KITTY KATS!

When Suzuki GB wanted an original Katana to show alongside its new version at the NEC show last year, it turned to John Martin. A 50-yearold engineer from Peterborough, Martin restored and owns one of the most pristine GSX1100S Katanas in the country, so we decided to bring along a new 2019 Suzuki Katana to see if they played well together.

Like the new Kat, the original was a ‘Marmite’ bike and John didn’t like it back in the day when launched in 1981, but when he found one to restore all that changed. His £800 hound is now pristine and worth around the same as the new model: £11,399! As I approach both bikes, one seems small and the other much more to my liking. Ironically, the new bike only has a 12-litre tank (pathetic) while the original has 24 litres, and while the new bike has 150bhp, the old just 100. The old bike weighs in at 272 kilos, with the new just 215.

After a day on both bikes, while John realised he really needs a new Kat to complete his collection, I had fallen in love with the old one. It’s easy to forget how sophisticated and refined modern bikes are – until you throw a leg over an old school superbike, red in tooth and claw. It feels like a motorbike, it sounds like a motorbike, it smells like a motorbike. No electronic rider aids here, no one-fingered braking, no heated grips or electronic screens. This is how motorbikes are meant to be – big, bad and dangerous, ready to bite straight back if you mistreat them. The older bike just oozes character and has a roughness of a bygone age that can’t help but bring a grin to your face.