The FatMile is a Suzuki Bandit-based naked streetfighter that's been designed by one of the co-creators of the original, early-1980s Suzuki Katana. Sure, it has a weird name, but the FatMile looks rather cool we think
Yes, it has a weird name (FatMile" Really...") and it's almost a year old now, but we still couldn't resist doing a post on this machine. Based on the Suzuki Bandit 1250, the FatMile has been co-designed by Hans Muth (one of the three men responsible for the legendary Katana of the early-1980s) and Daniel Händler, both based in Germany. In fact, the Suzuki FatMile was built for the Glemseck 101 festival, one of the biggest café racer gatherings in Germany. Later, it was also shown at the EICMA, Intermot and other motorcycle shows.
"We took a certain risk with this decision. When you hire an established design agency or world-famous custom builder, hardly anyone will come out with criticism. But we consciously took this different approach and chose a solution in the Japanese tradition [of pairing a more experienced person with a younger guy]. Looking at the FatMile now, I am convinced we did the right thing," says Gerald Steinmann of Suzuki Europe. "We looked at a number of options. But along with the GSX-R, the Bandit series is an iconic series for Suzuki, so this is why we chose it. In this project, Muth was an extremely good tutor for me. At the beginning of our cooperation, we shut ourselves away for three days to only ta...