Third opinion: Bertie Simmonds

I brimmed the ‘new’ Suzuki Katana’s tank and could just get 9.49 litres of go-juice into that pathetically tiny (12-litre) tank and when I fired up the bike it told me I had only 98 miles’ range…

That’s the fuel rant done. Now, the bike the new Katana is based on (GSX-S1000F) is a perfect mix of sporty and comfy, and the Katana is pretty much the same bike as it has identical running gear (brakes, suspension, frame, engine) so it’s lock-stock the same machine, but it’s also quite a different proposition.

The seat height, for one, is up from 810 to 825mm. The tank on the GSX-S/F is 17 litres… just thought I’d mention that. Wheelbase is the same at 1460, but even when you throw a leg over the Kat you can feel the bike seems a little more squat and wider than the model it was based on.

Firing up the motor and the Kat purrs louder than the GSXS/F. That 150bhp GSX-R1000 K5 motor is the star of the show, being up there with the best engines ever made in Japan. I loved it in the GSX and I love it more so in the Kat as a new cam in the throttle and Suzuki’s ‘Low RPM Assistance’ has eliminated the ‘snatch’ the GSX had low-down. This is a massive improvement.

Handling is brilliant – but harsher than the base bike (harder front and softer rear settings) – while braking is ‘alright’ as there’s not a great deal of initial bite. I agree with what Stu and John say: it needs more fuel and the bike needs to be more substantial so rider, and potential pillion, could actually do some distance on the thing.