[1LE]

First ride (or rides plural as we went a number of places so got a number of starts/stops on it) after reinstalling the carbs. Ran beautifully. On the first couple of "warm up and look for leaks" driveway tests I'd noticed a very slight pause at 3k rpms when coming down to idle, but that's gone now.

Had a friend follow behind to watch for issues that I wouldn't be able to see myself. He noted a very slight, blue, haze from the left exhaust when I was accelerating hard at high RPMs. I keep a close eye on oil level anyways, so we'll see what comes of that (could have been doing that for years for all I know too...). Chain has a ton of slop in it, so will be inspecting that and I expect it's new chain and sprocket time even though the sprockets still look decent. Just eyeballing where the adjusters are, I'd be surprised if the chain stretch isn't beyond what can be adjusted out...

Still need to get a temporary bottle rigged up and sync the carbs too.

[1LE]

Chain inspection. Took it all the way out to end of the adjuster and the slack is still out of standard, about halfway between the outer standard and the service limit. Did the 21 pin stretch measurement and it appears to be right at that service limit if not slightly over.

Guess I'm order chain & sprockets now...

**edit**

Oh, and the fitment of the chain on the rear sprocket is horrible. It's riding up all around the contact side of the sprocket instead of sitting down in the pockets.

[Alchemist113]

Refitted the rear caliper after having the seals replaced. I would have done it myself but the Allen bolt rounded out. So for Ž£52 I got it cleaned, rebuilt, new bolts, new nipples, new banjo washers and new pad pins.

Its now on,bled and tested on a quick ride out. Well worth the money, may get them to do the front too. It was powerhouse if anyone in the UK is interested.

[1LE]

Started disassembly for the sprocket and chain swap. Had to stop when storms started rolling in. Rear wheel is loosened up, but didn't quite get the chain removed from that sprocket. Plastics on the side are kind of pryed away enough to get at the shift lever, but I can't get it removed. Seems to be hung up on something. Hoping I can do this without totally pulling the plastics as I found a whole series of fasteners on the front that are only going to come out via drill. Amazingly bad shape.

I sure love the look of a faired bike. I sure hate dealing with all that plastic (really, the fasteners) though. It feels like I spend more time screwing around trying to get the plastics on/off than I do getting any real work done. It'd probably be less annoying if I had more than a half an hour here and there to work on it. I barely get started and I have to drop what I'm doing due to life. Sigh.

[92xjunker]

Started disassembly for the sprocket and chain swap. Had to stop when storms started rolling in. Rear wheel is loosened up, but didn't quite get the chain removed from that sprocket. Plastics on the side are kind of pryed away enough to get at the shift lever, but I can't get it removed. Seems to be hung up on something. Hoping I can do this without totally pulling the plastics as I found a whole series of fasteners on the front that are only going to come out via drill. Amazingly bad shape.

I sure love the look of a faired bike. I sure hate dealing with all that plastic (really, the fasteners) though. It feels like I spend more time screwing around trying to get the plastics on/off than I do getting any real work done. It'd probably be less annoying if I had more than a half an hour here and there to work on it. I barely get started and I have to drop what I'm doing due to life. Sigh.

Remove the fasteners, how ever you have to, run a tap threw the holes and install new fasteners. I was anisieze on the screws to keep them from getting galled again.

[1LE]

All the rest of my new parts (was waiting on the rear sprocket locking nuts) and tools (chain tool and temporary tank) showed up finally.

Also, was finally was able to pry the shift lever off. The outer set of splines on it were not an exact match for the lever side anymore it seems. Had to keep running it back and forth gaining a little ground each time until they were all happy with each other again. Seems fine now after doing that.

Pulled the rear wheel. Removed the rear sprocket, 4 out of 5 nuts came off "reasonably". The 5th was unreasonable and I managed to skim some material off the stud seat while cranking that one off of there. Annoying, but still plenty left for reinstall. Inspected that stud, seemed fine. Put my new rear sprocket on and was running down brand new locking nuts. 4 out of 5 went fine. #5 was fine until the locking section got a thread or 2 down. Jammed solid with a gap between the nut and the sprocket. Could not budge in either direction even with my 18" breaker bar. Ended up taking a hacksaw to the stud and cutting the nut off. Guess this project is halted until I can get a new stud and nut...

[1LE]

Replacement parts came in for fastening the rear sprocket, so got that reassembled and the wheel on the bike again. Temporarily hooked the old chain on it so I could break loose the front sprocket nut. Didn't notice while it was still on the bike, but missing/broken parts became obvious on disassembly. Missing 2 dampers and 1 damper holder. The other damper holder came out missing large chunks. Guess I'm halted again while I get parts in...

Also was surprised to find it had a smaller front sprocket on it. With as few miles as it had I'm surprised anyone had swapped it before. Well, when I get done it'll be back to stock size again!

[1LE]

Could not get the rear wheel to move forward for any amount of hammering on it. Ended up disconnecting the caliper to get the wheel to slide forward. I very nearly made the tragic error of removing the bolts that separate the caliper instead of the ones that mount it to the bracket! With the wheel forward I was able to hammer the caliper into the correct position to reattach. That all gave me enough chain slack to put the new dampers/brackets/front sprocket into place. What a PITA getting that sprocket on. Finally got it done though and my wife stopped out to stand on the brake while I torqued the front sprocket parts all back together. I like working on this bike for the most part, but even what should be simple things turn into exhausting battles with stuck parts and surprises when I discover it's missing parts or has the wrong parts on it. Make one small step, find a surprise, order parts, wait a week, make another small step!

[xWolverinex]

Today I put on my new carbon fiber gauge cluster cover and ordered a black windshield! 😉

[Mrontime]

Today I rode 35 miles for the first time on this bike. The tires showed their age by being a not fun ride the last 5 miles, tomarrow new tires will be on the way along with a 600 exhaust. The 1000 dual exhaust is too quiet on the 600 and it doesn't fit well with the oil pan.... also other money spending justifications.

[Tekgnome]

I started converting my Katana 750 to a Katana 600 tail.

So far so good, it looks so much better than the stock 750 tail.






Check list

Katana 600
- undertray
-tail light
-turn signals

Re weld seat mounts
Re Upholster seats

[Mrontime]

I guess it was seat day lol, i spent the day removing exhaust and welding in braces where the previous owner had removed large sections of the frame in order to get the floated rear look.... also wondering if i should bother trying to find a motor for the quitchy electric adjustable windsheild that was on the 90 1100.... any ideas?

[Tekgnome]

I guess it was seat day lol, i spent the day removing exhaust and welding in braces where the previous owner had removed large sections of the frame in order to get the floated rear look.... also wondering if i should bother trying to find a motor for the quitchy electric adjustable windsheild that was on the 90 1100.... any ideas?

Do you have a picture of before you removed it, what exactly does a floated rear entail

[Mrontime]

I do not have a pic. I bought this bike on craigslist and im just fixing the previous owners "customizations" the free floater refrence was just a suzuki joke, they came out with the "free floater" rear end, which was the beginning of the single rear shock. The previous owner hacked all the frame from under the seat and rear seat out and just left jagged metal, i boxed it in, triangulated it best i could, while keeping the frame unseen from the 2000 something rear fender thats on the bike. Techgnome.... you inspired me though, im getting an original single seat. I like your bike man.

[Mrontime]

after some welding, still more to do.