parts from a 1989 katana 750 - what's worth grabbing?

[Junkie]

I'm buying a 1989 Katana 750 as a parts bike, but I don't have the space to keep it so I'm just going to be pulling the parts that are useful off of it. I'll certainly be grabbing the entire front end + rear wheel, they're going on the bike. Is there anything else worthwhile though? I mean, I doubt that it'll end up happening but does the head swap on or anything?

thanks

[195suz]

I had one of those .Front forks and brakes are'nt worth crap I put a front end from a rf900 on it it would stop then. The motor was a real runner weak trannys second gear would go if you power shifted them in wheelys. Wheels are'nt much wider than stock gs stuff .Although I suppose the parts would be better than nothing.

[kingofvenus]

Late model gixxer stuff it isn't, but they are wider than what is on it now. Wide enough for radials. Those brakes are fine, as good or better than the stock stuff. I KNOW they are.

[Junkie]

I had one of those .Front forks and brakes are'nt worth crap I put a front end from a rf900 on it it would stop then. The motor was a real runner weak trannys second gear would go if you power shifted them in wheelys. Wheels are'nt much wider than stock gs stuff .Although I suppose the parts would be better than nothing.

The forks are 41mm vs 37mm on the bike stock. I'd guess the brakes are better too, from looking at them. No antidive helps as well.

Wheels are considerably better, actually. 17s on both ends, and wide enough to take radials. 110/70 up front and 150/70 out back, to be specific. It may not be fully modern sizes, but it's a lot better than bias ply tires.

edit: oh, I think the wheels themselves are quite a bit lighter too

[tone]

I take it this is the gsx750f we're talking about not a real katana :-D

if so brakes should be 310mm disks with 2 pot nissins, far better than stock gs stuff, a mate runs that exact setup on his 1100et with no probs, forks need stiffening up though

make sure you keep the rear wheel spacers, caliper hanger & the caliper itself you may well need them in fact keep the whole rear brake system

cant remember what bike you run but the complete rear end inc monoshock will go in just about any gs/ gsx with a bit of work if you want to go that far :-D

[Junkie]

Yep, GSXF as opposed to real katana. That's why I specified year - I don't think they were still making the real katana by 89.

Mine's an 85 GS700, already monoshock (same as an 85 GS750, the 700 was just destroked for tax purposes for the US). Is there any reason to grab the katana swingarm though?

Thanks for the tip on what to grab for the rear end, although I already knew that.

The forks may need some stiffening, but the bikes are just about the same weight stock so I don't think it'll be a big problem using the springs that are in them now. Maybe not ideal, but certainly safe.
And yeah, from looking at the brakes I was also assuming they'd be considerably bigger.


the orange one is the 750 that I'm grabbing. Will the exhaust fit and if so, are those decent exhausts?

[Nicholaschase29]

I believe the carbs will interchange and give better performance and also I think the coils may be better, but I just faintly remember reading about this. Correct me if I'm wrong...

[kingofvenus]

That pipe will fit, you'll have to fab a hanger for the rear. Carbs will too, I think they're 34's could be 36's, cv flat slides and the stock throttle cable will work. The stock 700 rear brake master cylinder will work fine also. For the fork springs, just replace the steel tube preload piece that is on top of the spring with one a 1/2 to 3/4 inch longer one, pvc pipe works well just cut the ends square as possible. Keep the 750's rear axle too. And yes, the wheels are lighter.

[Junkie]

So are the carbs a reasonable swap? Any clue if they fit in the airbox? Hopefully in the stock boots at least... I'm assuming they're better carbs than the stock ones, I hope this is true.

And yeah, I expected to have to fab a hanger. Will ground clearance be decent (ie I've heard 1150 stuff fits, but drags way too easily due to a taller engine)?

thanks for the help.

[kingofvenus]

Airbox won't work, O.D. on carbs is smaller. I would think ground clearance would be okay is you add more fork preload, you'll just have to try it on to be sure. If it doesn't let me know, my son would probably buy it from you for his '90 600.

[Junkie]

OD on which carbs is smaller?

and is there any reason to use the kat swingarm? just thinking of other parts that might easily swap...

if it doesn't fit i'll try to get the friend whose place we're doing it at to sell it to you cheap, if all goes well i'm getting all of the parts for $50 (bike for $100, remnants of bike are being sold for $50 which must include engine). i'm riding the bike down there and it's 300+ miles though, so it would be... difficult to bring a full system back up here with me.

[Junkie]

So would it make sense for me to grab the oil cooler? Or is it big enough that it would keep the oil from getting up to temp? Any advantage of the kat swingarm over my stock one?

edit: http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h1...s/IMG_1581.jpg shows the oil cooler, it's huge

[tone]

Hi junkie
carbs will fit your engine but it is a bit of a squeeze, they wont fit the airbox though, the cooler from any oil cooled engine is way too big for use on any air cooled motor, the exaust port spacing is correct for your engine but you would need to mod it around the sump & footrest area to fit it to your bike

the reason i mentioned the swingarm is because i didnt know what mods you had already done to your bike & it is a reasonable upgrade to a gs etc

hope it helps :-D

[Junkie]

Well I've got the stock swingarm now, if there's any reason to swap to the katana one I'd be happy to. The 85 GS700 aka GSX750 is monoshock, but I suspect the kat swingarm is stiffer.

Other than cosmetics, my bike is pretty much stock.

[kingofvenus]

The kat arm will not work on your bike without MAJOR modifications. The shocks bolt up entirely differantly. Plus it is a heavy steel piece. The kat carbs are the smaller diameter at the airbox side, but they bolt up to the motor just like the stock carbs. You would just have to re-jet them and use pods for air filters. The pipe might be a problem for clearance by the right footpeg but I doubt it. And even if it was I think it could be an easy fix.