Im holding out that Suzuki will skip a year and then re-introduce the Kat agaon, (wishfull thinking maybe 
) When I got my 06 Kat (few months agao) the salesman said the same thing. Ive had experience with this before when I bought my Honda cruiser in 03. The salesman said that the Honda model 03 was the last year. He was right for a year. Honda discontinued production for a year and re-introduced the model in 05. Sales have been booming, 
..... Im hoping for the same......... Any thoughts on this anyone??? 
The Kats sold an estimated 3 to 4k units between both models last year in the US, which is really weak compared to the sales of the GSXR (well over 4k for any single model of GSXR). On the other hand, the sales channel likes Kat sales because they often mean repeat sales again in a couple years, something that isn't as common with other bikes in their line-up. The Kats were (and have been through all Kat models offered in the USA) designed/spec'd/instigated by Suzuki Germany. In that market segment, they have been doing very poorly in sales figures from what I understand (no slight against our German GSXF riders!), and it's questionable whether Suzuki Germany will design/spec/instigate/request another bike for the same niche. Suzuki trotted out a concept bike called the Stratosphere that harks very heavily back to the original Katana designs, with massive update tweaks. Most in the industry would shrug and say "concept bikes" have zero merit in production realities, but Suzuki also showed off videos and sound clips of the bike being road-tested. Normally an MC company won't go to that extreme (road-testing) unless there is a high-probability of a green-light for production based at least in part on the design & engine -- for a small company like Suzuki to squander $time & resources on road-testing a concept bike that dead-ends is virtually unthinkable and I haven't heard of them ever doing it before (Honda, on the other hand, has the resources to play such games). The question then becomes will we see the Stratosphere (& it's hyper-torque rich inline transverse-mounted 6 cylinder) as a new Kat replacement, or as a Busa engine, or as a bike simply in it's own right? One thing's for sure -- the Stratosphere-based bike won't be the kind of cheap that the Kat was. And finally, there's the question of Euro-3 compliance. 2007 model year bikes in Europe have to comply with the strictest set of motorcycle emissions standards yet devised (approximately the same limits go into effect in the US in 2010). The standards are so tight that the '07 GSXR1k will see double-sided stubby exhausts just to give the catalytic converters more area to work effectively. A switch to sealed fuel tanks may also be just around the corner... I believe the current Kat engine wouldn't stand a chance of passing the Euro-3 standards, even in California guise (pollution control system) with a catalytic converter -- at least not for the full lifespan of the requirement (30k miles or 5 years, whichever comes first). Suzuki trotted out a concept bike called the Stratosphere that harks very heavily back to the original Katana designs, with massive update tweaks. Most in the industry would shrug and say "concept bikes" have zero merit in production realities, but Suzuki also showed off videos and sound clips of the bike being road-tested. Normally an MC company won't go to that extreme (road-testing) unless there is a high-probability of a green-light for production based at least in part on the design & engine -- for a small company like Suzuki to squander $time & resources on road-testing a concept bike that dead-ends is virtually unthinkable and I haven't heard of them ever doing it before (Honda, on the other hand, has the resources to play such games). 
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