Kats and cruisers

[birdmove]

I'm kind of leaning towards the 750cc Kat as my next bike. My wife wants the next one to have a backrest for the passenger.Can these be added to the Kat without uglyfieing it too much? It appears the 1200 Bandit has been discontinued? I don't see it on the Suzuki website. I could get a cruiser, but those things are soooo heavey, and probably not so fun in the twisties. I suppose the Honda 919 would be a possibility-anyone tried one? There seems to be a shortage of "standard" motorcycles any more.Theres mostly either cruisers, or harder core sports bikes.The Katanas seem much more comfortable to my 52 year old bod, and I have owned some pretty decent four-bangers in the dim, dark past:i.e. 1976 Honda CB750K;1978 Kawasaki KZ650; 1980(?) GPZ550 (much fun!).
Too bad the Bandits are gone.

[WildKat]

Just get a corbin seat like the one shown in the pic below.. w/ the gunfighter and lady saddle design.

http://www.corbin.com/suzuki/kmenu.shtml

[The CyberPoet]

Sounds like you are used to the UJM (the "Universal Japanese Motorcycle") concept -- and yes, there are fewer and fewer of them on the market every model year it would seem. The Kat makes a good long distance tourer and is a lot more comfy over the long haul than the cruisers, IMHO (having owned both, that's my take on 8+ hour days in the saddle). There are a couple other bikes that you might also want to look at, including the new Kawasaki ZX14 (aka ZZR1400 in Europe), the ST1300 (or better, the ST1100, but only available used now), and some of the BMW offerings. The Kat is by far the cheapest (initial cost and on-going costs), and most reliable out of that list in my opinion.

If/when you want the back rest, contact me -- i have an spare around here I don't want any more (the gf got her own bike), and it's a separate piece. I'll sell it to you mint for half of what Corbin gets for theirs.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[KatanaO215]

to be honest, my wife says that my old Katana was way moe comfortable for her as a passenger than my current Vmax "cruiser" is

[JoeCool]

The Corbin's look great and are very comfortable...you both will really like it ...just expensive at around $500 for both seat and backrest

[birdmove]

Looks good. Does the backrest flip down for solo riding?

THanks, Jon Neet

[steves]

Re: Kats and cruisers

It appears the 1200 Bandit has been discontinued? ... Too bad the Bandits are gone.

I know that for '05 they had a "Special Edition" Bandit S 1200 in "Racing colors" or some such. I know that one of the local Suzuki dealers still had one about a month ago when I went for parts. I'm sure if you really want one, there is one around to be found.

[kanventure]

I have the Corbin seat on mine and my wife and kids love it. Its wider and flatter than the stock seat.

Cyber - If they don't seem interested in the backrest, let me know. My wife wants me to get one for mine, but $259 for a backrest is a bit steep. Just PM me with what you want for yours.

Thanks!!!