My long running katana project (Black Betty)

[shpielers]

Surprised I didn't see this when you first posted, good work, looks nice

[e30bradley]

nice job!

[maniac1886]

My katana 600 (Black Betty)
I bought my kat for about $1000. I haggled him down from $2000. I probably could have gone lower but frankly, this is my first bike and the money was burning a hole in my pocket. Anyway when I bought the bike it was mostly disassembled. I probably wouldn’t have even bought it, (I'm big on "I want to hear the motor run") but it was a friend of a reliable friend who told me she ran good when it was assembled.

How I bought her



I got the bike home and the first thing I noticed was the pin hole in the tank. Got that fixed,



put it all together and it started!! Ran a little rough though. Took the carbs apart and cleaned them per “Carbs 101” and synced them with a manometer or whatever it’s called. Bike was running great, till the coils crapped out. Replaced the coils and I was off. Straight street fighter mode. It took me an entire summer to get the complete set of plastics from the guy. I can’t express enough how much this forum has helped me. If it wasn’t for you guys, my black Betty wouldn’t be the bike she is today. Anyway, here is a list of what I have done so far. We have come a long way but we have much farther to travel before my work is complete.
New Battery
Fixed holes in the tank
Tried to get at much rust out as possible (not complete)
New Plugs
New Coils (used coils, I tend to be a little poor sometimes)
Re-glued the air box boots and plugged the drain hole for better back pressure in the air box
Painted the rusty headers (came with 4 to 1 and a yosh pipe =])
Replaced fuel line from tank to petcock
Cleaned Carbs
New carb bowl screws
Mirrors with integrated blinkers
Replaced ALL rubber parts in the carbs
new clutch cable
LED blinker relay
Jetted Carbs
Lubed chain
replaced intake gaskets
eliminated all vacuum leaks
Synced Carbs
Lowered front end 1 inch
Barnett high performance clutch
oil change
mounted plastics
replaced clutch and brake levers
new Windshield
fixed gauge dash
added a phone mount to the dash
painted the dash ( gauge cluster)
changed the green red and orange lights with LED lights
added a phone charger
replaced carb vacuum caps for syncing
reinforced chain adjustment plates
installed a busa shock
painted the rims on the gauges
painted the caliper arm
Blue chain
new sprockets
new tire
new front tire valve
painted swing arm with plastidip
added blue LEDS
new seat
made a muffler hanger (mine was just hanging)
New tire (couldnt afford the front and it wasnt that bad so just the back, there were wires poppin out)




























That’s what I’ve done so far. What I have left to do
Replace stator cover (dropped her playing outside in the winter, hit black ice and she toppled at idle speed)
I want to have the tank serviced. It’s still rusty inside.
REAL paint job... its just rattle canned right now.
before I paint it I want to have the gas tank stripped and sand blasted inside and repaired, while the tank is in the shop Ill sand and prep the plastics for paint and when I get it back paint all of it. (I got a painter buddy)
2003 Yamaha R1 tail light mod
I would like to modernize the nose. I’ve seen some crazy pictures of gsxr noses being fabbed on, I like that idea.
Id like to powder coat everything ive painted
I want new grips
I want to powder coat the triple trees

I love this bike. No it’s not a super sport, but it’s plenty fast for me and it’s comfy. Not to mention, she rides like a dream. My hard work has paid off. She always starts, and never dies. I want to thank all you here at Katriders for helping me take a box of motorcycle parts and turn it into a magnificent, well-tuned machine!!!

The last 4 pictures are a progressive summary of the way my bike looked. Still lots of work but with a real paint job and a few more bells and whistles she will be done. Well.... then it'll probably be time to switch over to inverted forks, gsxr swingarm and a b12. Its definitely not worth the money I've put into it and im ok with that. I dont ever plan on selling it. when the time comes to get a new bike, (probably a super sport) I will definitely be keeping this one!!