"Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

Hey guys, I am new here. Finally getting some time to make a project thread. I am a student working on my masters in Biology at a well known university in the midwest, and recently made the decision that I'd like to attend medical school in the near future. I love vintage motorcycles and not quite "vintage" yet, Euros.

Recently picked up a 1982 Katana GSX-1000 with around 5,XXX original miles. I love the cafe movement, yet I don't think I could ever bring myself to do a "true" cafe build to this motorcycle. I have thrown around the idea of doing a "RatKat," making it look a little rustic and give it some character one wouldn't normally find with one of these motorcycles. And then another little devil over my shoulder is telling me to do beefy forks, modern swing arm and wheels, etc. I have two tanks, the original has just been re-painted and looks fantastic. The spare tank would be the one to do up in a "rat-kat" fashion. Not quite sure yet. Very conflicted.

Not sure what is done to the motor specifically, or if anything at all, it is a little faster than my 916 and rips wheelies in mid to top range in first (no clutch). Not sure if this could just be due to the weight saved from the stock exhaust? Shouldn't be.... Besides the V/H exhaust, there is a stage III dyno jet kit in it.

;D

Here she is:

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

If it was mine I'd leave bone stock. Clean "Katunas" are far and few.

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

XVRacer said:

If it was mine I'd leave bone stock. Clean "Katunas" are far and few.

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This is another conflict I am having....

Could go that route and get OEM windscreen and get find a stock exhaust for it.

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

XVRacer said:

If it was mine I'd leave bone stock. Clean "Katunas" are far and few.

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100% agree. They are a suburb looking bike standard., and Katana's sell for very good money (certainly in the UK)
If it was mine I'd leave well alone.

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

semmins said:

100% agree. They are a suburb looking bike standard., and Katana's sell for very good money (certainly in the UK)
If it was mine I'd leave well alone.

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These aren't the responses I was expecting from this site. But I like your style.

Maybe I should find some GS750 or something?

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

Deavastation said:

These aren't the responses I was expecting from this site. But I like your style.

Maybe I should find some GS750 or something?

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Ultimately, it's your bike to do with as you please. I understand not wanting to modify this particular bike though. I would keep it stock-ish or period relevant mods only like the aftermarket exhaust and windscreen. They are harder to find bikes.

When I was a kid, my family owned a Kawasaki/Suzuki dealership. When this bike hit the showroom, it was like nothing else on the street.

So...my .02 is find something else and mod the shit out of it and ride this one stockish. If not, I'll follow along anyway.

Cheers.

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

What if you got an early GS1100EX? Same motor and if you want to go mod crazy there a tons of option for the motor.

XVRacer said:

If it was mine I'd leave bone stock. Clean "Katunas" are far and few.

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Ditto.
It's a design icon. It will be worth jack shit if you mess with it, on the other hand if you mothballed it for ten years I bet you would get better investment return than stocks and shares.

I agree with everybody's sentiments. I wouldn't "cafe" it, but nothing wrong with some tasteful retro-mods imo. If you think you would like to flip it for a profit, then a restoration is probably your best bet.

couple of nice retro-mods

Both of those modded bikes are beautiful!

That said I'd leave it stock. The only things I do are respring and gold valve the fork, put the stock shocks in a box, put on Penskes or Ohlins, SS brake lines, good tires, and go ride. The V&H megaphone is a nice period correct system. At the time the yellow Accel coils & wires were a must have mod too. Why? They looked cool! What ever you do don't remove the airbox. The CV carbs on that GS hate being open.

I agree with the majority here. Whatever mods you decide to do, keep the parts and make sure you're able to return it to stock should you decide to sell in the future. 8)

Love the Katanas!

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

XVRacer said:

What if you got an early GS1100EX? Same motor and if you want to go mod crazy there a tons of option for the motor.

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I love those. Those aren't actually the same motor as the 82, because it was homologated for racing with the 1000. 83 and later were 1100s, same idea though! I really like the EX..... There are too many good motorcycles out there. I want to catch em' all.... ;D

PlayerB said:

I agree with everybody's sentiments. I wouldn't "cafe" it, but nothing wrong with some tasteful retro-mods imo. If you think you would like to flip it for a profit, then a restoration is probably your best bet.

couple of nice retro-mods

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I absolutely love this build, it pays tribute to what Suzuki initially built while building it as if they built it today... Plus the pipe is to die for.

It is your bike, so do with as you please but if it were mine i'd sell it cause in my opinion it is one of the ugliest bikes ever produced, but i know people like them stock.

jaykim said:

It is your bike, so do with as you please but if it were mine i'd sell it cause in my opinion it is one of the ugliest bikes ever produced, but i know people like them stock.

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Our opinions vary greatly. I personally think this motorcycle was far ahead of its time aesthetically speaking. The ergonomics of this motorcycle resemble modern street bikes more than any other motorcycle in its time period, being that it is from the early 80s.

But anyways, thanks for sharing your opinion.

Also, I have a Ducati 916, which is considered one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever built. This bike has gotten more attention than my 916 ever has. Which says something extremely positive about the uniqueness of the motorcycle.

From my recollection the 1000 versions were created by Suzuki to homologate the Katana for superbike racing at the time. The 1100 was the more common model.

In other words if what you have is a true 1000 then it is more collectable again then the 1100......which are now collectors bikes......

The 1000's had optional wire wheels - but not all 1000's had them.

Read all about it over here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Katana

hillsy said:

From my recollection the 1000 versions were created by Suzuki to homologate the Katana for superbike racing at the time. The 1100 was the more common model.

In other words if what you have is a true 1000 then it is more collectable again then the 1100......which are now collectors bikes......

The 1000's had optional wire wheels - but not all 1000's had them.

Read all about it over here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Katana

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It is a true 1000, and I know about the wire wheels. But I might have misunderstood some research I did in the past, I thought only Australian Katanas got the optional wire wheels. I was pretty certain they never come to the states. I will look into your link in a bit, finishing up some homework.

Re: "Kafe" out of the Box? 1982 GSX-1000 Katana

Deavastation said:

I love those. Those aren't actually the same motor as the 82, because it was homologated for racing with the 1000. 83 and later were 1100s, same idea though! I really like the EX..... There are too many good motorcycles out there. I want to catch em' all.... ;D

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Yes, same motor, same chassis.

Oh, it's all good. I definitely love that we all have different opinions, imagine what this world would be if everyone had the same taste. Boring!!!