'82-'83 Suzuki Katana

If there is another bike I would trade the Fj for besides the VF1000R it would be Suzuki's original Katana. The styling of this bike is always been a love, hate affair for most, guess what side of the argument you'll find me on. Originally Hans Muth of target design drew up the design for MV Agusta, they were not crazy about it and a modified version found a home at Suzuki. It only sold for two years here in the States and are scarce as hens teeth. They loved the design so much in Japan, it rolled off the assembly line until 2000. The first incarnation was the GS1000S Katana, You could have it in 1000 or 1100cc flavors depending on you country of origin. the specs for this bike are as follows, Overall Length: 2 260 mm (89.0 in)
Overall Width: 715 mm (28.1 in)
Overall Height: 1 195 mm (47.0 in)
Seat Height: 775 mm (30.5 in)
Ground Clearance: 175 mm (6.9 in)
Wheelbase 1 520 mm (59.8 in)
Dry Weight: 232 kg (511 lbs)
Engine type: Air-cooled 998 cc inline-4,
DOHC, 16 valves. 108 hp/ 8,500 rpm, 9,3 kg-m/ 6,500 rpm.
It had my eyes poppin' out of my head the first time I saw one. There was an '83 model for sale in the Columbus Ohio area two years ago. I'm still kicking myself in the ass over that bike as it was only three grand and an original unmolested bike in pristine condition. Suzuki for '83 added a blue racing stripe down the tank, but still sported that hair raising body work.
While I keep my eye out for an nice example to pop up in my gun sites, the only ones of late have carried a hefty tariff. last fall a fellow in the Chicago area was asking eight grand for his SV model. I bit steep by my standards, the ad has been taken down so it may have been worth that sum to somebody or simply had no takers.

I just recived the latest issue of Practical Sports bikes and found they had the Katana as the bike of choice for their 5 best section. Every month, they do a profile on five classic sports bikes that the lucky owners have modified to suite their individual taste. The number one choice among the editors topped my own personal list. It is owned by a gent named of Steve Adams. He bought it as a basket case and gave it what I like to call the "resto-mod" treatment. He has sold off the bits he didn't want and went about adding a raft of modern hardware in it's stead. He was going to use a 1200cc mill from a bandit, but used a 1000cc unit punched out to 1170cc. Topped it off with standard valves, GSX1100EFE cams and had the heads flowed. Chose a set of 37mm keihin smooth bores to do the breathing. A generous friend dropped a set of Dymag wheels in his lap. So to hold them to the bike he fitted a 1200 bandit swingarm suspended by a set of Ohlins piggy back shocks. Went with GSX-R750 K4 forks fitted into a Fireblade yoke. Bringing the party to a stop is a set of 320mm front discs sourced from a 1200 Bandit, squeezed by a set of 4 piston radial calipers yanked off a '04 R1. I sniped these photos from TopSpeed.com
Mixed all together makes my breathing shallow, beads of perspiration form on my fore head and I have to take a seat because I'm light headed. If I got within ten feet of this bike I would probably need CPR or have my heart restarted with a defibrillator. I am a true fan of attention to detail and the less is more philosophy. Mr. Adams more than achieved this with his master piece of a Katana, well done sir.

Extended Riding Season Cut Short

We have been enjoying an unusually mild fall here in Michigan that has extended the riding season deep into December. While I normally ride in the winter as long as the weather allows, it has been tough to get any winter riding in the last two years. Too many snow storms and freezing and thawing has made riding difficult the last two winters. I do not like riding after salt and chloride have been used to clear the roads, way too corrosive. Way too much of those two compounds spread around for my liking the last two years, does awful things to your bike.
The weather has nothing to do with my premature exit from winter riding this year. My doctor says I can still ride, just not my bike, but the crazy contraption pictured above. It's called a rollabout, and you use it to get around when you have an injury that you have to keep weight off of. After the wife brought it home and I got a look it, I won't be riding it either. Not unless I can mount a motor on it, it is a rental, so there will be none of that. It's heading back to the hospital supply. The photo pictured here is of my left foot. You see, my dumb ass went out and fractured my fifth metatarsal. I rolled my left foot as I walked out of a wet environment onto a painted porch with a fresh dusting of snow on it. I knew it wasn't good when I looked down and my foot was at a ninety degree angle to my leg and heard a sound like a twig snapping. Now all I have to look forward to is a six week vacation from work and a lot of sitting on my ass.
There is a silver lining in this black cloud though. I will have a lot of time to spend learning to play the blues. I have played the guitar for some years now and am basically a rhythm player. I have always wanted to learn scales and modes, this injury presents the perfect opportunity to head down that road. While I didn't get my VF1000R for Christmas, I did get a new Fender Telecoustic. I have to say, the timing of that gift could not have been better. It is a great addition to my Standard and Thinline Telecasters. So it looks like the only thing I'll be riding for a while is the couch, at least I have something to keep me busy.

Till Next Time...................

How About A Duc For The Holidays

Even if it doesn't look like my Christmas wish isn't going to come true this year, at least I get to see a good friend get his stocking stuffed. My buddy Felix, A.K.A. Bayou Boy just picked himself up a '05 Ducati 999. He already owns a Road King and was considering giving it up in favor of the Duc. He called me to get my thoughts. I advised him while the Ducati is certainly a work of art, riding it is going to be a bit painful. Designed as a no holds barred track weapon, rider comfort is sacrificed for all out performance. I told him he may find this bike too uncomfortable after his Road King and Triumph Scrambler. So he kept the Road King and added the 999 to his stable. He decided this bike was just to sexy and too much of a bargain to pass up. So he now has the best of both worlds, a bike he can ride coast to coast in total comfort and a finely honed sporting tool at his beck and call. The styling of this bike was somewhat controversial, following the 916/998, which is considered by many to be the most striking Ducati design. Myself, I prefer the 999 looks over the 916/998. I would have a hard time keeping this bike out of my house. I would enjoy looking at it as much as riding it, I just love it's lines. For Felix, this bike is his first dip into the sport bike pool. I believe he is going to find this bike to be completely alien to ride at first. Not that he hasn't rode bikes like this, he hasn't lived with one yet. My guess, he will find it's combination of light weight, handling and power to be overwhelmingly addictive. He won't be alone when he ventures out, he has quite a few riding buddies who are Ducati owners. I am sure they will take him to the best roads they know to make his riding experience with his new mount a good one. Being that riding a sport bike will be a totally new riding experience to him after riding heavy metal all these years he told me he will send me a couple post relaying his thoughts on the bike. He is in for a totally new riding experience, and to me, that's a good thing. He chose to skip the frying pan and jump strait into the fire on this one. Will he like the heat of that fire, only time with the bike will tell. I think once he gets used to the riding position and different riding dynamics he will be hooked for good. Especially when he is presented with the right riding environment, maybe even a couple track days. I hope you love your 999 Felix, and I have to admit, I am jealous as hell.

Till Next time.......

All I Want For Christmas is........

A VF1000R. With ten days left till Christmas, it looks like my wish will not be fulfilled this year. That is unless someone out there has grown tired of their 1000R and is willing to donate it to me. I'm not holding my breath though. The 1000R was not most sharply honed back road weapon of it's time. It is heavy,even in it's heyday, but still handled well at speed, although it's weight becomes more apparent at low speeds. It also was hampered by a stiff price tag for it's day. It was built in the guise of "FWS" HRC works bikes that Freddie Spencer, Mike Baldwin and Joey Dunlop were using to tear up the competition.
That bike was a beast, the road going version didn't quite live up to it's legend. It did have a bit of grunt though, pumping out around 122 hp. Also sports gear driven cams. The specs are as follows,
Engine...............................DOHC 4stroke 16 valve v4
Bore & stroke.................77 x 53.6 mm
Displacement...............998 cubic centimetres Compression Ratio........10.5 : 1
Carburetors.................4 x 36 mm cv type
Max Horsepower...........122 ps/10500 rpm
Max torque..................9.4 kg-m/8000 rpm
Ignition......................electronic advance
Transmission...............5 speed
Final Drive..................O ring lubrication sealed chain
Wheelbase..................1505 mm
Seat Height.................810 mm
Ground Clearance.......130 mm
Fuel Capacity.............25 L including 4.5 reserve Wheels......................NS-type aluminium Com Star
Tires.........................120/80 v16-v250,140/80 vr17-v25
Front suspension.......41mm 3way adj. rebound damping 155 mm travel
Rear suspension.........Pro-link 3way remote adj. rebound 123mm travel
Front Brakes..............duel floating disks with duel piston calipers
Rear Brakes...............ventilated discs with opposed piston calipers
Dry Weight................238 kg
I have been using craigspal to track down a suitable unit for the last few months. I can search All of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio at the same time with this program. Or the whole country if I care to. A couple have popped up on my radar, but were not the best examples. For a low production bike, they seem to pop up for sale round these parts more than one would expect. I can't really tell you why, but I have always lusted after this bike. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention, and gives me goose bumps I could remove ten coats of paint with.

Time is running out fast for Santa to slip one of these beauties under my tree. But I will continue my search until the right example shows up in my gun sight. Until then, I will be have to be content to feed my midlife hunger with the FJ.

Till Next Time............

All I Can Say Is WOW

This Guy is the Ken Block of motorcycling.

Talk About Talent,

I have always been amazed at the level of skill possessed by trials riders. These boys make it look like child's play.

Coming Soon to a City Near You

The 2011-2012 Progressive International Motorcycle Shows 12-city tour schedule is as follows:

November 18-20, 2011 San Mateo County Event Center San Mateo, CA
December 2-4, 2011 Dallas Convention Center Dallas, TX
December 9-11, 2011 Long Beach Convention Center Long Beach, CA
December 16-18, 2011 Washington State Convention Center Seattle, WA
January 6-8, 2012 Suburban Collection Showplace Novi, MI
January 13-15, 2012 Washington Convention Center Washington D.C.
January 20-22, 2012 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York, NY
January 27-29, 2012 I-X Center Cleveland, OH
February 3-5, 2012 Minneapolis Convention Center Minneapolis, MN
February 10-12, 2012 Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Chicago, IL
February 24-26, 2012 Charlotte Convention Center Charlotte, NC
March 14-17, 2012 Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL