Did Suzuki make the Katana ugly on pupose ?


Even the 04 GS looks like it could kick the Katana's A$$

ahhhhhhhhh!, you're gonna give me nightmares  :mrgreen: ,i think, it would have looked better with the '04 gs light setup on it, or maybe the o2 gsxr setup, ah well, well see how they sell, besides i am kinda partial to the ol' gs, it would take a lot, (or a heck of a good deal, )to make me look elsewhere, especially in the bang-for-the-buck factor

Yeah, the gigantic turn signals look really gross. Somewhat like Ultraman.  

Not to mention a dry weight that is almost as much as the Hayabusa.

yea the turn signals and side fairings are soo bad

Hey you have to remember the Katana is VERY long in tooth now... The name has been used FOREVER by suzuki... It was 1988 or earlier when the fully faired version started coming to the USA I think.
Then it got a facelift in 1998 I think ?? An improvement but clearly it's a Katana....(Hey I'd take an older 1100  Kat....) I've ridden a few 600's and they aren't bad to ride....


It was never supposed to have the razor sharp look of a sport bike ( that was the GSXR's domain)...but it was a softer -sport tourer.... They've sold a bunch of them too....It has the sportbike look-appeal without the  top dollar price tag....

I have to agree they aren't too appealing looks wise...but they are capable motorcycles....And suzuki is still selling them.

My 2 cents....

i've seen a lot worse. fact is, i definitely wouldn't mind having a katana, and will probably buy one as a second bike in a couple years. they're dirt simple, super reliable, quit capable, and can be found very cheap. it's a great bike for cruising on highways with, they're very comfortable, and decent wind protection, and they actually produce decent power for highway riding. plus, they're more than capable of spirited riding.

a better question might be "did they make the GS homely on purpose?"

some people have been complaining about the fairings being out of proportion or ugly, I think they purposefully made it look a little awkward, because lets face it, if they made the GS500 fairings as sweet as those aftermarket GS500R fairings or the stock GSXR600 fairings, GSXR600 sales might take a hit.  There are alot of (ok, some) riders out there who would take a GSXR look-alike for half the price instead of saving up for the real thing, no?  Squids and posers are squids and posers, but they still pay real $$$ for the GSXR's they wreck... we can't have them buying cheaper bikes can we?!?!   :lol:

As for the Katanas, I think that for their intended purpose, they're decent bikes.   Yes, I agree that they are pretty homely from certain angels.  From a performance perspective, they're Highway-eaters, we can't hold them to the same standard as sport bikes cause that's not what they are.  They are big, heavy and comfortable... that's what they are supposed to do.  Also, there are a million of them out there so there will never be a shortage of parts for them.  Not bad if you log most of your miles on the highway.

Just my humble, uneducated assessment

I think you guys nailed it. I think Suzuki made it uglier to keep GSXR sales up.
I was looking at the Suzuki site thinking the Katana has a lot to offer for its price. Of all of Suzuki's sportbikes it looks like a sad step child.

It looks like a Triumph to me.  I always thought so.

Quote from: glenn9171It looks like a Triumph to me.  I always thought so.

Ah, the Triumph Spirit sport-tourer.  They took a speed triple, with the cool frame, engine, single-side swingarm and then put an aftermarket Katana fairing on it.  From the front, it's looks as "jellybean" as the Katana, yet it has the power to beat VFRs.  Why oh why did they copy the HUGE turn signals?

I'm a big Katana fan.  I'm happy to see folks start out on a Katana 600 well before they start on a SV650 or 600SS bike (or RC51 as one of my buddies did).  They are comfortable & cheap and Ive considered picking up a good condition 98-2001 model for about 3k and using it to go on longer trips (even with the stock seat and bars).

looks like someone melted a bunch of toy soldiers together, and then added a headlight and turn signals.

Yes, very bubbly.

 -Anti

I think the Triumph is beautiful! (does that mean I have bad taste?  :mrgreen: )

The Katana (in Europe GSX750F) is less refined in its design but I don't think it's totally ugly. The older version is about 10 times uglier than this one.

actually, i think the Katana doesnt look half bad. i mean try and picture it without the fairing. it kinda looks like the gs. at least the from the front of the seat back it does.