Newest addition. 2 wheels old...
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:53 am
So after my ZX-11 (Kawasaki's answer to, well, EVERYTHING back in 1990, as it was the fastest production streetbike in the world, EVER, for about six years running until Honda's Blackbird and Suzuki's 'Bird of Prey' showed up) was made unusable by vandalism a couple of years ago, I have been looking for another open-class bike. I've looked at old Honda VF1000F Interceptors -really cool classic sportbikes, but overpriced for what they can do-, other ZX-11s, even ZX-9Rs. I revisited old interests like the Honda CBX -a straight six sitting sideways in a bike frame calls for at least one double-take-, older Kawasaki Z-1s, and the VF1100S Sabre (I still own a pair of the original, first-year VF750S Sabres, great bikes). I checked out newer models, like the TL1000s, and I even test-rode a ZX-14. Nothing quite called out to me though, and with a very limited budget I had a smaller pool of options to pick from.
I finally ran across this: A late eighties open-class sport bike -not a repli-racer, but a softer-edged performance-oriented all-around bike. Suzuki's Katana 1100 (this one has been punched-out to 1216cc) was a good performing bike in its' day, and with the big-bore kit and racing-header exhaust that this one has, I would say it is competitive against my old ZX-11D. It uses tappet adjustment screws for the valvetrain, as opposed to the nightmare shim-under-bucket setup my old ZX ran with, so maintenance isn't as bad. It still needs a lot of attention, but it is good to ride right now. At 60, cranking the throttle open in third gear makes the bike feel like it wants to wheelie. I do think the clutch is a little warped, and coming off the line is weird -it pulls then hesitates then grabs-, so I'm not sure that it accelerates quite as hard as my ZX did, but I think with a new clutch it actually will pull as hard or maybe harder -and the ZX ran a 130+MPH 1/4 mile in 10.55 seconds with a 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds, so this old bike has got power to spare. The paint is actually pretty well done on this bike (not a color I would have picked for it myself though), and the plastics are in good (not perfect) shape. One of the best parts is that the power window still works!
I finally ran across this: A late eighties open-class sport bike -not a repli-racer, but a softer-edged performance-oriented all-around bike. Suzuki's Katana 1100 (this one has been punched-out to 1216cc) was a good performing bike in its' day, and with the big-bore kit and racing-header exhaust that this one has, I would say it is competitive against my old ZX-11D. It uses tappet adjustment screws for the valvetrain, as opposed to the nightmare shim-under-bucket setup my old ZX ran with, so maintenance isn't as bad. It still needs a lot of attention, but it is good to ride right now. At 60, cranking the throttle open in third gear makes the bike feel like it wants to wheelie. I do think the clutch is a little warped, and coming off the line is weird -it pulls then hesitates then grabs-, so I'm not sure that it accelerates quite as hard as my ZX did, but I think with a new clutch it actually will pull as hard or maybe harder -and the ZX ran a 130+MPH 1/4 mile in 10.55 seconds with a 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds, so this old bike has got power to spare. The paint is actually pretty well done on this bike (not a color I would have picked for it myself though), and the plastics are in good (not perfect) shape. One of the best parts is that the power window still works!