The running tally numbers are for dry weight which is fine however, there is no fun with no fuel!
After test rides to check fuel consumption it works out that 13 litres of fuel gives a range of 219.375 km. Using those numbers I can reduce the fuel load from a full tank of 21 litres down to 13 litres and still have enough fuel to have fun for a few hours.
So why do these fuel numbers matter for the project? Less fuel is less weight as well as lowering the centre of gravity and both of those are a good thing to make for fun riding.
The take away from the reduced fuel load is knowing how much fuel I need for a total riding (curb) weight for the Kat and not carry extra fuel that isn't needed.
So as of today the riding total weight of the Kat (without me aboard) is:
199.864 kg
Riding a sub 200 kg 1981 Katana fitted with an EF 1135 engine has transformed my riding experience to a level of enjoyment I didn't fully understand could be possible at the start of this project! The result so far is beyond all my expectations and although this has been a long, expensive and at times a very trying build to find solutions to reducing the weight I can say, hand on heart it has been worth the effort, no doubt what so ever!
I believe there are still some areas that can be modified to reduce the weight further so there will be updates in the future. I am still thinking about installing the Mikuni 38mm flat slide carbs but that is a job for another day.
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