Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126991
New for 1988 is Suzuki's GSX600 Katana, the company 's entry into the m iddleweight sport bike market . Riding Impression: Suzuki GSX600 Katana Suzuki's newest sport bike makes its debut By Paul Carruthers Photos by Kinney Jones After seeing the com petition bust the 600cc sport bike market wide open in 1987, Suzuki . has hopped on the bandwagon for 1988 by introducing what is basically an infant GSXR - the GS X600 Katana. ' T he all-new motorcycl e was I recen tly amembiversidetheInterridden by ers of press t R national Raceway in Ca lifornia; the Katanas ridden were o f the 49-sta te variety. The GSX600 featu res a 599cc fourcylinder, l fi-va lve, DOHC, fou rstro ke powerp lan t which uses the sa me bottom end as th e GSXR750. No, it isn 't water-cooled, but in stead uses th e Suzuki Adva nced Cooling System (SACS) to keep engi ne runnin g tem pe ra tures mild. , The engine, wit h its 12,000 rpm redl ine, p roduces so lid and smooth power th roughout th e revs. Being in the wrong gear isn 't a cardinal sin on the Kata na ; it has the pow er to forg ive a nd it doesn 't fa ll on its face wh en you exit a corner in the wron g gea r. It may not challenge the Honda . CBR600 Hurrican e on th e race track, bu t it does p rodu ce usa ble power tha t wi ll be an asset on th e st reet. The 600 features a smo oth six-speed The 600 Katana features a full-coverage fairing and comes in red /white or blue/white color combinations. 8 gearl:iox th a t" in corportat es a helical gear 'p rimary dri ve; the Ka tana has a th eor eti cal top speed o f 144 mph. A 5.3-gallo n gas tank is featured on th e 49-sta te Kat an a while the Ca liforn ia mod el has a sma ller, 4.8ga llo n uni t. Feeding th e fuel to the engine a re fou r 3 1mm flat-slide Mikunis. T he eng ine si ts in a double-cradle, steel fra me (u nlike the 750 a nd 1100 whic h u tili ze a lumin u m fra mes) and u ses S uz u ki 's Full -Fl o ater r ear suspension; th e Showa rear shoc k has full y-adjustabl e spri ng p reload. U p fro nt, Su zu ki h as given the Kat ana non-adjustabl e, ta ke-it-orleave-it 4 1m m fro nt forks. O verall , the Ka tan a is a well -ha nd li ng package a nd the larger for ks definitely co ntrib u te. T he 600 han d led the ro ug h Riverside tr a ck well, a nd a lthoug h th e rear end would bottom th rou gh some of the ro ug h spo ts the fro nt end rem ained relati vely sta ble. Sto p pi ng theKa tana up front are two d ua l-hydra ulic disc brak es; each with a n effective diam eter o f 10.43 in ches a nd a n o u tside di am eter o f 11.6 in ches. T he front brak e was the o nly peeve we had 'with th e Katana; o u r bike' s front brak e seeme d spo ngy and had to be p u m ped to p rove effective. T he so lu tio n to the p rob lem may have been a si mple system bleed. The rear syste m is anc ho red by a single-hydra ulic di sc with an effect ive di am eter o f 8.68 in ch es and a n outside diameter o f 10 in ches. • The Katana feat u res 17-in ch whi te a lu m in u m a lloy cast wh eels with Dun lop K655s mounted to bo th . The Dunlops used a re 11O/ 80s on the front a nd 140/ 80s o n th e rea r. The 49-stat es Katana has a dr y weigh t of 429 pound s a nd a wet weight o f 475 pounds; th e California model weighs in a t 436 dry and 480 wet . The Katana is relatively heav y compared to th e Honda CBR600 Hurricane which ti ps the scale at 396.9 pounds dry, a nd th e Yamaha FZ600 wh ich carries a dr y weight of 4 10 pounds. The Katana 600 feels a litt le long from seat to bars; wh en cornering, the sensa tio n is th at you 're too far away from the fro nt wh eel. It warrants the feeling th a t you have to ph ysicall y pull yo urself forward. The wh eelbase o n th e Su zuki is 56.3' in ch es, a full two in ches longer than Yam aha 's FZ600 a nd a lmos t a n inch longer than H onda 's CBR600 Hurrica ne. T he sea t height (30.7) feels 'abo u t ri ght a nd is identical to the Hurrican e. The Ka ta na 600 is a vaila ble in two co lor co mbina tio ns , blu e/white a nd red/whi te, a nd will retail for $3999. The new bike will find its way onto th e race tracks o f America in )988 as p lans to include th e little Katana in Su zuki's con tingency p rogram are _ in the works.