Japan loves the Katana - check it out

[bbutler455]

This has to be the most beautiful and fastest Katana Custom. It is on the Yoshimura Japan Website. http://www.yoshimura-jp.com/en/compl...35r/index.html

[Boozy Creek Beast]

That sure is one sweet bike. I wonder how much they have invested in it?

The Beast

[KGB]

They had a contest for these last year.
You had to write an essay and PROVE you were worthy enough to own]one of these beasts.
I don't know anyone that won.


I'm sure our resident Katana experts will chime in and inform us.

Dink ? Katman ?

[Hap Call]

There were five of them. You had to prove that you were going to ride them, not just put them up as museum pieces. Then you got to purchase one. It was not a give-away.

Hap

[pozzi]

that's the nicest early katana (or any year katana for that matter) i've ever seen!

all those bikes on that page are awesome!
the zero-50 is ill!


and the M450 is something i'd love to have to commute too/from work on!
i am really starting to like supermoto bikes for the street...maybe my next bike will be one!

[Mysuzyq]

If memory serves, they went for approx $35,000 USD.

Tony.

[pozzi]

If memory serves, they went for approx $35,000 USD.

Tony.

$35,000

i'm sorry, but i'd have to go with a new Bimota for that price range.
(althoug i'd never spend that much on a bike because the money would go towards a Lotus Exige Sport-R)

[Mysuzyq]

See, thats precisely why they had applicants write an essay...to weed out guys with priorities like yours .

Tony.

[pozzi]

and i'm okay with that.

put a Exige in my garage and i'll pass on any bike out there to keep it.

[Biker326]

Holy Kat!

That Kat takes it all!!! I would take that Katana over any other bike or car i've ever seen -bar none! A masterpeice! It probably helps that cars just don't tempt me like bikes do \\/
...now that I think about it though, if I had that kind of dough, it would be WAY more fun to build it myself!

[bbutler455]

It gives you some ideas

Did you notice how easy it was to clear the space behind the carbs. Move the electronics under the seat, go to pod filters, and bingo - clean lean looking machine. It makes me want to kind an early katana that has already been butchered and build a custom.

[txironhead]

That STUCK racing speed meter sounds like it would be great for the people here that want to clean up their instrument cluster....any idea how much they are and if they're adaptable to older GS's?

[salty_monk]

I wonder how much they have invested in it?

The Beast

I noticed you American guys say this when spending money on cars & bikes.... surely unless it's something pretty old & rare it can never be an investment only an expense. Most times you are lucky to get your money back let alone any increase.

As an investment anything with an engine is pretty poor stock....

Just wondering where the terminology comes from. I know guys who say they are "investing" in their big old (brand new) Chevy truck... well it already took a huge knock when they took it out the garage & will be worth a shadow of what they've paid when they've finished the payments... I don't get it... :shock:

Anyone care to educate me?? \\/

Dan

P.s. Apologies for the dive off topic... yes that's one sweet looking bike!

[txironhead]

Well, someday I hope to "invest" in a '79 Bronco, and "invest" in a 9+ inch lift, 38" mud tires, fuel-injected 460, beefed-up C6 automatic, 12,000lb winch, roll cage, captain's bucket seats, etc.

What am I expecting my "investment" to return?

FUN, BABY, FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

As far as "investing" in anything with a motor, unless you're lucky enough to find a vintage Harley (original, not chopped), an original Shelby Cobra, or a numbers-matching Hemi Cuda, it's more of a "I buy it because I like it" kind of thing. That's why I don't get mad at people who buy $100,000 Discovery Channel "choppers". I think they're effin crazy, but if they've got a hundred grand to blow on a custom piece of crap then have at it. Give me a Suzuki Intruder 1400, about $2,000 and a well-equipped shop and I'll build a chopper that's just as powerful, good looking, and aggressive as those choppers, plus it'll go 50,000+ miles without needing a major overhaul and I'll RIDE it, not put it in the garage for my yuppy buddies to drool over.

And as for the Katana, considering the custom made and ultra-trick parts on it, it's not a bad deal. Look at all the high-dollar parts on racing bikes. Find some of the guys here that build/race GS drag bikes and ask them how much money they've got tied up in ONE bike. I saw a Hayabusa the other day in Houston that had a grand total of $75,000 worth of parts and labor, not including the price of the bike. Granted, the thing could almost break the sound barrier and was beautiful to boot. $50K for a custom, tricked-out Katana ain't bad by today's standards.

As for me, well, I'm still trying to get my $150 GS750E running on a shoestring budget. So I'll pass on the $50,000+ bikes for today, and be happy if the total budget for repairing my bike can stay below $500......

Then my buddies (non-yuppies, all of 'em) can stand around it in my garage and say "man, you built that for less than a grand?".......hey, it happened when I built my Shadow!

[Guyver]

If I only had money to burn...

I would have bought on of the five Final Edition Katanas that Yoshimura reworked. The bike ended production in Japan, mostly unchanged from the original, in 2000 with the Final Edition. Yoshimura took the last five made and created their vision of the ultimate Katana. If I have the $35k to burn I would definitely have bought one. It is an investment in this case as they are so very, very limited.

While I'm dreaming though I'd also get a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 Spyder, which had a retractable hard top that stored in the trunk, 330 HP and all-wheel drive/all-wheel steering. Add to that a cherry '77 Early Bronco, last of the good ones, a Land Rover Defender 90 and a full-size modified Corvette that looks just like Speed Racer's Mach 5 in and out. They went for $175k BTW.