1982 GSX750S Katana on the road!

[Guest]

After a winter of maintaining, replacing, rebuilding and cleaning, I finally got my Katana on the road yesterday. I brought it home last August in relatively good condition, but it needed work. I'm thrilled with the results and had a huge grin on my face for the entirety of my first ride! Here's an abbreviated list of what went into it:

• adjusted valves, synched carbs
• disassembled, cleaned and reassembled the left and right switch assemblies
• cleaned up the wiring, cleaned and/or replaced connectors as needed
• polished aluminum covers and forks
• new plugs, air filter and oil filter
• new OEM mirrors, front fender, side covers (2), engine emblems
• new carb boots, airbox boots and clamps
• stripped, dipped and rebuilt the carbs with new o-rings from Robert Barr
• new gaskets for all aluminum covers, breather, cylinder head cover and oil pan
• new exhaust gaskets
• new ignition switch and seat lock (old ones were broken)
• rebuilt front and rear master cylinders and replaced sight glass in both reservoirs
• rebuilt front and rear brake calipers
• replaced fork seals and fork oil
• cleaned and rebuilt the anti-dive (they work!)
• new clutch, throttle and speedometer cables
• new braided stainless steel brake lines all around
• new stator and SH775R/R (which didn't work - another thread)
• new grips and throttle tube
• new OEM petcock
• new tires
• new battery
• new horn
• a bunch of other small items

I'm very happy with how it turned out, and it's a thrill to ride. I was also happy to find that the anti-dive forks work as advertised. I was concerned because when I disassembled the anti-dives they were filthy, full of dried up, gummy brake fluid. There was no way they had functioned at all for many years. But I thoroughly cleaned them and, like many things on these old GS's, they now work fine. Also very happy that the self-cancelling turn signals work. The switches were just filthy, full of dirt and corrosion. But they cleaned up and now work perfectly.

There are still some things to do: tachometer doesn't work very well, trip odometer won't go past 2.0km, fine tuning the carbs, etc. But for the most part it's done! And spring seems to have finally arrived, just in time.

Cheers!
K
View attachment 54673

 

[johnod]

Looks real good, I like the painted tail section.
We should get together for a ride some time, I'm in the Chatham area.

I have an 82 1100 Kat

 

[Carter Turk]

Well done...that's a fine looking Kat.

 

[steve murdoch]

Nice work, Skinner.
Your Kat looks great.

 

[Guest]

Mate that's a fantastic result, top job!

Glad you got it all done in time for riding season and can now enjoy many problem free rides, top stuff!

There can never be too many Kats nor Kat pic's, so feel free to keep posting