2001 Katana 750..and the day from HELL
What started out as a nice sunny exciting day, with high expectations for a nice ride and day at the Carlisle Bike Fest..ended in a long, tiring, stress-filled pain in the ass. We started out meeting at work, my buddy on his 2000 GSXR 750 that he just bought, another friend on a 2003 ZZR 600, another on a VTX 1300, and me..we met for breakfast, and of course, the food took an eternity, and knowing what traffic would be like, I knew it the longer we waited the worse it would get...so after 1 1/2 at Denny's, we rode up..all was going well up the highway, passing each other, taking turns hanging back by the van that was following us up w/ my little sister, and dad. Then, after about 45 minutes or so, we turned off the exit, and my jaw dropped as I saw nothing but miles upon miles ahead of us, but stopped cars, sitting there inching along at a snails pace due the overwhelming turn-out for the bike show. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours, in first gear, start/stop start/stop..by then my throttle hand was so numb I could barely feel it. So we finally decide, well my friend did (GSXR) to take a back road short cut, so we turned off and started on some back roads, which was cool, no traffic, nice twisties, etc. Then we hit the stop sign, and guess what...the same thing, miles and miles of traffic..so we again, inch along in first gear for about 45 min. then my buddies GSXR shut off (by this time we had been in virtual stopngo traffic for nearly 3 hours). Wouldnt start for anything, checked the fuses, battery had juice to it, everything looked fine. So we were tired anyways, and decided to pull off, have a smoke, and chill for a while. Another hour later..still won't start..not even trying. So finally, after 20 more mintues of coaxing, (he's stubborn) I said look, lets just jump, so he gave me a push down the hill, and VOILA, fired right up..I was like, you Dumbass, we could have saved ourself an extra hour of waiting..etc etc..but I digress. So then we start back up. 1 mile later, shuts off again...by this time the temp gauge was reading 250..I was like, well no wonder!!!! so we parked it in a rite-aid parking lot, he jumped in the van, we went on the bike show...30 more minutes in line trying to park, and we were finally there.
Fortunately, there was a dealer that was selling battery charges, so he picked one up, after about 2 hours or so at the show, we were ready to head home..so we head back the rite-aid, and of course..she still wont start..temp is fine by now...but all the excessive heat, drained his battery, which he now tells us is 5 YEARS OLD. so we put on the charger, and waited for an hour, I jumped it, and we were on our way.
So a trip that took us 1 hour to get home, took us 4 hours to get there.
As for my Kat...she ran flawlessly, on the highway, in traffic, never sputtered or gave me a bit of trouble..nice and smooth, could ride it all day without hesitation. Nice blend of power and agility, and very well balanced..comfortable as all hell too. I love this bike. Other than the numbness in my hands, and not that the bars are buzzy by any stretch, but just after a long time on the highway, it was bound to happen to some degree. Leaned her down several times around some nice turns, and had very good accelation coming out,.enough to keep your heart racing, but not enough to pick up the front end pick up out of the turn, unless you really hammer it. brakes are nice and tight, just 2 fingers needed.
All in all, I couldn't be happier with it...except for the stock can, which will be soon replaced, and the small grips..definate after-market ones due up soon. It's all good. Nearly all the Kat owners I met at the show, had nothing but good things to say about theres, and how it treats them. Nice power and quickness to get you thru traffic when needed, good ergos overall, and comfortable to take on the Highway. Havent ran out the tank of gas yet, but soon.
i :thumbs: