Speed Read A Suzuki Katana For Ac Sanctuary S Boss And More

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Our weekly offering to the gods of speed is bookended with Suzukis. We start with a Katana from the masters at AC Sanctuary and end with a look at the new Suzuki GSX-8T and GSX-8TT. Wedged between them is a modern Honda Fireblade that pays tribute to Freddie Spencer’s NS500.

Suzuki Katana by AC Sanctuary The restomods produced by Japanese powerhouse AC Sanctuary have so much presence that they render hyperbole obsolete. This time, they’ve pulled out all the stops to deliver a hard-hitting Suzuki GSX1100S Katana for their most discerning customer: AC Sanctuary founder Hiroyuki Nakamura.
Nakamura-san’s Katana takes the usual AC Sanctuary recipe and pushes it into overdrive. Its frame has been trued and strengthened, and accommodations have been made on the left side to offset the drivetrain for a wider rear tire. There’s a new subframe up top, complete with repositioned shock mounts.

Further down, you’ll find a burly Sculpture swingarm, connected to Öhlins Blackline shocks with custom red details. The lower shock mounts feature eccentric cams that allow you to tweak the geometry and ride height.
Öhlins Blackline forks are held in place by billet yokes up front. An AC Sanctuary steering stem kit fine-tunes the geometry further, and there’s a special steering damper that the company has been developing in collaboration with Öhlins.

The Katana rolls on stunning OZ Racing hoops, shod with Bridgestone Battlax tires. Braking comes courtesy of Brembo, with a pair of race-bred GP4-RX calipers grabbing AC Sanctuary discs (which are manufactured for the brand by Sunstar).
The Suzuki’s now-1,135 cc engine sports more upgrades than you can shake a stick at. There’s everything from Yoshimura cams and high-comp pistons, to a freshly machined engine block. The full spec sheet could fill volumes, but highlights include Mikuni flatslide carbs, a digital ignition with multiple engine maps, and titanium exhaust headers from Nitro Racing.

Visually, the Suzuki Katana retains much of its DNA, even though it mostly wears custom parts. It’s dressed in carbon fiber fenders, a new fiberglass fairing, and a reworked rear end. Stack dials adorn the cockpit, mounted in a custom-made dash that’s tucked behind the windscreen.
Officially designated ‘RCM 644,’ this Sanctuary Katana is finished in a striking grey and red livery, hand-picked by Nakamura-san himself. If there’s a better treatment for the iconic Katana, we haven’t seen it. [Source]

Honda Fireblade by Rindperformance Modern MotoGP motorcycles are engineering marvels—but that also makes them hopelessly busy, visually. The race bikes of yesteryear had simpler bodywork and fewer sponsor logos, which is probably why we remember them with such fondness.
Robin Ludwig of Rindperformance in Germany is particularly enamored with Freddie Spencer’s championship-winning 1983 Honda NS500. So he decided to build a modern homage to it, using a 2007-model Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade as a donor.

“As a huge fan of the golden era of two-strokes,” says Robin, “I set out to bring back that unmistakable 80s race bike spirit—deep rear fairings, under-seat exhausts, a wide front fairing. The whole vibe. But I wanted to do it on a modern street-legal supersport platform.”
“The SC57 was the perfect base—classic Honda engineering, a stock under-seat exhaust, and a raw, mechanical character that fit the vision perfectly.”

To build the ‘Freddie Blade,’ Robin tore the Fireblade down to its bones and mocked up new bodywork, using cardboard cutouts to visualize certain parts. He built the fairing and tail section out of fiberglass, before designing generous side panels to nail the NS500’s silhouette.
In stock trim, the Fireblade’s waspish tail sits at a way sharper angle than the NS500’s, so Robin tweaked the bike’s ride height too. A handmade subframe holds the new bodywork, with an Alcantara seat adding a touch of class. A pair of Bodis silencers poke through the tail, mounted on custom headers.

Robin also fitted a smaller radiator, PVM wheels, and LED lights. An upgraded ECU and a quick-shifter help the 998 cc four-cylinder motor reach its 170-plus horsepower peak, while a manual ride height adjuster on the forks helps with racing starts.
Resplendent in a paint job inspired by Fast Freddie’s 1984 livery, the Freddie Blade is an irresistible blend of nostalgia and performance. [Rindperformance]

Suzuki GSX-8T and GSX-8TT Suzuki has just expanded its middleweight GSX-8 series with the addition of two new retro-themed models—the GSX-8T and GSX-8TT.
Built on the same platform as the existing GSX-8S and GSX-8R, these new bikes take inspiration from 1960s and 1970s Suzukis. That makes them the only modern classics in the Japanese marque’s range, aside from the Katana.

The Suzuki GSX-8T [above] and GSX-8TT [below] use the existing GSX-8 engine, chassis, and running gear, but feature all-new bodywork and trim. They share a new 16.5-liter [4.36-gallon] fuel tank, linked to redesigned radiator shrouds that bear round ‘GSX8’ badges.
Both bikes feature a round LED headlight, although the Suzuki GSX-8TT’s is housed in a fairing that’s reminiscent of the 1970s Suzuki GS1000S. The TT model also gets a belly spoiler and a different seat cover design. Round bar-end mirrors come standard on both models.

The GSX-8 engine that powers the Suzuki GSX-8T and GSX-8TT is a 776 cc parallel-twin unit with a 270-degree firing interval, good for 81.8 hp at 8,500 rpm and 78 Nm of torque at 6,800 rpm. It’s housed in a twin-spar steel frame, with an aluminum subframe out back. Suspension components come from KYB, while the brakes are supplied by Nissin.
Modern amenities include a TFT screen, switchable rider modes, traction control, ABS, and a quick-shifter. There’s even a USB-C port that supports fast charging.

Each bike comes in various colorways, with different finishes for its hard parts. Although we can’t deny that the Suzuki GSX-8TT looks rather fetching in black and red, we can’t help but feel that Suzuki’s recipe has more modern than retro in it. The brand cites references like the Suzuki T500 and the Yoshimura GS1000 AMA race bike, but these new bikes bear little resemblance to those legendary machines.
That said, they’re better-looking than their stablemates, while offering the same level of performance. And that alone might make them worth a second look. [Suzuki]



from Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/1oBADcj

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