Ridefast January 2022

The wheel base is quite short, the suspension is very firm, (even
for my 115kg’s), so she does get a little bit skittish on our less
than perfect, (read Bumpy), South African roads at anything over
200kmh, especially on the front end. Grit your teeth, hang on and
ride through it and you will see speeds around the 250kmh and
more, I backed out at 230kmh because my 2m bulk versus the
wind over the almost non-existent fairing and screen coupled
with the high handle bars was becoming a bit overwhelming.
The tank seems quite small and empties out quite rapidly with
enthusiastic riding, which this bike does lend itself to.
Normally bikes of this ilk either have really flat or straight bars
which gives them a bit more of an aggressive sitting position
making it easier to tackle the wind force on a naked or seminaked
bike at high speed but harsh on the lower back, shoulders
and wrist at slower speeds. The Katana designers seem to have
opted for the more comfortable commuter/tourer type sitting
position. Personally I would fit a set of lower aftermarket bars
to suit my riding style. The high bars that come as standard
fitment on the Katana do make it quite difficult to get correct
body position when tilting hard into corners at speed which in
turn messed with my cornering confidence. That being said, I
don’t think I am their target market at 2 metres tall and 115kg’s…
and judging by all the new bikes on the market… it would seem
that I, and the rest of my equally lanky kind, are nobodies target
market… sorry for you, you big boere seuns, you front rows of all
rugby teams, basketball players and so on… average is the new
‘Cool’.
Ergonomics, Hhmmm… Too small for the likes of me, but
everything is where you would expect to find it. The question
on all our lips is, “Was it necessary to make the seat out of a
solid square slab of concrete?”. Damn!, it gets really tough on
the gluteus maximus very quickly. The modes and the selection
buttons are very intuitive and easy to operate, even on the fly
and the great thing is that it remembers what mode you last rode
in when you switch the ignition back on.
The LCD screen is reasonably easy to read and not overly
cluttered with redundant information.
In the final analysis, it is a great bike that will tug at the nostalgic
heart strings and it will definitely stand out from the crowd and
attract a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” and “back in my day…”. If
you want something different from the run of the mill flat boxer
motored Adventure bikes out there, this is the bike for you.
Like we said – go and ride one – either you’ll really like it, or you
won’t.
www.suzuki.co.za for your nearest dealer