“There was no process really,” he says, laughing. Kasten, still an active designer and the principal of Target, talked to me at length about the process that gave the world the Katana 33 years ago. Suzuki Katana sketch by Target Design (1980) Suzuki was impressed, and ED-2, using the GSX 1100 as a base, was born. Their concept formed the basis of the design language that would later become the Katana, and they won Motorradʼs competition. Given this chance to flex their dormant design skills without restriction, the Target trio jumped in. They are also, less gloriously, responsible for the design of the Suzuki RE-5 rotary).
Among the participants were Target, Porsche Design, and Ital Design (coincidentally the same design studio that designed the time-travel DeLorean in Back to the Future. The concept, which would be called ED-1 (for European Design 1), would eventually morph into the GSX 650.Īlso that fateful year, German motorcycle magazine Motorrad hosted a competition to create the motorcycle of the future. Hans Muth, a man described by Kasten as “a very good salesman,” convinced Suzukiʼs German importer to commission “European themed” styling concepts with the hope of spicing up its UJMs. All three were refugees from BMWʼs styling studio, but back then BMW was not the aggressive competitor that it is today, and the young designers were often frustrated by the limits placed on them by the companyʼs conservatism. In 1979, Hans-Georg Kasten, Hans Muth, and Jan Fellstrom formed Target Design, an industrial design consultancy nestled in a small village near Munich. It was a watershed moment in motorcycling: the modern era had begun. But the Katana shocked onlookers with its outrageous appearance.
In other words, their key design attributes were mechanical, not aesthetic.
Up until then milestone motorcycles (from the BSA Gold Star to Ducatiʼs 750 Sport and Hondaʼs CB750K) all looked pretty much the same to anyone unfamiliar with the technology of motorcycle engines or suspension. In 1980, when the Katana was conceived, the motorcycle had already existed for over a century. Then came the Katana, and Japanese motorcycles would never be considered generic again. The accusation had merit, as most UJMs shared the across-the-frame four-cylinder engine and few were visually innovative. The Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM), as they were dismissively called, was considered generic and uninspired. And yet as overwhelmingly strong as the Japanese brands were, many enthusiasts found something lacking in Japanese motorcycle design.
#Suzuki katana 1980 portable
A low-cost portable radio blossomed into the brilliant yellow lozenge of a Sony Walkman.Īs with many product categories at the time, Japan was acknowledged as the leader in motorcycle manufacturing, technology, and sales. The television went from being an electronic device pretending to be a wooden cabinet, to a futuristic black plastic monolith made by Hitachi. Products were transformed from ornamentalized machines into status objects. The 1980s was a decade of prosperity and commercial optimism, something that was reflected in the industrial design of the era. For western economists and product managers, Japanese brands represented an existential threat, while the mainstream consumer view was perhaps summarized best by the lead character in the iconic film Back to the Future when he said “What are you talking about, Doc? All the best stuff comes from Japan.” Sony Sports Walkman ‘Made in Japan’ meant manufacturing excellence and innovation. Every day introduced things that made the status quo look medieval - and most of those things were Japanese. Although a commercial failure, perhaps no single other motorcycle did more to change the philosophy of motorcycle styling and industrial design than this odd Japanese model, conceived in Germany 40 years ago.
Motorcycle design can be divided into two eras: before the Suzuki Katana, and after.
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