The Suzuki Katana motorcycle, which has gained vintage bike status since its creation in the early 1980s, was the result of the dreams of a German industrial designer. Although production ended seven years ago, fans in countries including Taiwan are still eager to add one to their collection.
The bike made headlines in Taiwan when it played a major part in apprehending the robbers involved in the hijacking of a money transport vehicle from Cathay United Bank in Taipei in 1982.
The first thing one of the robbers, Yu Jung-chia (游榮佳), did after the hijacking was to take NT$600,000 out of the NT$14 million (US$424,400) loot to buy an 1,100cc Suzuki Katana. His inability to account for the source of the money became key to police cracking the case.
Taiwanese fans of the bike have organized a Katana Club, and a few days ago they made a surprising discovery: They found that John Geiger, a member of the original design team, is now a teacher at Dayeh University in Changhua County.
Geiger married a Taiwanese, Ke Chi-hui (柯啟慧), last year, and lives in Changhua. Geiger and his wife both teach in the industrial design department at Dayeh University.
When members of the club first requested a meeting, the couple thought they were dealing with a fraud ring, but as soon as the word “Katana” was mentioned, they agreed to meet the club members.
On Dec. 20 last year, 12 fans, including one from as far away as Keelung, roared up to the university on their Katanas.
Liao Wen-cheng (廖文成), who has been driving big motorcycles for 20 years and has four of them in his collection, said the Katana would forever be his motorcycle of choice.
“It’s as if I have seen God,” Liao said after his meeting with Geiger.
Geiger said the Katana had been a result of Suzuki’s wishes to make inroads into the European market.
To do so, Geiger said, the company contacted a team that specialized in design work for BMW and said they wanted a Japanese motorcycle that European bikers would find attractive. The result was the Katana, which maintained a clear Japanese style with its pointed body reminiscent of a Japanese samurai sword.
The first Katana, which also became popular in Japan, was produced in 1981, and production of the final model began in 1997. In response to demands from Katana lovers, however, Suzuki produced a final run of 1,100cc Katana motorcycles in 2000.
Geiger himself does not own a Katana, but at the sight of a row of them lined up he could not resist climbing on top of one while he answered questions and shared his experiences over the years in motorcycle and car design.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS