The bike retained the features which made it popular, with the resemblance to the sporty 600cc Gixxer, which was likely the most important factor. The stock tyres aren’t amazing, and you can do better with some sportier aftermarket replacements of course – which I’d do straight away to be honest.Even though it was no longer sold in all the markets where it used to, the GSX-600F Katana has lived enough to see its 2007 model year. The extra weight of the turbo is offset by the missing stock exhaust system, so you’re at about the same as standard in terms of mass. The KATANA is some way off something like a BMW S 1000 R or KTM SuperDuke if you want precise, lightweight supernaked handling – it’s maybe closer to the likes of a Kawasaki Z1000SX or Z H2. That means good brakes, decent road-bike suspension and steady, slightly portly handling. When taking it through the corners, noise aside, we’re once more back on a stock KATANA. Those minor gripes aside though, this genuine 250bhp+ powerplant definitely gives the KATANA something to shout about in terms of performance, besting even the wild Ducati Streetfighter V4 and Aprilia Tuono 1100 when it comes to ballistic levels of power.Ĭheck out our other custom bike tests here… “On the motorway, you can play silly games, seeing how fast it will accelerate between speed camera gantries, holding the throttle open fully for as long as you dare, giggling at the rush.”īut modulating the gas when the front end starts to come up is difficult – as you roll off, the power cuts sharply. The fuelling was a little tricky too – while riding normally it’s spot-on, and on full throttle there’s no grief at all. Doing some for the camera was a bit of a handful – first gear was too sharp when the power hit, second or third gear was a bit too fast. Too low of a gear would fling the wheel up quickly but higher gears meant you had to be going mach-10 to hold it up.Īs it is, the delivery of the turbo power at a higher rev range makes it trickier to do silly things like slow wheelies for photos. The power delivery high in the rev range made getting photos a little tricky. The 150bhp tune of the stock KATANA motor is part of the reason – it’s a more powerful, higher-revving bike than the Z900 as standard. The KATANA has a totally different feel from the hugely-torquey low-revving Kawasaki, with a bit of a wait before the big power kicks in – and arguably, the Z900’s instant drive just off idle and 200bhp peak power is better suited to the naked roadster format. I wasn’t sure if I preferred it over the Z900 RS tune from last year mind. “Once you adapt and start using the power a little more, the front wheel barely touches the deck, it just skips along.” On the motorway, you can play silly games, seeing how fast it will accelerate between speed camera gantries, holding the throttle open fully for as long as you dare, giggling at the rush. Even the new Hayabusa, which I rode a few weeks later, can’t quite match the mind-blowing nature of the KATANA’s turbocharged GSX-R1000-based engine. It’s a striking motor, and easily tops the very latest 1100cc superbikes for sheer unadulterated power. With the factory lines and curved all preserved. The BigCC KATANA looks just as striking standing still. He’s also got some previous with the old KATANA too – his suck-through turbo Spondon Katana drag race bike is a work of art that’s been in development for more than 20 years. Sean’s usual work is building engines for drag racers and land-speed-record attempts – with 500bhp turbo Hayabusas as the daily earner. The GSX-S is a good bike, for sure – but where the original KATANA rocked most folk’s world, the new one was a bit steady more a hefty farmer’s machete than a super-sharp samurai sword.Ĭheck out our test of the Big CC Z900 RS turbo build…Įnter Sean Mills, owner of Big CC Racing in the UK. Rather than taking the latest 2017 variable-valve GSX-R1000 and using that as a base for a 170bhp light supernaked, the firm had given the GSX-S1000 some new bodywork. But while it kept the sweet name and the styling was actually pretty good, the heart of the matter was a bit of a missed opportunity. Suzuki came out with a new KATANA, which was a good thing. What better way to turn it up a notch than fitting a turbo and making it into a rocket?įorty years on though, things had changed a bit. The new Suzuki KATANA is a beautiful bike that answered the prayers of every retro fan’s dream.
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