[Mel Wainwright]

Thanks Mel, yes S.A. got the Hot Kat as well, thanks for the support, cheers.

P.S. Went for a ride with Derek and his Super Kat to the Laverda Bike Show a few weeks ago, that Kat of his.............

You are welcome! We southern hemisphere Kat riders have to stick together!!! I am also a member on Katana Australia and follow all of your posts there. A veritable treasure house of hints, information and cool Katanas. I have managed to sort a number of my problems with their help. See you there!
Cheers
Mel
P.S. Derek has been very quiet there lately

[JB's Kat]

you know, your bike looks awesome and all, but at this point you CAN NOT claim it to be in original condition. I would like to let you slide on that, but mine is just as "original" as yours is, and I can't even make that claim...yet.

1...those are definitely not original kat rims.
2...you should not have polished that swing arm.
3...those forks look polished. they should be silver.
4...you are missing a cover. if you look at the rear brake reservoir, well just to the right of it, half hidden behind the side cover, you can see on mine there is a black cover. yours is missing. I might have one of those laying around if you need it. I kept a rolling frame with everything but the body parts as a spare for mine.
5... someone added a "mud flap" to your front fender. that should not be there.

also, I am going to have to assume that your bike is the European model. North American bikes have to have side reflectors by law. you can see mine on the front fairing and the tail section. looking at your front fairing, I would guess European model, but yet your tail section looks a bit "blemished", like there were side reflectors, but were removed and the holes plugged. that, or your tail section has been replaced.


now here is mine.....and I can easily claim it to be all original, but that will only work on those who "just don't know" what original is.

1) my front rim is off an 82...the same style rim yours is supposed to have. (I have a set if you need them). the 83 rims are like my rear rim. the "spokes" don't cross each other like the 82 does.
2) my forks are from an 82, and are the same color as yours are supposed to be. the 83 fork tubes are black, and I do have a set to replace them.
3) my rear fender has been chopped (I have another original that hasn't been cut down).
4) my windscreen has been blacked out (I will have to cough up the coin for a new one).
5) my bar ends have been polished. they should be black. I like the looks of polished, but it is not original and I have to replace with black.

only after I address those 5 discrepancies can I call mine all original. and because I am a stickler for little details like that, I can't consider yours all original either...no matter how great it looks. :




and please do not think I am bashing your ride. that is not the case at all. I am just pointing out discrepancies that keep it from being 100% original, as I did with mine. like I said...I am picky when it comes to details, and it just jumps right out at me when I see something is "off". at least you kept the original pegs. some people like to swap the 82 pegs for 83 pegs because...well, the 83 pegs just look a whole lot better, what with being slimmer in design as compared to the big wrap around rubber on the 82. fight the urge to swap (if it ever hits you) in order to keep it original. your bike looks to be in awesome shape, and it is VERY close to being 100% OEM.....and 100% OEM is very rare to find these days. :

MOJOE; I just read this post... would you still have that little cover that goes to the right of the rear brake reservoir? I have an '82 Kat adn would really like to have it back to original, or as much as I can anyway!
Nice Kat BTW!

[Mojoe]

MOJOE; I just read this post... would you still have that little cover that goes to the right of the rear brake reservoir? I have an '82 Kat adn would really like to have it back to original, or as much as I can anyway!
Nice Kat BTW!

I can check, but it will be in a while. waiting for the weather to get nicer so I can dig out my kat. it's been sitting there since we bought the house 2 years ago and the plan is to get to work on it. when I do, I will look through everything and see if I have one. I am pretty sure I do. that's about the best I can offer at the moment, so drop me a message in say May. too much stuff piled up between the door and my bike parts to dig for it now. lol

[JB's Kat]

I can check, but it will be in a while. waiting for the weather to get nicer so I can dig out my kat. it's been sitting there since we bought the house 2 years ago and the plan is to get to work on it. when I do, I will look through everything and see if I have one. I am pretty sure I do. that's about the best I can offer at the moment, so drop me a message in say May. too much stuff piled up between the door and my bike parts to dig for it now. lol

Thanks! will certainly do... I will be working on mine in the following weeks, I might have a need for something else while at it so I'll bug you and see if you have it... Cheers!

[JB's Kat]

I can check, but it will be in a while. waiting for the weather to get nicer so I can dig out my kat. it's been sitting there since we bought the house 2 years ago and the plan is to get to work on it. when I do, I will look through everything and see if I have one. I am pretty sure I do. that's about the best I can offer at the moment, so drop me a message in say May. too much stuff piled up between the door and my bike parts to dig for it now. lol

Hey Mojoe! sent you a PM, but seems you didn't get it... would you still have this? I could also use the OEM airbox if you have it...

Thanks!

[pinocchio]

Very tasty indeed.Hope mine comes out like that.Is that the 1100 ?wheels say one thing,carbs another.

[Ravelife]

Can you come clean my bike?

No kidding! That is fantastic work.

[viperg]

Hi to all, having owned my 82' Kat since 1986 and putting 170.000km on the clock she was looking a bit tired so it was time to clean up the wheels and cases and polish the swing arm to have her looking presentable once again. I used a sisal wheel and cutting compound to clean the rims, cases and swing arm, then a cotton mop and polishing compound to the first stage of shine and then used Mother's Metal Power Aluminum polish and a swan mop for the next stage. The final polish was with Mother's and a soft cloth. I had not used Mother's before but now Iam converted, it has given the alloy the best finish I have seen so far on my Kat.

The Kat is in original condition including the original 82 shocks that I have recently fitted to take her back to stock, pipes are new genuine and though unrestored right now the plan is to give her a complete restoration later this year.

I love the wire wheels! I feel deprived here in the states. Maybe I will put some on one of my 82's. Probably will catch lots of shit for it since they were not standard here.

Can anyone tell me the wheel diameter on the Aussie wire wheels? Are they 19" front & 17" rear? In the pics they look possibly to have an 18" rear.

[c-rod90]

the wire wheels look better imho

[popupkat]

Can anyone tell me the wheel diameter on the Aussie wire wheels? Are they 19" front & 17" rear? In the pics they look possibly to have an 18" rear.[/QUOTE]


Yes 19"x1.85" front and 18"x2.5"rear for the wire wheels


Cheers
Max

[popupkat]

Here is a photo of my Australian GSX1100SXZ complete with factory wire wheels or ww as we call them

Cheers
Max