New Katana

[Gone in 60]

Perusing the last issue of MCN, the new Katana is on the cover with a comprehensive article. I was playing hunter-gatherer yesterday for my wife, who is convalescing from surgery. Since I haven’t been able to get out lately and was relishing a sliver of freedom, I treated myself to a visit to the local dealer to see if they had a Katana to take a look at.

They had two, one silver and one black. I was drawn to the silver, which looked stunning. The salesman steadied the bike for me so I could put both feet up. The position is quite upright and comfortable. As many bikes do these days it features a large appendage that wraps around the rear tire to form a fender/license/turn signal mount. The presumption is that the buyer will quickly discard this chunk, but I like the look of it.

Styling is a nice departure from the insectoid look of modern sport bikes, a nod to the original with several cues from the old version, but modernized without ruining the package. I put it on my short list of “I want this” machines. Alas, with all fees attached (about $2400) their asking price is $16.5k. Ouch.

A row of new Z900RS caught my eye on the way out. Still a fantastic looking bike and quite a bit less money.

[LongRanger_imp]

That’s a lot of coin. I’m not terribly fond of the black rims and rear end styling, but the front gives a nice nod to the original Katana of years ago.

[peterbaron]

Some people like it but it does not appeal to me.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Suzuki, eh? Meh.

[misterprofessionality]

It's funny, i had the exact opposite experience as you, Gone. I liked this bike *until* i saw it in person. Once my local dealer got one i was completely turned off by it. It's hard to explain why. I think it's just a lot fatter than I expected.

[Houtman_imp]

Some people like it but it does not appeal to me.

+ one !

[Gone in 60]

Weird, I didn't expect to like it in person as much as I did. Maybe I dig it because I fit the target audience. I thought these things were really cool when I was a teenager. When I got older and started riding, there weren't any nice ones around, so here's my chance. That supposes, however, that I had made a success of my life in the ensuing years and could afford a new one easily with my discretionary income. Which I'm supposed to have now.

[GoldOxide_imp]

So many "supposed to" in life, and fortunately, sometimes some nice surprises too.

[jimgl3_imp]

price is too high