Photo of the Month - July 2007 »1985 Suzuki Katana GSX750
My 1985 Suzuki Kata GSX750 in front of the Yokohama Bay Bridge.
This was my second bike in Japan. I picked this bike up off a friend for JY 30,000 or about $250 at the time, not bad for a 7 year old bike. It only had about 15,000 km on it, but the gotcha was it had been in storage for close to 2 years and didn't run worth a crap. One of my students at the time was an aspiring motorcycle racer, and part time shop mechanic, and he offered to fix it up for free. I know, I should have said thanks anyway, but he did put all the parts back where they came from. After that, I paid about JY 20,000 to have a pro do a complete carb cleanout and it ran like a charm.
More info on this model here. The Katana had an iron engine and was quite heavy, with a long wheelbase it didn't corner well, but did well on the straight away. This was one of 2 years that had the retractable headlight, and I think this model was not exported overseas in any quantity. The Japanese domestic model had the engine power limited to meet local regulations.
A few funny stories about this bike:
One rainy day I got stuck on a dead end street, going up hill of course, and had to make a u-turn. I had only been riding it a few weeks, so you can guess what happens next. Doh! This bike was so heavy, and on a wet slope that I couldn't get it back up. Fortunately for me several passers-by jumped into the street and helped me out. That was the only time I dropped it, despite doing several years of closed course motorcycle training.
One day I rode it in to Akihabara, the main electronics mecca of central Tokyo. If you've never been there, it's a maze of tiny one way streets full of people, stores and merchandise stacked everywhere, especially on the street. I got a little turned around, which is easy to do since there are no street names, and ended up riding slowly while trying to get my bearings. I heard this persistent bicycle bell ringing sound and someone yelling "tomare" or stop ! I stopped and turned around to look, it was a policeman who was pulling me over, and he was riding a bicycle ! Ha ha, turned out I was going the wrong way down a one-way street. The one-way street sign was completely blocked by an illegaly parked truck, but that's besides the point. The cop turned out to be a nice guy and let me off with a caution, then showed me how to get to the little shop I was looking for. Talk about public service !
I put about 60,000 km on this bike over 3 years, commuting to work as well as touring all over Honshu, the main island of Japan. Just before I moved home to California, I had to part with it. I ended up selling it to an Australian buddy in Shizuoka on the cheap. I would have liked to shipped it home, but I didn't have anywhere to garage it or the slightest clue how to get it smogged in California.
Keep riding !
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Comments
Hi,
Do you know where I can buy parts for my 1985 silver 750 Katana (pop-up headlight)?
I need the headlight and pop-up mechanism as well as the entire front fairing.
A parts bike would be perfect if available in Japan.
Thanks,
Gwen
agboat@trebnet.com
Posted by: Gwen | March 13, 2008 6:50 PM
do you know anywhere to source an original workshop manual?
Posted by: kay tarna | January 14, 2009 5:55 PM