1000cc kat

[crabbait]

Come on fellas surely some one among'st you is an expert on these old girls. Whats so special about them are they very rare. Like i said in the last post this one was made with and still has original flatslides. The engine is supposedly held in frame differently but it looks the same as my 84 1100 Kat the wheels are the same as well. Whats so special about them. This one has also had a big bore kit put in her unfortunatly. Heres a piccy of it what do you think she is worth. Any info about these and opinions would be appreciated Cheers Billy

[johnod]

Come on fellas surely some one among'st you is an expert on these old girls. Whats so special about them are they very rare. Like i said in the last post this one was made with and still has original flatslides. The engine is supposedly held in frame differently but it looks the same as my 84 1100 Kat the wheels are the same as well. Whats so special about them. This one has also had a big bore kit put in her unfortunatly. Heres a piccy of it what do you think she is worth. Any info about these and opinions would be appreciated Cheers Billy

Weren't all US spec Kats 1000 cc in 82 or 83?

[crabbait]

I don't know much about these Kats in America, over here in Aussie i've only ever seen and heard of 1100 Kats. But if in America they were all 1000cc then maybe they arn't so rare. You may have answered one of my questions

[whitecl0ver]

I've never heard of a 1000cc Kat either, Only 1100, 750, and 600.

Of course thats not saying they dont exist, I've just never heard of/saw one.

[johnod]

I don't know much about these Kats in America, over here in Aussie i've only ever seen and heard of 1100 Kats. But if in America they were all 1000cc then maybe they arn't so rare. You may have answered one of my questions

In Canada they were 1100s as well.You can never have too much usleless info. lol

[Greg B]

IIRC the Aussie 1000 Katanas had spoked wheels, with disc brakes. Don't know about the carbs for sure, but I think they were Mikuni smoothbores, instead of the CVs that everyone else got. And (or so I've heard) there were really only 200 imported into Australia.
Again, this is what I "heard". Doesn't mean it is true.

[soidid]

82 gs1000sz katana

i own one proud to say ... in 1982 is when the katana first appeared on the market ... it was the prototype for crotch rockets that followed ... only 5000 1000cc katanas were built ... thus truely a rare motor cycle ... thats probably why ya dont see and cant find anything on the topic ... as the value today ?? i guess there are those that are interested ... dont be knowin
ps the color was silver

[Don Giablo]

I've never heard of a 1000cc Kat either, Only 1100, 750, and 600.

Of course thats not saying they dont exist, I've just never heard of/saw one.

Wow?

[CSHughes]

you learn something new every day!......

[firstLAkatana]

Soidid, where'd you get that 5000 production figure?

I was told by a respected bike journalist that only 1007 were made, and only 600 made their way to the USA. We had been sipping wine and swapping tales, so maybe he was over the top?

I've owned three of them (my current '82 Kat has 9K miles on it), and had the very first one that was shipped to Los Angeles, bought new in late '81 for (sit down!) $3299.00 out the door.

So, I've been riding my 1000CC Kats for...29 years!

[suzukiray]

They did NOT produce 5000 Katana 1000cc bikes EVER! Ray.

[djob1000]

Hi Crabbait,
I also have a 1000 Katana, In Australia they were only imported for one year but they were overseas 82,83,84, 83 SD only in Oz.
In the US they came with CV carbs and were missing the little shark fins under the front fairing.
In Oz they had mikuni smooth bores (oval bores really)and they have a GS10x- prefix.
The story goes that the rest of the world was switching to a 1000cc limit for production racing but here in Oz we didnt change untill 1983 and Suzuki was caught with their pants down with nothing to race.
So they sourced the last remaning bikes from NZ for racing, the numbers vary depends on who you talk to,but 38 is a common guess, whatever it is they are pretty rare.
I saw one on Ebay a couple of years ago for $8000.00 and it looked like it had spent 10 years in a chook shed, a Pom asked the question " why is it so cheap" so the English hold them in high regard.

[Mojoe]

i own one proud to say ... in 1982 is when the katana first appeared on the market ... it was the prototype for crotch rockets that followed ...

why is it that most people who mention the kat first hitting the market say that it was in 82?

well y'all are off by two years. the katana appeared on the market in 1980. the 1100 kat had already been sold 2 years before they introduced the 1000 kat.
and then they only made it two years. the reason it is "rarer" than the 1100....well just do the math. 5 yrs production for the 1100 vs 2 years production for the 1000.

Hi Crabbait,
I also have a 1000 Katana, In Australia they were only imported for one year but they were overseas 82,83,84, 83 SD only in Oz.
In the US they came with CV carbs and were missing the little shark fins under the front fairing.
In Oz they had mikuni smooth bores (oval bores really)and they have a GS10x- prefix.
The story goes that the rest of the world was switching to a 1000cc limit for production racing but here in Oz we didnt change untill 1983 and Suzuki was caught with their pants down with nothing to race.
So they sourced the last remaning bikes from NZ for racing, the numbers vary depends on who you talk to,but 38 is a common guess, whatever it is they are pretty rare.
I saw one on Ebay a couple of years ago for $8000.00 and it looked like it had spent 10 years in a chook shed, a Pom asked the question " why is it so cheap" so the English hold them in high regard.

Look up Wes Cooley and Suzuki racing. He gave suzuki their first AMA championship in 79 on a gsx1100, and in 80 on the katana 1000. and you want to know why it ended there? it wasn't for lack of bikes to race. it was lack of reliable bikes to race. the 1000 katana was a nightmare for suzuki. it was a lemon, so to speak. it was just a load of mechanical problems. Cooley couldn't win sh*t with it after the AMA win. So he switched over to the gsx1100ef. then 2 years later Suzuki pawned the 1000 off on the public, hoping to get the same appeal as the 1100 was getting. but it didn't gain any popularity as people just preferred the 1100.

so you see, there is nothing really special about the 1000, unless you consider it's "questionable" history, special. it was basically the runt of the katana litter. you know...weak and fragile so to speak. that is why they scrapped production after 2 years. if anyone has an 84 katana, it is most likely an 83 leftover that they sold as an 84.

[djob1000]

Whoa Mojoe, What got in your panties. I was talking about Katana 1000 when I said they appeared in 1982 in the US. In Australia where I live and the guy I was talking to lives they only came out in 1983. Wes Cooley won the 79 and 80 on 2 valve GS1000s Suzuki even built a replica GS1000s. 4 valve GSX may of arrived late 1980 but Katana 1100 is generally considered a 1981 model. GSX1000s Katanas (I know in the US They dont use the GSX prefix for Katanas) are identical to the 1100 except for 998cc barrels and pistons and every where in the world except the US had slide carbs, so I cant see them being weak and fragile as stated by yourself. In Australia people talk of only a handfull of bikes being imported , 38 is a common number this is why they are considered rare in Australia. By the way Katanas were not very sucessfull as racers in any capacity, Hondas CB1100R was a more competitive bike and in Australia was Ridden by Wayne Gardner, Andrew Johnston, Malcolm Cambell so the Hondas were on the top step more than Katana. I think Eddie Lawson on Kawasakis were probably Suzukis main competition in the US.
Suzuki built 250,400,650,750,1000,1100cc Katanas so how is it that the 1000 is the Runt and you yanks call every Suzuki Ever made a Katana, I mean GSX750F, Bandit600,1200 all seem to be Katanas in America, I have no Idea about Canada. In Australia the Pop up headlight 750 1985 was the last bike refered to as a Katana.
In short the 1000cc Katana in AUSTRALIA is considered a sleeved down 1100 with RACING CARBS bought out for one year only in very small numbers and that is why its considered SPECIAL.

[Mojoe]

my panties are just fine, djob. I was just responding to what I quoted from you. you gotta admit, that quote does kinda sound like you say that 82 with the year the katana was introduced.

Truth be told, we are all talking out our arses and giving info that we "heard" from someone who knows someone who is supposed to know. I have owned a few 1100 parts bikes, and I own a beauty of an 83 1100, as well as 2 750 pop-ups. I have been a fan of the vintage kat forever.....and I have heard a gazillion stories on the history of the kat.

as for the 1000 kat being a runt...well, maybe that description isn't too accurate. so let me rephrase that.....the 1000 kat sucked as a race bike.

I will agree with you though on the "over use" of the name katana. 85-86 (1 of my pop-ups is an 86...the other an 84) should have been the last year for the katana. I also own a 92 1100 kat, and I refer to it as a katana, but is is still just a "sticker bike" as some on gs resources call them. myself....I kinda have my own "belief" that the F in gsx-f stands for fake. you know....just some knock-off of the original that shares nothing in common except for the name....and likely labeled as such for the american market for the simple fact that they are a bit more susceptible to marketing ploys. everyone heard of the original katana...and everyone wanted one... so hey...why not call the current gsxf a katana to attract buyers? guess it worked cuz north america is flooded with them. but hey....I won't get to deep in that discussion. last time I tried sharing that theory on this site, I was shot down with, "the sticker on the bike says katana, so it's a katana". who can argue with that, right? so I will accept that the recent katanas are indeed katanas, but they did not evolve from the original katana. personally, I think they have more in common with the gsx1100ef.....which was a full fairing "sport tourer".

but hey....this whole thread is just speculation and hear say. the original kats are 25-30 years old and most of us were just kids when they came out. many on here weren't even born yet. so unless any of us happen to know someone who worked for suzuki back in the day, all we have to go by is a bit of basic fact, and a whole lot of rumor and speculation.