Krazy Katana

So, I think it's about time to start a thread for my Katana. I bought it a month or so ago and have been riding and working on it since then.
When I got it, it ran but had a high idle. P.O. said he had cleaned carbs and such but never synced them. It also had a K&N filter & Two Brothers Stainless Exhaust. I rode it for a while, but could tell it was a bit... hodge podge. There was some valve tick, a couple of horribly done side covers, lots of zip ties, some "custom" wiring for broken front turn signals.. and lots of little things to indicate that the P.O. really probably shouldn't be allowed to do their own work on motorcycles... Along with this the fairings were held on with zip ties and came with a bag of mounting screws... which were all the wrong size. Bike was also terribly painted orange.. big runs and all. So, the fairings came off and I decided to take a streetfighter route with it. Fairings weren't too pretty anyways
Since then I've set the valves, replaced many gaskets and seals, started designing a dash to hold the speedo and tach, got the missing crank breather tube, patched a hole in the exhaust, got tank mounts, and lots of little things done.
As of today, the gas tank needs to be cleaned and sealed, as the gas I drained came out pretty nasty... Once I get this sorted I'll get to carb syncing. Plan is to use a headlight from my CB400T and tuck the excess wiring in there. I'd like to make some carbon fiber side panels to cover the gap between the tank and frame normally taken up by the fairings. Main goal is to get the bike running good and rideable before heading to school. Pics are of the bike when I got it and a demo of the round headlight.

Here's a shot of the gas that came out when I drained the tank. Nasty stuff, assuming this is from sitting a couple weeks with a slightly rusty tank? Looks rusty except for a few spots inside.

Cool to see another katana project on here. I just got back into my katana build.

If the other issues don't sort out your bike not running 100% it may be the air filter and exhaust. A buddy's katana I worked on had a pipe on it that almost completely killed all the low end and midrange power. Other forums even say the k&n is too much flow for the CV carbs. A jet kit would help these issues.

I may need to do a jet kit on mine, but I am holding off. My bike ran fine with the stock 4-2 exhaust, but I am not sure how it will run with my chopped down 4-1.

Cool! Nice to not be the only one haha.
When I was riding it, midrange seemed fine to me, and it pulled even from 2-3k rpm all the way up. Definitely pulled harder once the mains kicked in though. If it is the pipe I wouldn't be opposed to changing it out, since this one is BEAT UP. This bike has definitely seen pavement a couple times, and it shows. Nothing is broken, but it is beat up. I had to patch a hole in the mid pipe.. The one thing about the exhaust is that it sounds awesome, which makes me reluctant to change it. However, I will have a better idea what to do once I get the carbs synced up.
As far as progress, I dropped off the tank to get cleaned and coated today, and am in the process of looking for a headlight. Found a universal "streetfighter" one on ebay that doesn't look bad: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HEADLIGHT-HEAD-LAMP-STREET-FIGHTER-FAIRING-F4-F4i-ZX6R-CBR-DRZ-RM-KTM-w-BRACKETS-/281397935971?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41849fbf63&vxp=mtr
Also got the brackets and face plat for my dash mocked up in CAD and the material for them. Just need to get to cutting and welding it all up once my grandma leaves. I'm considering laying a piece of carbon over the metal dash plate for looks, any thoughts? My dad has a bunch of fiberglass resin for his surfboards, would this work for just doing a decorative wet lay on steel? Otherwise it'll be painted.
That's all for now, more to updates to come.

Tank is coated; no complaints, looks like a good job.
Still not running. Petcock is leaking, think it flooded after sitting, sending it to pingel to rebuilt. To let the gas (if there is) out of the cylinders I assume I should leave the plugs out for a little while to let it evaporate?
Plug wires separated with zip-tie plug wire separators. Hoping this helps with what I believed to be a mis-firing #4 (pipe was much cooler than the other 3 last time I rode it, and you could tell it wasn't running quite right). Assuming the plug wires laying on each other and crossing at multiple points would be bad for spark, saw something about it while keeping up with Zeke's build.
I think I'm going to use a bottom-mount headlight that I have laying around since it's free and I cant seem to find a set of headlight ears to fit on the 41mm forks. Tried the ones on DCC that say they go up to 43 but they didn't work. Tried a set of the universals, no dice. Whatever, I'll use them for my 350 once that moves along.. one day. I can make a bracket based on the bracket that was originally for the brake line splitter, since the bike has dual stainless lines instead of the stock setup now. If I can get it right hopefully I can mount gauges off of it and not have to worry about making a dash plate.
I've got a job interview Wednesday so hopefully that will give me some extra $ to put in this thing to get it reliable.
Updates to come...

Just for fun here's a picture of the bike in the trunk on my way down to school. Let's say the southern Oregon and northern California passes were interesting with this much weight and a 4-banger.

I was able to use a set of the generic café racer headlight brackets from DCC on a kat I did for a buddy. They will work you just have to bend and reshape the brackets a little bit. On my bike I am using a bottom mount light and made a bracket off of the same spot you mentioned, where the brake line splitter / horn used to mount.

Edit: I didn't see your post on my build, for the gauges on the bike below I made angled brackets that mount to the bottom of the bolt that holds the stock clip-ons to the top triple. The brackets have a radius to match the outside of the gauge, then I used some black hose clamps to secure them.



Here is a picture of the bike i did for my buddy. Its hard to seen the headlight brackets.

Good to know! How did you bend them exactly? The ones I have are from KS or something like that but look the same as the DCC ones that are on that bike, but chrome instead of black (all the shop had)

Got the job, waiting for the first paycheck to have some disposable income to throw at the bike. Funny how paying rent, buying a work uniform, and buying groceries can make money go away. Petcock was sent to Pingel for a rebuild and... well there is a crack on part of it so its trash. Looking for a new petcock now. I sold some 400 parts on eBay, but I can't use the money yet since I'm not verified on eBay or some BS. That money is gonna go towards petcock and seat latch/lock which is MIA. Honestly haven't made a ton of progress, life happens. Updates when there are updates to be had...

andoor said:

Cool to see another katana project on here. I just got back into my katana build.

If the other issues don't sort out your bike not running 100% it may be the air filter and exhaust. A buddy's katana I worked on had a pipe on it that almost completely killed all the low end and midrange power. Other forums even say the k&n is too much flow for the CV carbs. A jet kit would help these issues.

I may need to do a jet kit on mine, but I am holding off. My bike ran fine with the stock 4-2 exhaust, but I am not sure how it will run with my chopped down 4-1.

Click to expand...

After doing so many CB360 CV carbs, I figured out what the 600 Kat needs to use K&N filters. I would have to strip mine again and measure everything remember the details though
Only thing I really remember with two 'dual'' K&N, 117 main jets ;D
It could only manage about 118 before I fixed it, added about another 18mph 8)
Great to hear you got a job, I'm still long term unemployed since being laid off in 2011

Was that with no airbox? Mine still has the stock box, just a K&N instead of factory.
Yeah, I'm glad I got it. Nothing to write home about, just a part time thing at a yogurt shop while I'm in school.
That sucks about your job though, sorry to hear that. Hope it all works out!

Yep, mine had airbox removed and K&N filters fitted before I got it.
Stock airbox with K&N replacementis probably a better setup at normal riding speed, you don't get the hot air off engine going back in
I did cover bottom of tank with heat shield, AC ducting stuff, way cheaper than the stuff sold in parts shops and eBay
Picture of underside of tank is somewhere on this page
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=11736.800

What's the advantage to coating the bottom of the tank? Just curious.
Also, on the stock petcock what does the fitting on the back connect to? I'm assuming it's a vac line for a vacuum petcock, if that's the stock style. Looking on the parts diagrams doesn't show what it connects to.
Can't say I had too many complaints with how it ran with the K&N in the stock box. Only annoying thing was the high idle, but other then that it ran great. I'm assuming the "jump" in performance was just the mains coming on. I really want to just get the tank sorted so I can sync the carbs, hoping that helps. Sprayed cleaner on the boots back when it ran and idle didn't fluctuate, so I ruled out air leak back then.

The back of the petcock connects to a vac port on the far right carb. You are correct in that it controls the fuel flow when the petcock is in the "ON" position. If that port on the carb is not plugged up, that could be you high idle right there!

Cool, I'll check it out to see if it got plugged. Is it any special hose or will some standard black stuff do (if its the right size)? I have a roll of what I think is 3/16" hose, can't exactly remember.

It's a special hose, normal stuff tends to kink and/or collapse and prevent vacuum operating tap
As for tank, I'm in Florida, gas boiling worries me a bit ;D (had it happen a few times, heat soak from top of engine at low speeds )

Alright, I'll just buy the zook hose
Scratch that, I'll scan eBay before spending $24 on a damn hose... Also, in the diagram the hose is split in the middle with a T fitting, what does the other point of the "T" go to?
Good to know! I'm in Central California, so I guess I could see it happening here.

'T' fittings are for carb vents, vacuum line is one piece

I'm going off this parts fiche. Part 16 is the line in question, right?

Yes that is it. I didn't realize you are in California, if your bike originated there it has way more vacuum controlled emissions junk then my bike. That may be what that T connects to.