In case you were not sure.....

[Range]

this is a vintage Katana

1982 GSX1100S

[mcmahonm]

nice Bus.... maybe you can ride the Calabogie run with it in front of me

Looks awsome

[Special K]

Man, those ARE great lookin' rides...................but I'd liek to get my hands on a 1000..............

[Anonymous]

So where do the kids run through the lawn?




Nice bike RangeGuardian!

[Mojoe]

what would be really really cool is to meet some others with a kat like this. I am in need of a discontinued part.

anyway.....here is a pic of another rare kat that you won't see many of. In fact.....let's call it a challenge. I want to see how long I go being the only one to post up as an owner of this model of kat...lol.

ps. I have two....both 100% complete if I can find one stinkin' little plastic cover.

[blkpitbull]

Hey mojoe,

what is the "gold" thing at the bottom of the fork???? Ive never seen that, probably cause ive never seen a bike like that. Nice bikes by the way guys. I hope to see/learn more about these awesome "older"bikes now that we have this new forum!!!

[Mojoe]

it's an "anti-dive" set-up. I am not 100% sure of exactly how to explain it, but it is to keep your front end from diving too much when you come on to the brakes.
I actually have to read up on it to know exactly how it works. I haven't gotten around to educating myself on it, yet. It is attached to the caliper via a brake hose....so they work in tandum. It is usually adjustable. you have to be careful with them because they are what control weight transfer from rear wheel to front during braking.
For example, say you are coming to a hard stop on a lower setting. you might have 80% of the weight transfer to the front wheel, leaving you 20% on the rear. this is easier to mange than say setting it on the higher setting.....which might transfer 110% of the weight to the front. This you might know as a "stoppie", cuz there is negative weight on the rear wheel....meaning it is in the air...lol.

you have to be careful with them. if you don't set them correctly to your weight and riding habits, you will have a front end that is bouncing around on rough roads (problem I have now), or you will find your rear coming out from under you during braking. the one on the 1100 is factory set. the one on my 750 is adjustable by the gray dial cap you see on top of it.

They were very popular in the 80's. Even goldwings have it. all three of my old kats have it, as well as the gs550 I rebuilt. Range has one on his bike, as you can see in the pic. Just a different style.
Here is a larger view of it.

[macgyver]

I can never get enough of those old Kat's they are just so awesome to look at.

[KatanaSoldier]

Here is the cheapest one you can find!

http://cgi.ebay.com/KATANA-SUZUKI-GSX1100-1-6-TAMIYA-MOTORCYCLE_W0QQitemZ250065007929QQihZ015QQcategoryZ2591QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Mojoe]

and here is one slightly more expensive. It is stting on the dealer floor.....calling my name each and every day for the last 5-6 weeks. I try to ignore it cuz I have enough bikes as it is.....but I am getting weaker. If someone doesn't buy it soon, I think it will end up in my stable. It's 100% original with only 8k kms on it......or about 4800 miles. damn thing is barely broken in.

[KatanaSoldier]

Talk about tempting!

[Mojoe]

tell me about it!!!

[blkpitbull]

it's an "anti-dive" set-up. I am not 100% sure of exactly how to explain it, but it is to keep your front end from diving too much when you come on to the brakes.
I actually have to read up on it to know exactly how it works. I haven't gotten around to educating myself on it, yet. It is attached to the caliper via a brake hose....so they work in tandum. It is usually adjustable. you have to be careful with them because they are what control weight transfer from rear wheel to front during braking.
For example, say you are coming to a hard stop on a lower setting. you might have 80% of the weight transfer to the front wheel, leaving you 20% on the rear. this is easier to mange than say setting it on the higher setting.....which might transfer 110% of the weight to the front. This you might know as a "stoppie", cuz there is negative weight on the rear wheel....meaning it is in the air...lol.

you have to be careful with them. if you don't set them correctly to your weight and riding habits, you will have a front end that is bouncing around on rough roads (problem I have now), or you will find your rear coming out from under you during braking. the one on the 1100 is factory set. the one on my 750 is adjustable by the gray dial cap you see on top of it.

They were very popular in the 80's. Even goldwings have it. all three of my old kats have it, as well as the gs550 I rebuilt. Range has one on his bike, as you can see in the pic. Just a different style.
Here is a larger view of it.

Interesting. Thanks for the lesson.

How come they arent used today??? Better, bigger, forks? Lighter bikes?
combination of the two? Curious to why it faded out! Seems like a cool feature.

[Mojoe]

I have to assume that the internals today are more advanced so it is not needed. could also be discontinued as a liability in case someone sets it wrong or it screws up and you end up flipping the bike over. A guy on another forum claims his goldwing was dumped cuz of too much weight transfer too rapidly. It caused him to highside his bike.

[Special K]

Sounds/looks like a damper.................