750 Katana Resurrection

[KiwiAlfa156]

Talk about determined..!! A real labour of patience and devotion. Good for you Darryl. Great work. Your resourcefulness is commendable. I picked up some really good info from this thread, especially regarding frame material specs. How on earth you managed to uncover that particular nugget I have no idea. But good info to have. Hopefully some final pics of the bike will be coming soon.

Thanks KatManDoo. Still a work in progress, slowed by the New Zealand summer vacations and other distractions. I enjoy doing my bit for 'Kat Rescue', and old school Suzuki preservation in general. Been continuously obsessed with Katanas since I first saw an Eleven parked on the street in 1982. Owned an Kawasaki S3 at the time. Horrible bike, but I'd kill to have it today. Got panel and painting to finish and have all the bits to do the engine, so there will be more posts and many more pics. Stay tuned.

[KatManDoo]

Talk about determined..!! A real labour of patience and devotion. Good for you Darryl. Great work. Your resourcefulness is commendable. I picked up some really good info from this thread, especially regarding frame material specs. How on earth you managed to uncover that particular nugget I have no idea. But good info to have. Hopefully some final pics of the bike will be coming soon.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Seat repaired and recovered. Was missing some foam and had a big hole.

Cut and patched


Shaped


EVA skin


Recovered

[psyguy]

Happy New Year mate

It's all coming together nicely!

[KiwiAlfa156]

Seasons greetings and Happy New Year. It's been a couple of weeks since I've spent some time on the Kat. I've pushed on with the body work and will start the rebuild of the engine when the paint is drying.

I cut most of the filler out, primed, filled and sanded back the tank to the correct basic shape with the minimum of Bondo. Primer filler needs to be rubbed back and skimmed and puttied in a few places. Have given the fairing a wet sand with 320 grit ready for primer filler. There is some plastic welding in the tail cowl and the side covers to do. I've not plastic welded yet, but I'll let YouTube be my guide. Got to make pins for the side covers to replace the broken ones.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Waiting for engine parts to arrive. So thought I'd press on with the panel and paint. The tank is pretty beat up under the filler. It's been drilled and pulled out on one side. I'll be cutting the filler back to steel to make sure there's no rust under the filler. I'll then treat the surface, lay some etch-primer and then refill, shape and undercoat.



Tried to find OEM Blue and White GS1000SN tank decals, but they are as rare as rocking horse droppings with a price to match. So I found a local guy to make some very close replicas. Also some custom ones for the small scoops below the fairing and a small one to test clear coat on. In my minds eye, the white and blue will work in contrast to the Tiger Mica base coat. Guess we'll see.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Minimal time at the moment, so just nudging things forward by doing small jobs



Sanded back, plastic primer/etch primer, then spray putty rubbed back with a Scotch Brite. Next will be primer filler and rub back for color.

[KiwiAlfa156]

May I ask what size and the kind of tires you're using? They look like they would work really well. I need a new pair for my S.

Hi there,

The tires are Shinko SR712 Bias ply Sport Touring tire. The front is a 100/90H19 and the rear is a 110/90H18. Which is the closest to the 4.00H18 fitted OEM, although the tech sheet lists a 120/90H18 as an alternative for E22 West Germany.

The rear rim is a skinny 2.15x18 and usually I would have fitted a 120/80H18 (the widest tire for that rim). The 110/90 is an experiment. Want to see what effect it has on the handling, which is more important to me than the grip and tread that I or the bike will never make use of.

I like the 712s but remember they are only H-rated, and V tires are usually specced for litre plus Suzies. I have them on my 650G and done 10,000km (6,200 mi) and the rear needs replacement. The front still half worn but still has good profile and still stays neutral (enough) when trail braking. RevZilla did a review which is pretty much on point https://www.revzilla.com/common-trea...12-tire-review

Rear 130/90H17 on the 650G Katana


Front 100/90H19 on the 650G Katana


Confidence inspiring grip, reasonable wear rate and cheap. What's not to like?

[nvr2old]

May I ask what size and the kind of tires you're using? They look like they would work really well. I need a new pair for my S.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Lots of technical work and pics. You're very gifted in this rebuild. Thank you.

Ed

****

Thanks for your kind words, Ed. Appreciated. Much of the learning is in the doing and hopefully everyday is a learning day.

[GSXR7ED]

Lots of technical work and pics. You're very gifted in this rebuild. Thank you.

Ed

****

[KiwiAlfa156]

Just waiting on the rear brake reservoir. Everything else tightened up. Frame rails protected. Engine next.

[KiwiAlfa156]

Brakes bits finally arrived and so did a screen or two. Wiring back on the frame and waiting for the coils to arrive











Apparently the screens are ABS, and seem very sturdy. Don't know about scratch resistance yet. Time will tell.

[KiwiAlfa156]

[KiwiAlfa156]

Very impressive work, especially the frame straightening. I worked in a truck coachworks and my main work was straightening truck chassis after an accident. Your doing great and waiting on next instalment.
Dennis.

Thanks Dennis. New Zealand, or at least Auckland is coming out of lockdown, so I'm back at work and have less quality time in the garage. Got some brake fittings on the way to get everything connected. I want to get both systems working so they come off the list and I can feel the rolling chassis is more or less finished with all the wiring in place, tested and working. Then I'll turn my attention to the engine and bodywork. I've decided I'm going to paint the engine black and the body work Tiger Mica with blue and white detailing. But that could change.