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Ride review: Suzuki Katana

Suzuki Katana review by Andy Bisson.

I’m writing this review about ten days after I rode it and as I start to type I can feel the grin spreading across my face as I think back to the ride. That in its self-sums up the experience. What a fun and easy bike to ride whilst delivering an exhilarating experience.

The liquid-cooled 999cc inline four-cylinder engine provides loads of torque for this lightweight machine giving it the power and performance to match the slick and streamline street fighter design. It has a slightly higher seat than the GSX-S1000 but they have made it narrower without compromising it’s comfort and this offsets the height for foot to ground distance. The bars are more upright which also add to that street fighter feel.

The Katana has ABS as expected and a four-setting traction control. Suzuki have tried to maintain as much of the original look but upgraded it into the 21st century with LED headlights. The LCD dash has everything you need but if I was to be picky, it was a little cluttered.

One of the first things I always like to assess is how agile the bike is within the town traffic. The Katana feels much lighter than most sport bikes and its steering, grip and handling are sharp. Its easy to slip past and through traffic without any issues at all.

Heading out of town and into the valley, I found it was planted and well balanced. It held well through the bends and the Dunlop Sportsmax Roadsmart 2 tires provide a reassuring grip when swiftly flipping from side to side. It will happily scream out of slow bends in second or grunt out in third surging towards the next bend like a train on tracks, bellowing out a deep airbox growl.

45 miles later of mixed road conditions and I was still smiling. There’s nothing really not to like. All in all, I loved it. It’s an easy to ride, adrenaline pumping, fun filled experience. Pop into Inmotion and see the guys to book a demo ride and let me know what you think about it.