[newbouldg]

Keep the KAT as your "Sunday rider" and buy the SS you want for fun. I have seen low mileage 1000s on Craigslist for less than $6000. If you only have 2-3000 in hand right now, then get a quick loan for the balance and pay it off ASAP or save your pennies till you can buy it outright. How many times have you seen, on this very forum, where someone regrets selling their KAT even though they bought a superior NEW bike. Just my .02

[scottynoface]

How many times have you seen, on this very forum, where someone regrets selling their KAT even though they bought a superior NEW bike. Just my .02

The only thing you'll miss is the comfort, but that's the price you pay for riding a scalpel vs a machete.

Insurance on my 636 is cheaper than it was on my Katana, but I only carry liability and have only had one ticket on the bike in the last 4 years.

You also need to take into account how much mods will end up costing, and how much more maintenance you will be doing. The cost of tires will go up too, as long as you keep yourself dressed in good rubber.

End up lowsiding it? That's about $1000 for a dealer fix, and that's if you only screw up the plastics and maybe a mirror...


Think long and hard about operating costs, they do go up. That's why the Katana is such a great bike, but its not for everyone. I have more money into my bike than its worth and its only 7 years old with 15k miles.

[Spyderlord]

i am in the same dilemma. I swapped out my '93 600 motor for a k2 600 motor and kept the old carbs. Truth is; the performance jump was noticeable but not eye-popping. I have been considering selling it as I have now had a lot of time on it and it was a great first bike. But the sluggish throttle and that super-heavyweight feeling coming into the corners is just getting a little stale for my taste.

If you want to take a look into really tuning the crap out of the katana: i have been researching some Keihin CR racing carburetors and Ignition parts from Dynatek. I was considering swapping in a busa or gixxer front end... but really at the end of the day i basically realized that it is a question of your style. Do you want to have that completely one-off, sort of antiquated frame with a Frankenstein assortment of mods to it with a ton of soul or do you want that brand new, slick, clean, and pinpoint accuracy of a N.O.S. GSX-R1000 K9 that will give you all the performance the kat could only dream of... but you will just be one of the thousands of Gixxer riders. The new Gixxer will not need its fuel injectors cleaned out every couple of months if it sits, and you will never worry about the brakes not stopping you in time.

For me, i think i am going to keep the kat and just see what sort of evil genius i can work into it. but that is me, i really look forward to spending nights in the garage...errrr um driveway... thinking up ways to make the bike different somehow from the idea the engineer in Japan had twenty years ago. I also don't really mind cleaning out the carburetors before winter or bleeding the brakes every so often, it makes me feel really in touch with the machine.

Side note: Either way, Katana or Gixxer; you will f*ckin SMOKE ANY CAR IN A STRAIGHT LINE!!! I still cant believe my little kat whooped an EVO from light to light... keep in mind that i am a new-ish rider and weigh almost 240lbs! When i repaint the Kat i am seriously going to get little Honda symbol decals to tally up all my civic/del sol/integra kills...

[1100Kat]

If you can afford it why not buy a 2nd bike. That way you have your kat (touring) and say a gixxer (ss). Now when your going for a ride you have options. Choices...it's what life is all about.

[jcalvin1126]

Allright. heres my decision over many weeks of thinking and debating. I officially am going to change the bike to a b12 motor (if i can freaking find one)... mod the rear swing arm and swap for a gsxr 5.5 rim with tire. swap out the front end to a hyabusa. and swap the (subframe) for a gsxr one. then from there do teh EFI change. Then and maybe then.... I might like the curves and straight line. Im not looking for the best of the best.. Im just tired of being completely left behind when riding with my friends who have the cbr 600 and the yzf 600.. My decision maker..... The bike will be mine and only mine. Noone else will have the same bike.. and no one will care thats it a bike of all bikes (infact they might think its bad a$$). I feel that it will look good to me and thats all i need to be happy. i love the dang thing its confertable.. and with the upgrades itll be powerfull enough for my tasts.. and best of yet... yeah i wont be able to beat a SS but i will make them think twice because at least ill keep up. besides.... At least im out riding...

If you all dont mind I am going to post a thread step by step thread for the gsxr tail swap... and a step by step for the hyabusa front end swap.. figured i havent seen one yet so i am going to make one...

oh and your right about it beating any car.. I personally am a fast car guy i have a 03 mustang gt with a 4.6L v8 and its funny because after a week of riding around. I get itno my car and it feels slow and sluggish.. haha.. I love that ...

As a wise man hereabouts once said- There's no replacement for displacement. The Kat won't outrun many bikes in a straight line given riders of equal skill. And it sounds like that's your interest.

Also- if you're just ****ing around town you could put a retardedly gigantic sprocket on the rear. Probably the cheapest way to get more "torque" from the Kat.

HAHA.. when i first bought the bike i bought it frome a guy who used it as a stunt bike. He put a 53 tooth rear sproket on.. the dang thing red lined at like 60 mph.. haha but i tel you what i had NOOOO problem popping that front wheel up.. haha

[DClark]

One thing to think about before pouring $ into an old kat is that it is an old bike with low book value, doing mods will do little for its value. While this is no big deal if you just want to enjoy it, it can be a big deal if someone in a cage hits you and destroys the bike, their insurance will give you book value. Should this happen,be prepared to take apart the bike and get back some $ by selling stuff on ebay.

[jcalvin1126]

Yes.. that would suck.. but I got the bike for 300 bucks so currently I'm wayyyy under book value haha.. figure 1500 bucks of upgrades would soo her fine right??

[loudnlow7484]

.. Im just tired of being completely left behind when riding with my friends who have the cbr 600 and the yzf 600..

You don't need massive mods to be faster than a yzf600 (not an R6, but the original YZF600). The YZF is faster with equal riders, sure...... but not by that much. A good rider on a 750 kat will be faster than an average rider on a YZF600 any day. I don't know what version of CBR600 you're talking about, but everything up to the F4's are also close enough to be taken down by a superior rider.

My advice, based on this new information, is this- Work on your riding. I promise that if you really hone your riding skills you will be able to keep up with (or even walk away from) 90% of riders on the road sporting faster machinery. If you want to level the playing field a bit, then do the normal minor mods to the 750 engine (a lightly modded 750 can pull low 11's..... matching or besting the YZF and CBR) and set up the low-rent kat suspension as well as you can without doing anything major, and call it a day.

[DClark]

My advice, based on this new information, is this- Work on your riding. I promise that if you really hone your riding skills you will be able to keep up with (or even walk away from) 90% of riders on the road sporting faster machinery. .

I don't think his reasons for wanting a bike are all that complex; I think he wants that unique pull that only a liter plus sized bike with throttle maxed out, can deliver.
Ten second quarter mile entrances onto freeways never gets old...

[Spyderlord]

i am really glad with your choice calvin. All too often are people dishing out ten grand and going a hundred miles and calling themselves bikers (sport bikers and cruiser riders alike) without ever getting their hands greasy. All of them riding shiny new clones...

i would really love if you could post up some tutorials on your mods as you do them. I might be able to help with parts of your motor swap as I made a tutorial on my motor swap in the "Long Term Projects" category in katana talk. It is really easier than it sounds, believe me.

I too want to get a newer front end, so an illustrated guide with your issues would definitely help!

[jcalvin1126]

I don't think his reasons for wanting a bike are all that complex; I think he wants that unique pull that only a liter plus sized bike with throttle maxed out, can deliver.
Ten second quarter mile entrances onto freeways never gets old...

Exactly what I want.... well put

i am really glad with your choice calvin. All too often are people dishing out ten grand and going a hundred miles and calling themselves bikers (sport bikers and cruiser riders alike) without ever getting their hands greasy. All of them riding shiny new clones...

i would really love if you could post up some tutorials on your mods as you do them. I might be able to help with parts of your motor swap as I made a tutorial on my motor swap in the "Long Term Projects" category in katana talk. It is really easier than it sounds, believe me.

I too want to get a newer front end, so an illustrated guide with your issues would definitely help!

I defiantly will fundage is short at the moment so it'll be a little while ill make sure to post all mods in forum I'm a helicopter mechanic in the us coast guard so getting my hand greasy is what i like best haha

[Spyderlord]

Exactly what I want.... well put



I'm a helicopter mechanic in the us coast guard so getting my hand greasy is what i like best haha

That is awesome! i want to be an Army pilot. Working on getting my 4-year degree right now. Then hopefully OCS. That is probably not the quickest way into a chopper though huh?

[Wild-Bill]

Check out the Warrant Officer program if flying is what you want to do. Army still has Warrants and last time I checked they only required an Associates degree.

Advantage to being a Warrant over a Commissioned Officer is that Commissioned are all considered to be on track to become a commander. That means they need to get out of the plane and broaden their careers, doing ground duties as leaders and organizers. As they stay in the service and get promoted they spend less time flying the plane and more time flying a desk until they get to the point where they fly so little that when they do they have to have an instructor with them every time.

Warrant Officers, on the other hand are considered to be technical specialists. They aren't on a command track so they just fly.

[jcalvin1126]

That is awesome! i want to be an Army pilot. Working on getting my 4-year degree right now. Then hopefully OCS. That is probably not the quickest way into a chopper though huh?

Yes warrant officer all the way... ALLMOST guaranteed pilot. Dont go the ocs route because then your stuck in the mercy of what the army needs. go warrant. At least thats what im doing in october.

[Spyderlord]

thanks guys! i was looking at warrant officers as well as being commissioned. I was trying to figure out what exactly a W.O. is and does. It seemed to me that being an officer is an MOS all its own, so once you are commissioned you can get attached to any division where they need an officer. W.O. seem to be experienced grunts who get rank because they have been doing whatever they do for some time and got seriously good at it, like flying, or ground combat.

i am assuming that i came pretty close, judging from you guys' response. I went to talk to a recruiter to ask a question about it and he cut me off and started trying to get me to sign papers and scheduled me for the ASVAB... sort of ****ed me off.