Motosan/Juan Salleras Puig
North American sportswear and motorcycle helmet manufacturer ICON Motorsports has customized a 2020 Suzuki Katana and reinterpreted its concept.
And this is not the first time. In 2015, the American company based in Portland (Oregon) already worked on the Katana. They customized the original 1982 model and launched a line of clothing and accessories depending on the design. ICON therefore reported that “ The 1982 Suzuki Katana was an advanced machine in its time. Thirty years later, the Katana still sets the pace. » The ICON 1000 New Jack was the reinvention of what could have been a slightly more current Katana. The bike was a success.
Now, 5 years later, ICON Motorsports returns to the fray with the Katana and its new edition Brand New Jack. Although ICON designers often do not customize current models, « Nos Usual preparations consist of vintage models, made with a healthy dose of veteran mechanics and young says Kurt Walter, design director of the Portland team. But here, that is not the case. There was an express request from Suzuki USA for ICON to work on the 2020 Katana model and also to do it quickly, and even very quickly: « we were given 30 days, whereas it is customary for us to take 12 to 18 months to do so »
The Suzuki Katana GSX 1100 was originally designed by German Hans Muth , originally from BMW. Suzuki Germany hired him to modernize the image of some of its models and only for the German market.
But the success of the Katana led it to become universal and Suzuki developed a complete range with the 550, 650 and 750cc, in addition to the 1100 cm3. Finally, it was one of the most iconic motorcycles of the 80s . It was a design that, in addition to being very advanced for its time, had a huge personality and reflected what a street sports car should be. Remember that at the time, the Streetfighter category had not yet started.
ICON therefore returns to the Katana. The design is on the current Katana 2020 model, but the concept is evolving : " the Katana has always been like a spaceship. We wanted to convert the characteristic front of the Katana into something more modern, even more “manga”. » Likewise, she can be considered a slightly civilized version of the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 thanks to the more relaxed position, the result of the flat handlebars.
The new Katana has a sportier touch with a dominant white paint job . But ICON has gone much further than a simple exterior design: it lightened the machine by almost 15 kg and lets it approach 200 kg. He replaced the original components with more premium.
Now the Brand New Jack is equipped with a Nitron shock absorber, Gallespeed magnesium wheels, Avon racing tires, Brembo calipers, EBC brake discs specially designed for this preparation, Magura controls and hydraulics, Driven Racing handlebars... and 'a new Leo Vince exhaust system. Also and as usual in some of the ICON preparations, the bike has a style filler cap endurance.
It has all the features to succeed, although ICON makes its motorcycles in very limited editions. Anyway, if you're curious to see what the folks at ICON have made, You can do it here. They have a good repertoire and most of the most interesting ones.
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