[badwithcomputer]

That's funny. I wonder if my instructors thought I was a squid too. I scraped my pegs a few times coming around some corners and I was just a little more aggressive in my riding than some of the other riders.

I actually thought about becoming an instructor yesterday (becoming an instructor at some point well in the future). What are the requirements for you up in Canada? Or is it provincial?

There are perma-squids and then there are people that have squid moments. I have squid moments every now and again, for instance when I wheelied one of the 125cc's during the friction zone exercise. It was completely on purpose but I was trying to make it look like I didn't mean to do it, everyone loved it though.

I believe it's a provincial thing, You have to have 3 years of riding experience before you can be considered for the training. I had a recommendation from one of my instructors when I took the course in April which allowed me to be eligible for training much sooner. They certainly don't make it easy to become an instructor.

You have to take the course over again (free) then Audit (stand around and watch) 3 courses (3 days long each) Then 2 weekends of classroom. After that is complete you can become an Instructor.

The hourly rate is decent for around here @ $17 but generally you only might get 1 weekend of teaching a month between April and September. I just like the fact that I can mess around on 125cc's and always be sharp on my safety skills! I also base my career paths on networking with people, sometimes it's not what you know it's who you know I am getting kind of tired of the I.T. scene around here and am kind of using this opportunity to hopefully lead me to something else, all the while getting paid to do something I love anyway!

[rockat]

Sounds like you got your stuff in order. I hope it all works out. Whipping around 125s and 250s is fun; as well as teaching new riders how to be safe. And like you said, it serves a constant trainer/reminder of all things SAFETY. Those lessons can get lost or forgotten if you don't actively remember them.

[badwithcomputer]

even in the 4 months that i've had my license I got slack with turning my head to look where I wanted to go. You can turn an incredibly tight radius on a 125 with your head looking as far over your shoulder as possible. My advice to people when I do become an instructor is to make the mistakes at the course and learn from them there. Who cares if you drop a 125 because you were safely trying to execute an emergency stop? Better here than on a busy street!

[Mel Wainwright]

I am not sure about the later Katana's as they are known over there. Here they are known as GSXF's. Here the only 'real' Katana's are the originals such as my 82 1100. The originals are just flat out beautiful!!! The later models have too much plastic hiding all the oily bits for my taste. Love the naked look of my bike. I have had it since new and never get tired of looking at it. Every time I go out on it someone stops me and wants to buy it.
Having said all that though, as was earlier alluded to 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'.
Who cares what someone else thinks of your bike. It's yours and it is a Suzuki and that's the end of it.
Keep on riding and be safe out there,
Cheers
Mel

[Omnivore]

Actually for me most places were of the opinon the Kat was a rock solid starter sport bike. No one ripped them so to speak, other than an occassional newb that makes outlandish claims of any bike other than what they have.

I'll always be a Kat fan

[2fast4u450]

I dont regret getting my katana and i get alot of complements. iv been on a few other 600's (r6,gsxr) and im still happy with what i have, but maybe im just easy to please.

[hardlydangerous]

The guys that complain about the Kat being heavy and slow are they guys that have not evolved from the early sport bikes or know how to ride well enough to use its power and weight.
Having owned an 89 GSXR750 and 1100 Kat as well as dozens of other bikes over the years. The 750 Kat is still one of my favorite bikes ever. True its not as powerful as it SHOULD be but with the right rider its a fast bike that will wipe the smile of many supersport riders faces.
I agree in stock form the 98+Kat is ugly

[teddy]

I've voiced my opinion on these types of threads before, and as I have gone back over some of them, I've jumped on the bandwagon of pretty much all the views expressed on these forums about these bikes. Here's the actual bottom line for me... I've always been a fan of making things do what they weren't necessarily intended to do. Anything from drag racing my 73 beetle smoking 5.0 mustangs and camaros, to pulling a car trailer behind my slammed S10, to doing trackdays on my kat. All things that just make no damn sense. I like taking the 'norm', tossing it on the ground, and taking a big ole dump right on it.

Besides, I'm a pretty slouch rider, the kat is more than enough for me.

[2fast4u450]

I've voiced my opinion on these types of threads before, and as I have gone back over some of them, I've jumped on the bandwagon of pretty much all the views expressed on these forums about these bikes. Here's the actual bottom line for me... I've always been a fan of making things do what they weren't necessarily intended to do. Anything from drag racing my 73 beetle smoking 5.0 mustangs and camaros, to pulling a car trailer behind my slammed S10, to doing trackdays on my kat. All things that just make no damn sense. I like taking the 'norm', tossing it on the ground, and taking a big ole dump right on it.

Besides, I'm a pretty slouch rider, the kat is more than enough for me.

well said, iv always liked being the underdog.