750 KATANA

I was going to post this in the other bikes section but all I really want to know is if anyone has any feed back on these bikes? I am going to look at a 1999 tonight after work, I love the look and riding position of this bike and the price is right so if it's in as good shape as he says it is I will likely buy it
Shaun

 

a friend of mine has one and loves it.
if the price is right, talk him down 20% and wave cash at him. he will take it.

 

If that pic is the actual bike that is sweet! One of my sons has a 750 Kat and he loves it. I have ridden it a couple of times (probably over 100 miles) and it is a very nice bike. It is fast, smooth and handles remarkably well. The only thing I don't like is the forward crouched riding position. You must be a young guy. There's no way I could handle a passenger in that position. It would take me days to work the stiffness out of my neck and back if I did. Be careful! They are fast! My son was on the Kat and I was on my 750 Seca and when I was closing in on my top end he was just getting to the sweet spot in 3rd gear (that was somewhere around 118mph)!!!!

 

Thats not a Katana, thats a teapot http://www.katanatom.co.uk/pagemaker.php?page=teapot

 

The engines are identical to early GSXR and Bandit engines (oil cooled) and are pretty well bulletproof. Lots of go fast goodies to bolt-on, styling is a bit weird (IMO), suspension / running gear is fairly rudimentary by modern standards, but a good bike overall.

 

As a proud owner of a 93 GSXR 750 I would say that you should definitly go for it. Just remember that the riding position is no where near as comfortable as the xj's. I find that taking the fairings off to work on the bike adds extra hassle to any work you may want to do but other then that the bikes are not too bad to work on.

In my experience the main differences for working on the bike is that you can't disasemble the top end with the engine on the bike and the cam's have to be popped off to adjust the shim's. But they really are fun to work on and not really much more difficult then the xj's once you get started.

As for the forums, I think that you'll be hard pressed to find any that are half as good as this one =p

PS no Chacal, and if you don't have a nice pair of riding gloves with a good palm pad you really should think about it as I find the position really starts to wear down on your hands after a while, though I think that the Katana position wouldn't be quite as extreme as the GSXR.

 

By the way you should post some pics and let us know how it runs if you go through with it =)

 

I have been slightly delayed but he still has the bike so I am going to try to see it tomorrow, I will post pictures and opinons if I buy it! mirco that is not the bike but that is exactly what it looks like!
Shaun

 

I recently got a 1997 Katana 750. It was stored in a barn for 2 years with no storage intention whatsoever. From transport to cleaning it took 3 hours to get it working again.

Once you get past the plastic these bikes are really easy to work on. Unlike the Maxim's , you take the tank off, unbolt the 4 screws in the tank holder, and the airbox and carb rack just pull straight out. Unbolt the frame stress bar and the 4 spark plugs are easily removed.

However, the carbs are hard to tune without the proper tools and a color tune since plug chopping is not practical.

They are also highly customizable. The sub frames for the entire rear can be removed so you can bob it, which I personally think looks pretty cool, and the front end unbolts so you could fighter it if you wanted. No cutting involved.

The first thing i also noticed about my GSX is the effortless power. These things cruise on the highway on 6-speed like a dream.

As you can see I love mine, I'd say go for it. They're fun as hell!

 

Just don't forget to pick up a nice pair of padded gloves =p