Owned this bike for 35 years, 1982 GS1000SZ Katana

[roy826]

Not all the years have been glory. Sat idle for the past 20 years. I have been bringing it back to life the last 3-4 months. Just about everything on it has been replaced or rebuilt. Bought up a lot of stuff I didn’t need but knew one day I could not get it anymore. It’s scheduled to have the paint all redone soon. I bought tank decals from Suzuki. Tach needle and speedo needle both fell off long time ago and wish I could source a simpler solution than the pair sold at webike. I have a new windscreen for it just not put it on yet. All the cables are new oem and the levers. The seat while not original velour was recovered many years ago in what you see now. I don’t like it but the stock velour was horribly dirty. I was an idiot 25 years ago and trimmed the rear fender. Kind of been looking for an original used one. New one is very pricey. Rear shocks are horrible as are the front forks. Forks just need going through which I plan to do. I added new Shinko tires and tubes. Rebuilt all the brakes and installed new EBC pads all around. The engine is solid and only required a valve lash check complete with new oem gaskets up top. Carbs were completely rebuilt and cleaned. Charging system is on the border of good and weak. I added a new Yuasa AGM battery. Some of the engine covers need a little love in polishing. The clear coat was removed years ago. The swingarm was redone years ago with new bearings and seals along with a polishing. Had one oem mirror already and could not find the other so had to buy a new one from Suzuki.$$

I have come along way with it in 3-4 months. It didn’t run then and it was in very poor filthy condition. I created my own barn find basically. The state issued me a Antique motorcycle license plate that I never have to buy again. Took me 3 days to get it all straightened out being it sat for 20+ years unregistered but I still had the original title to it.

 

[roy826]

Better picture angle

 

[Rob S.]

Nice work! Does the side cover choke 'dial' work?

 

[Cheryl]

Love it! Katanas are definitely one of my favorites.

 

[roy826]

Nice work! Does the side cover choke 'dial' work?

Yes absolutely does.

 

[roy826]

Love it! Katanas are definitely one of my favorites.

Thank you I'm partial to all of them as well.

 

[rphillips]

Great story, Barn find from your own barn, love it. Have been watching other threads about getting it this thing resurrected, you seem to be doing it all right & getting along really well. Can I be nosey?? Has the riding bug got back to you after all these yrs.?, or possibly the rising prices we're seeing for these things got your attention? For me, even back when I weren't so old, those didn't get comfortable at all till appx. 80+ mph. Today, 35 yr. later, I wouldn't even attempt to ride it for more than a few mi....For me to own, NO, but I love any chance of getting to even see one, they really bring back very good old memories. Yep, velour seat was OEM, seemed so dumb, I think I remember Suzuki fixed that in "83". You said new Shinkos & tubes, Suzuki started "some" tubeless wheels as early as 1980, did these "82" Katana wheels still not have "tubeless" stamped on them? Back in those days some Suzukis had tubeless on one end & not on the other. Glad you're here & sharing getting it back to where it should be. Congrats & keep us updated.

 

[trevor]

Better picture angle

 

[trevor]

Hey Roy

I just realized you are on the GSXS Forum too....I saw your post about ordering the same bike as me...and then you talked about your Kat resto...and I thought..."gotta be the same dude"....lol....So...who will get their bike first...me or you? Lol

 

[roy826]

Hey Roy

I just realized you are on the GSXS Forum too....I saw your post about ordering the same bike as me...and then you talked about your Kat resto...and I thought..."gotta be the same dude"....lol....So...who will get their bike first...me or you? Lol

lol yea I have been over there since I owned the GSX-S1000 way back in 2016. I just hope I get my GT+ sooner than later. We usually get to ride down here in the winter but the last two winters have been very cold and wet. So there is a lot of idle time now days in the winter in what used to be the deep south and now is the deep freeze.

 

[roy826]

Great story, Barn find from your own barn, love it. Have been watching other threads about getting it this thing resurrected, you seem to be doing it all right & getting along really well. Can I be nosey?? Has the riding bug got back to you after all these yrs.?, or possibly the rising prices we're seeing for these things got your attention? For me, even back when I weren't so old, those didn't get comfortable at all till appx. 80+ mph. Today, 35 yr. later, I wouldn't even attempt to ride it for more than a few mi....For me to own, NO, but I love any chance of getting to even see one, they really bring back very good old memories. Yep, velour seat was OEM, seemed so dumb, I think I remember Suzuki fixed that in "83". You said new Shinkos & tubes, Suzuki started "some" tubeless wheels as early as 1980, did these "82" Katana wheels still not have "tubeless" stamped on them? Back in those days some Suzukis had tubeless on one end & not on the other. Glad you're here & sharing getting it back to where it should be. Congrats & keep us updated.

No I have been riding the whole time frame just chasing the latest greatest newest thing. Road raced and rode track for 17 years so that was a huge money pit. This bike meanwhile just sat in an old shop with tractors and lawn equipment for 13 years. I never intended for it to be there that long but life just has a way of moving forward at times. With my dad passing I was left to go through all of his things and sell his property per his will. That is when I knew I had to do something with the Katana.

The rims on it have no tubeless lettering and it has always had tubes since day one. The valve stem bases would not accept a tubeless stem anyway. It is not that bad a ride, very firm and stiff is my only complaint now days. I rode it 56 miles a few days ago when it actually got to 65 here. Was not to bad of a ride. My current 2021 GSX-R1000R is way worse a ride in only 20 miles than the big Katana. The Katana does still turn heads even to this day. On that short ride I had several people stop and talk about it. Not all were old guys like myself but young guys on sport bikes were fascinated by it and it is twice their age.

 

[wymple]

"The valve stem bases would not accept a tubeless stem anyway."

There is more than one type, so you may want to research that a little. It's difficult for me to remember what I did to each bike, but one set of rims already had the stem hole just the right size for tapping threads for a screw in tank valve stem.

 

[roy826]

"The valve stem bases would not accept a tubeless stem anyway."

There is more than one type, so you may want to research that a little. It's difficult for me to remember what I did to each bike, but one set of rims already had the stem hole just the right size for tapping threads for a screw in tank valve stem.

Rear wheel may work but not the front one the way it currently is stock.

 

[rphillips]

I'm with him, Over the yrs. I've put tubeless valve stems in several Suzuki wheels, not marked "tubeless" & so far no problems. There was a thread a while back about a special bit that would make a flatter seat for the seal to sit in, but the stems I've used had a thick enough rubber seal that would fit the contour of the wheel just fine. A huge topic for yrs. To use tubeless tires on wheels not stamped tubeless or not. From my memory appx. 50/50 but don't remember anyone having problems with tubeless tires on rims not stamped "tubeless", just the possibility there could be a problem.

 

[gs scott]

Roy,
Congratulations on your long term ownership, and bringing her back up. I've had mine since 84 :kiwi-fruit:

 

[roy826]

Roy,
Congratulations on your long term ownership, and bringing her back up. I've had mine since 84 :kiwi-fruit:

Thank you Scott it has certainly been a long journey.

 

[mustangflyr]

Enjoyed your story about your Katana especially the " I created my own barn find ". Should be good for another 35 years. Owned my GS1000 over 40 years now, much fun.