Some aficionados believe that the only way to design an attractive motorcycle, is to maintain a perfectly horizontal foundation line. But the German designer Hans Muth thumbed his nose at this convention, when he penned the mighty Suzuki Katana. He did believe in the importance of a good ?flyline??but on the Katana, he deliberately made it angular and dramatic.
His design raised more than a few eyebrows, but it also went on to become iconic. These days, it presents customizers with an interesting quandary: lean into the Katana’s inherent quirkiness, or attempt to smooth out its lines" Maurizio Carraro has done a bit of both here, with intriguing results.

Maurizio runs the workshop Imbarcadero 14 Venice, where he’s built up a portfolio that covers a broad range of brands and styles. ?The bike was commissioned as a gift for the 50th birthday of an old friend of mine,? he tells us, ?a person passionate about motorcycles and cars. So the bike had to be fast and safe to ride, to meet the expectations of an experienced rider.? The donor was 1986-model Suzuki GSX 1100 Katana, and the brief called for a café racer build. But Maurizio injected shades of classic sport tourers in it too?and a hint of the original Katana silhouette.

To achieve this, a complete new set of clothes had to be fabricated for the 80s sportsbike. Maurizio mocked up the design using Photoshop first, then brought it to life in aluminum.
It’s fast becoming the norm to use 3D printin...