Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

pitch black with vivid blue. Both models look ultra-san o, ••••• For those of you wh o still can't decid e betw een the GSX750 Katana and the GSX R750, well , you probably won 't be satisfied unless you bu y both bikes and find out for yourself. But if you did buy th e Katana and th e GSXR, we'd bet that you'd event ua lly end up sell ing the GSXR first, because you 're going to find out that th e Katana can do just about a ll the things th e GSXR can do and more. Simply put, th e Yes, yes, yes and yes. First ofall, to set th e record straight, o ur ridin g impression of the Katana GSX750FM wasn' t intended to be a co mpa rison between it and the GSX R750, bu t since we go t so many qu estions regarding the two bikes, we tried to hit upon som e of the more asked about topics. As far as the comfort question, the Kat ana can be ridden for long periods of time before having to pull off the road to stre tch your legs and straighten o ut your back - a lo t longer than the GSXR. In fact, there were times wh en we put almost 100 mil es on the Katana before feelin g the need to stop and tak e a break . Mu ch of th is has to do with the rather high po siti oning of th e ha n d leba rs a n d som ewhat low mounting of the footpegs. The sea t is comfortable enough but nothing to get excited about. The padding is a lillie on the thin side , bur we had no real complaint or praise for the seat. There's no comparison in riding com fort between the spacious Katan a and the cra mped GSXR. Un li ke the GSXR , there' re no corners or edges on the fair in g to smas h your kn ees on; the fairing blends smoothly wi th the gas tank and th e side pa nels . Even a rider around six feet tall wo n' t feel claustrophobi c o n th e Ka tana and won't end up with bruised knees, either. Performance-wise, the Katana is no wimp. In fact, it' s very fast and rightly so, since it prett y mu ch shares the same pow erplant as the GSXR. Of course , there are som e major differences, suc h as cams, co mpressio n rat io, gea r ratios, an d bor e and stro ke. The Kata na has a lar ger bor e and a longer stroke engine than th e GSXR's, and a slightly lower compression ratio. Bo th Ca lifornia models sha re the same 36mm Mikuni carburetors, bu t everyw here else, the GSX R uses 38m m carbs. Even th o ugh the Katana has tamer cams and a longer stroke than the GSXR, th e motor still feels like an antsy race horse, bu t it's still not as hyper as the GSX R 's motor. The Kat ana 's engi ne revs qu ickl y a nd produces a throaty brrraap tone fro m the exhaust pipes. It's as though the Katan a is telling you, " C'mon lets go - open me up, c' rnon!" The o nly time th is isn't the case is on co ld mornings. Like mos t of us, the Katan a doesn 't like to wak e up and angri ly growls and moan s when it's asked to leave the wa rmth of the garage - it's extreme ly cold-blooded. Ho wever, it al ways fires right up as soon as you tou ch th e starte r buuon , wi th full cho ke, but it blubbers and coug hs at lo w rpm for at least five to 10 minutes, until it war ms up. Once th e engi ne reach es normal o perati ng tem pera tu re, th e Kat a na rea lly flies. It pu lls well off the bouorn, making it very compatib le lor city, stop-and-go riding. Out on the open highways, the Katana feels mo re at home and should make those who live The Katan a 750 is a performer. It's fast , it handles well, has strong bra kes, and it's even comfortable. for canyo n roads extremely happy. It has' a smoo th powerba nd and has p lenty of power for overtaking ot her vehicles. It 's simply a fast motorcycle. You won't be di sap pointed. The Katana is geared we ll for highway and freeway use. It cru ises a long at 60 mph without complaint, although every now and then we'd lift up o n th e shift lever, hoping to find another gear. Pretty much the standard for a "sport" bike. We were amazed how lillie vibra tion is felt through the handlebars and footpegs. Between 55 and 65 mph (4000-4500 rpm ) only slight vibration can be felt, and there's even less vibration, if any , between 70-75 mph. It seems the higher th e rpm, th e less vibration, Since th e motor is for th e most part completely enclosed by th e fairing unlike the GSX R - very little heat off the engi ne is felt by the rider. This is one thing we either hated or loved abou t the GS XR. On a ho t day, the hea t comi ng off the GSXR's engine flows straig h t o n to the rider's legs and would be a t ti mes dow nrigh t pain ful. But o n a cold night we loved the GSXR 's built-in heater. T he Katana, on the o the r hand , does n' t get nearl y as hot as the GSXR, bu t th e seat and the fairin g does get a Iiule warm to the touch. T he dual fro nt an d sing le rear disc brakes do an excellent job of slowi ng the bike down fo r the stop ligh ts. Both front and rear binders are progressive and aren' t prone 10 locking up. One finger on the front brake lever provides more than enou g h stopping power. Shifti ng the six -speed transmission is smooth and positive, although there is a sligh I lurch between enga gement a nd disengagement wh en leu ing out the clutch lever from a dead stop. It' s not reall y bad but it's noticeabl e. The Katana is well suspended but was a lill ie stiff at first. Under the seat, though , there 's a knob where you ca n easil y adjust the single shock' s fourway rebo un d damping selli ng, plus yo u can a lso adj ust the 12-way compression damping seuings on th e shock body itself. The fork also has 12-way externa l compression dampi ng adjustments , located at the to p of both fork tubes. Flicki ng th e Katan a th rough the turns is a breeze, but the ini tia l feeling we had was that it felt a li lli e twitchy and perha ps sligh tly overse nsi tive to the rider 's movem ent o n the bike, especially while tra veling in a straight li n e. Bu t thro ugh the tu r n s, it 's predictab le and confidence inspiring. The sma ll windscreen does an admirabl e job keeping the jet stream off the rider's midsection, a ltho ug h there's nothing to protect the rider's hands fro m th e wind bl as t. Also , Suzuki is very concerned abou t the well being of the wind screen, as evident by the warning sticker on th e fairing exp la i n ing , in lengthy det ail , th e proper way of cleaning the windscreen without scra tching it. It seems that while motorcycles are gelling more and more technologically advanced, rearview mirrors on motorcycles a re sti ll la gg in g be h in d . Alt hough the mirrors o n the Katana are tolerable, you can't see directl y beh in d you. But at least you don 't get a full view of your sho u lders lik e you do o n most street bikes. One maj or p lus, though , the mi rrors don 't vibra te a t all so you see a good clea n image. Overall , the mirrors work well bu t we feel they can be better. T he Ka tana 's instru me n ta tion is ra th er simp le a nd easi ly rea dab le. There's a tach, a separate spee dometer unit wit h two (one reseuab le, bac k to zero o nly) odometers, a fuel gauge, a high-beam indicator, a neu tra l indio ca tor, blinker lights and an oil pressure light. That's it. The 4.8-gallon (with .0.4 -ga llo n reserve) gas tank usually carr ied us about 185 miles before needing to switch over to reserve, which equals o u t to approximately 37 mpg. The petcock is located on the left side of the fairing and is easi ly accessible while riding. Other details include two helmet locks underneath the seat, and an easyto-rea ch headlig h t beam ad justment knob. The lig ht beam can act ua lly be adjusted up or do wn whi le the mo torcycle is in mo tio n, bu t it 's safer to adjust it while the bike is sta nd ing still. It 's a nice feature. From o ur visua l point of view, th e Kat an a look s sleek and, yes, racey. T he GSXR, in comparison , defi ni tely looks racey, too , of course, but a lot mor e ca bby, as do most race-orienta ted bikes. The Katana is an extremely pleasant motorcycle to look a t, and it almost never failed to attract some kind of a tten tio n or comment wherever it wa s par ked. " Nice bike," was the sta nda rd o pin io n, at least. The Katana 750 co mes in tw o different co lo r schemes - bright red with gray, and Katana is just more practical, but in the Katana's case, practical doesn 't necessarily mean a sacrifice in performance - ,well, at least not much. And not to men tion, at a suggested retail p rice of $5599 the Kata na cost $900 less tha n the $6499 GSXR. So, don't let the word "touring" scare you off. The Kata na is very mu ch a t home o n the back roa ds, but if asked to do so, it will take on Interstat e 40 wi thout much complaint. "Nice bike." a

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