First of all, I'd go for a 750. There's a very noticeable difference in performance between it and the 600. Carbs, IMO aren't hard at all but your mileage may vary. I'm pretty comfortable with just about any kind of mechanical work. As for mileage, I'd look for a 89-97 750 in reasonably good condition with <20k miles for $1,500 or so.

I was going to look for a 98+... Is there a reason I should pick a 89-97 over a 98+ besides price? I was prepared to spend about $3k. One of the reasons I want something different is to get something newer than my 500. That was one of the selling points to the parents for getting a different bike haha. I wanted to escape the old electronics too. Or are they not an issue on kats?

pre 98 kats are faster. between the 600 and your 500 I don't think you will notice to much of a difference in acceleration. My personal opinion... I think the carbs on my 97 600 are easy to clean(besides the fact previous owner striped every last screw). Never rode a 750 but I will imagine its better. I like the 600 rear end better. post98 kats look better to me. They are all air-cooled which could be a good thing and bad thing. I think the ninja is air cooled to right? Pretty easy to work on kats and made by one of my favorite manufacturers suzuki... Best of all you get to chat with some of the coolest folks on the internet about your bike here at katriders.com

I like the pre-98 Kats because they have more power. (Oh, and I think the styling is lots cooler. The 98+ bikes look like a big soap bubble.) I like the 750 over the 600 because in addition to more power, the 750 feels like a bigger bike--more torque, more relaxed seating position, etc. After riding a 750 for several years, the 600s feel like toys. I don't want to know what a 750 feels like now that I'm used to my 1100!

I've never tried a 600 or a 700 but absolutely love my 1100 now I've got used to her, she's suprisingly nimble around town and in the twisties too for such a big, heavy old girl

Engelskmannen.

Pre kats (88-97) are a bit more "sport" of the sport touring.

The Post kats (98-06) are a bit more "touring" of the sport touring.

The equates to differences like... slightly further detuning of the engine for better longevity, longer wheel base on the post kats, slight adjusted geometry to stabilize the bike for longer rides (but less responsiveness on the curves)....

The electronics are basically the same, unless your just talking about age degradation as the bike gets older. If that's the concern, there are simple things that can be done to resolve or adjust the bikes for any of those issues.

For the most part... the over all condition of the bike is going to be more important. It the bike has been well taken care off, even older... then it's going to be the better option.

As for differences in the performance of 600 vs 750... At full acceleration your not going to notice a difference in pull. The only thing that jumps out at me is the slightly lower rpm cap so I am more likely to hit the rev limiter on the 600 (not that I don't do it on the 750, but it's less... )

At lower rpms though, you will notice the difference in pull/torque. The 750 will allow you to throttle up and pull on up the hill vs down shift once on the 600. This is much more noticeable when 2 up.

Krey

Thats is why hes a kat master while im just a katrider

And this is why I think of the 750 as having so much more power than the 600. Most of my riding goes nowhere near the rev limiter. It's around town or on the freeway, not on a deserted back road where I can really let her fly. For me, the 750 makes a lot more useable power than the 600.


Oh, and the fact that the pre-750 makes about 26% more HP than the 600... (91HP vs 72HP for the pre-98 bikes)