GSX1100

Suzuki’s GSX1100 nameplate emerged in 1980 with the GSX1100E, a large air-cooled four-cylinder roadster that replaced the GS1000 and marked Suzuki’s move to a more advanced 16-valve, TSCC-era big bike. It was introduced as a high-performance naked machine for export markets, and Suzuki’s own historical archive identifies it as the model that formed the basis for the later GSX1100S Katana. Over the early 1980s, the GSX1100 family was revised through successive market-specific updates and variants, including partially faired and restyled versions, while retaining the same fundamental liter-class platform. In many markets it became known for its strong straight-line performance and for setting the tone for Suzuki’s big four-cylinder sport road bikes of the period. The line is most closely associated with the early-1980s air-cooled GSX era, before later Suzuki 1100 models took the nameplate in different directions.