Katana tail oddity

[Guest]

So, Saffa, one of our brothers in the UK was comparing photos of my 82 katana to alot of those in the UK and noticed a difference in the tail fairings.

If you look at my 82 tail fairing and then at Steve's UK Katana in the second image, you'll see that the area surrounding the taillights are different. Mine starts at the bottom of the tail light and extends to the top of the fairing. Steve's (and every other UK kat I've seen) starts about half way up the taillight.







Then Saffa asked me if I had a flip up lid on my tail fairing which completely puzzled me until he showed me this image of a tail fairing he got his hands on in the UK






So...I had to investigate. Pulled the tail on my 82 and found this...





While mine appears to be "hinged," there are some pins with push on clips on the underside of the top if the fairing that secure the add on panel to the fairing. The clips are not meant to be removed repeated thus making me think this was an add on for the North American market for some reason. Anyone have any ideas??? If I removed the hinged cover, my tail would look like the UK tails.




An just to see if my US kat was odd...I checked the Canadian 82 kat750 sitting next to it and the tail on the canuck kat is the same as mine.




So anyone have any insight into why there is a difference???

[suzukiray]

Are ALL of the UK Kats missing the add on piece that ALL of mine & those I've seen in the USA have? Just curious if he has only been seeing ones with it removed or if the UK & Europe bikes are ALL missing them. I have 4 tails in my possession right now & they ALL have the removable piece. Ray.

[Waltari]

Are ALL of the UK Kats missing the add on piece that ALL of mine & those I've seen in the USA have? Just curious if he has only been seeing ones with it removed or if the UK & Europe bikes are ALL missing them. I have 4 tails in my possession right now & they ALL have the removable piece. Ray.

I spent some time looking at as many kat images as I could find on Oldschoolsuzuki and all the UK kats I saw didn't have the removal piece.

[IndyGunner]

pic 1 and 2 are bad a** man, those bikes are sexy. Id love to have one.

[Waltari]

There's a guy in France that has done a set of drawings of all the kats from the ED-2 through 83. In looking at his drawings, ALL of the non-US bike are missing the cover and ALL models of the US bike have the cover. In looking at how the tail light is further back on the US models, it would seem as though it had to do with regulations regarding location of the taillight.

[tdrcomm]

There's a guy in France that has done a set of drawings of all the kats from the ED-2 through 83. In looking at his drawings, ALL of the non-US bike are missing the cover and ALL models of the US bike have the cover. In looking at how the tail light is further back on the US models, it would seem as though it had to do with regulations regarding location of the taillight.

Seems logical. Combine that with the added strap on the seat and additional reflectors it looks like US DOT regulations compliance. I'd vote for that reason.

FWIW: I like the cleanness of the UK tail.

[pontiacstogo]

I have several Japanese tailpanels on hand and none of them have this little add-on either. I've always figured it was some DOT regulation that prevented showing red lighting to the side of the bike - same way the US bikes have the ugly reflectors on the fairing. Here's my US Kat with Japanese tailpanel;

[pontiacstogo]

Selling a JDM cowl over at the GS Resources;

[Waltari]

Selling a JDM cowl over at the GS Resources;

Can't see the post at GS, must be registered. Also, if you remove the cover and fill the four small holes, instant JDM fairing!

[pontiacstogo]

Can't see the post at GS, must be registered. Also, if you remove the cover and fill the four small holes, instant JDM fairing!

*Edited by steves

[johnod]

I've PMd you and sent you email as well, get back to me would you!

[steves]

pontiacstogo,
We only have a few rules at Katriders.com and you've managed to scuttle two of them with one post.

First, "For Sale" posts should only be placed in the "For Sale" area.
Second, if you are going to sell things on the forum we want to get to know you a little bit first, and as such require 50 posts before you may post an item for sale, and 25 posts before you may respond to a for sale post.
I understand this may sound draconian and annoying, however we've found that it works the best for the staff and membership here.