and a selection of draped examples of target DESIGN products in the foyer demonstrate the versatility with which the team from Bavaria is able to fulfil its customers' requirements. One of the most striking features is a streamlined black motorbike: a target DESIGN EGLI. The hopeful young designers from Bavaria made the world sit up and look with this two-wheeled sensation at the beginning of the eighties. Even today, target DESIGN boss Hans-Georg Kasten still spends some of his weekends under the spell of this dream motor-bike on the empty, winding country roads in the early morning mist; a feeling, claims Kasten, that "never fails to excite". Hans-Georg Kasten is not only the company's boss, but also its owner. But the tall North German from Hamburg makes a point of not standing out from his staff. "We are a team, and only as a team can we be successful", is how the 42-year old sailing enthusiast describes his individual style of management.

Katten and Geiger: Kasten founded target DESIGN together with his personal friend, the talented young Jan Fellstrom and Hans Muth in 1979. Two years later, target DESIGN UK Ltd. was founded, Jan Felistrom took over management of the new company. This was the birthplace of the now famous target monocoque motor-bike and the futuristic MX1 motor-bike helmet from Krauter. After the British designer accepted a tempting offer to work in industry in 1984, Kasten went on to manage the growing company alone. Hans Muth had left as early as 1980.

In the meanwhile, Hans-Georg Kasten has guided target DESIGN into completely new waters. His reputation as one if the best and most unusual motor-bike designers in the world still follows him - the Suzuki Katana, MV Augusta or target DESIGN EGLI, as well as various BMW models still in the public eye today are the reason - but Kasten and his team long ago left the field of motor-bikes behind them as main area of activity. Design from the company is in demand today in every sector where high-tech products need to be skilfully presented in an appealing and practical styling package. This applies equally to telephone systems, ski bindings, protective helmets, cars or "only" interior styling packages for cars or planes. This type of specialisation does not just come out of the blue. In retrospect, Kasten's career had been aimed at just this point. His initial training was as an automobile engineer at the Polytechnic in Hamburg, but his love of design, especially car design, kept a firm hold on him. "Something inside told me", Kasten explains, "that the things I design should move". The energetic young designer made a decision that was to shape his future. He was particularly interested in the sophisticated technology of the company Porsche. He took the bull by the horns and went to the Porsche design department in the summer of 1970. It was here, working on the development of the 928, at one time considered to be the successor to the legendary Porsche 911, that he really "got to know the ropes" as he puts it. He stayed with the project until its end in 1977, after which he changed to BMW and to a new challenge in the world of motor cycling. With the GS 80 and the concept study "BMW Module", over the next two years he delivered a thoroughbred boxer motor-bike for series production as well as a range of progressive ideas for the motorbike of the future.

It was from this time that Kasten caught the "Motorbike of the future" bug. He was actually the first to develop a concept for a monocoque bike. Today, the highly qualified technical know-how of Hans-Georg Kasten is one of the secrets of the target DESIGN team's success, and one of the major factors which differentiates the Hechendorf designers from most other freelance design services in Germany.

If Kasten is something like the technical brains behind the outfit with a highly developed vein of design skill, then Johann Geiger must be the design and styling conscience at his side. Johann Geiger, aged 31, is virtually the "second in command- at target DESIGN. He took his diploma in design at the Technical College of Art and Design in Munich. His talent for grasping technical correlations quickly and integrating them into a formal concept, in symbiosis with Hans-Georg Kasten's special skills, is a real stroke of luck for target. Between them they turn technology into a language which is understood by the user or to put it another way: target DESIGN gives objects, even those which have always been regarded as strictly utilitarian by nature, the ability to speak in a language which is not only easy to understand, but also pleasant to the listener. This is the objective which the whole team is out to achieve. Each of its members, eight in all, is given a maximum amount of personal freedom. In the discussion and actual form-finding process at target DESIGN, the proposals put forward by Hans-Georg Kasten or Johann Geiger are subject to the same level of criticism as those of the new blood fresh from design school. The team spirit works according to the motto: "What we are practicing is not a new form of communism, but only those who are strong enough to abandon conventional methods of leadership are capable of really top performance in the world of design".

The clear identity: What has emerged is a clear identity, a consistent line which began to be drawn as long as ten years ago with the team's very first achievement. In those days, target DESIGN was feeling its way towards the revolution. The name of the revolution was the Suzuki Katana (650 and 1100). This design with its dramatic basic shape rocked the foundations of the motorcycling world. The competition was not slow to respond to the model which made motorcycle history. This may be a slight exaggeration (not in my view Ed) but still it cannot be denied that target DESIGN was responsible for ringing in the changes which determined motor-cycle history over the following decade.

The Suzuki Katana, at any rate, succeeded absolutely in achieving the aim of unmistakable individuality. A major feature of the design was the tank, which was given a wedge shape breaking radically with tradition. At the same time, this served to ideally join man and machine. This styling concept also took in the two-coloured seat.

In the meantime, the motor-bike as a concept was developed by the target DESIGN team almost of the point of perfection. Hand in hand with various solutions of shape and styling, the team strove to improve the technical periphery; Either with new concepts for the frame or the chassis, or by sophisticated aerodynamic touches. The same applied to other projects carried out by the team in their early days. For example their highly progressive design model of a bicycle for Castrol in 1980, or a study for MV Augusta.

Another real piece de resistance was created by the target DESIGN team in 1982, at a time when it was operating with as few as three members: An exclusive single-cylinder motor-bike for EGLI on a Honda basis. The bodywork, which was dynamic without being overpowering, and impressive without being gimmicky, caused a real stir. The driver's body seemed to be fused onto the controls of the target EGLI: The seat could even be adjusted longitudinally.
But in the first years of the team's existence a certain danger arose for the small design studio in Bavaria, which had also produced new motor-bike designs to order for Ziindapp and Kreidler. "Suddenly", explains Hans-Georg Kasten, "we had become known as 'motor-bike' designers, and it looked like the name was going to stick".

It was a long and difficult process to loosen its association with a field of industry which was just experiencing the tail end of its boom period. Today, target DESIGN is a name which stands for all-round solutions to an unrestricted range of problems from automotive styling to industrial design. The team is involved in its customers' project planning at a very early stage, due largely to its substantial technical knowledge. Only in this way is it possible today to realise new technical solutions in harmony with the latest styling concepts. And only in this way is it possible for designers to include the evolution of a model into this conceptional ideal - whether it is meant for a vehicle, a set of suitcases or a car interior.

Suzuki ED-1 Katana 650 (Oct 1979) Production started in 1980. The Katana created a revolution in the motorcycle world when it came out. target DESIGN created a whole new design trend for Suzuki. Suzuki's sole request was "...give us a European type design...", target did the rest.

-- Edited by kecik boy on Sunday 30th of May 2010 05:29:46 AM