Suzuki Katana 1100: pre-gsxr 16v open class road racer styled by Target Design.
Specifications: (from a Dutch magazine dated 20th November 1981.)
Air-cooled 4-cylinder in line with double overhead camshafts 4 valves per cylinder, Capacity: 1074 cc, Bore and stroke: 72.0 x 66.0 mm, Compression: 9.5 to 1, Carburation: 4 x 34 mm Mikuni, Max hp: 100 hp @ 8700 rpm, Max torque: 85,3 Nm @ 6500 rpm, ignition: transistor,multiple plate wet clutch and 5 speed gear box.
06-08-03
Cleaned out the carburators and running well now, just finished working on the front end to improve the handling. The bike was weaving heavily in fast corners and it seemed to come from the front end. For testing purposes I use 2 corners wich consist of the on and off ramp of a bridge, as I got the bike it started to weave at 110 km/h, not good! Step 1 was 20W30 fork oil to replace whatever was in there and it made an improvement up to 115 to 120 km/h but the front end felt much softer then the rear and it's important to have a good balance. Next step was new WP (Dutch brand) progressive fork springs and since they came with 10W oil I used that too, price is €114.- and a 14mm spacer on top to keep the sag at 26mm. A bit better up to 120 km/h but still to soft, the final step were the WP springs with the 20W30 oil and the front feels much better and as a result the speed in the corners is 130 km/h with on 1 occasion contact of my left feet with the asphalt and total use of the thread of the tires right up to the edge!!! By the way there were already progressive springs in the forks but they were softer with a total of 58 windings as compared to the WP's wich have 62 of them.
12-11-03
Replaced some rusty and not correct bolts, replaced the mirrors and indicators with smaller, modern looking ones, changed the angle of the licence plate holder so it hangs a bit steeper and painted over the dealers name on the holder, I don't like advertising that I don't get paid for ;). Dropped the forks 2 cm (about 3/4") through the triple trees to quicken up the steering a bit, still have to see how it affects fast cornering but it does lighten up the handling. Finally received my missing little winglet that goes under the nose from Katanaclub.nl member Sabine, YIPPIE!
Finally took of the rack of carbs for cleaning and adjusting and tried to get the broken of idle screw out but it wouldn't budge...useless. Got a used set of 34mm carbs from a GSX1100 for €45 (Thanks Richard!) also with a busted idle mixture screw but now on the #1 carb instead of the carburator for cylinder #4 so it's mix and match time and there we go! Also swapped out the 107.5 main jets for the correct 112's. Cleaned out the filter element with compressed air and reassemble. The bikes idle is now more stable then before but still needs a fine tune and synch. Still haven't decided if I'm going to get it dine at Motofit or buying a carb synching kit and doing it myself, http://www.carbtune.com/ sells a nice kit for €80 including shipping wich Harry ( http://home.wanadoo.nl/kastanje/www/ ) is very pleased with, having used it himself.
In the months after buying the bike I kind of let go of the idea of keeping it completely stock because now I'm so pleased with the bike that I don't plan on selling it anytime soon although I won't do anything that can't be reversed back to stock!
This the result of the Dynorun a few weeks ago. nice line but the power drops to soon, it tops out at about 7500 rpm instead of 8500 where it's supposed to make the most power, this was before the carb cleaning and replacing the too small mains (107.5) for the correct #112's. Peak power was 87.6 HP, wich if you use the standard 15% loss in the drivetrain means 100.7 bhp at the crank, there is a peak in the green line, fourth gear but it doesn't count.
I still have to set up the idle adjustment and synch them and then have another run on the bench to see if the figures have changed, I hope so :D. Even if you can't use the power here in this traffic police and speed camera infested little country it's nice to know your engine is running @ top performance.
Katana 1100 part 2
