Arnout's motorbike >> Arnout's Kat

Arnout's Katana..

If ever..

Much like my GSX this Katana is originally a 750 that got dealt with a bigger engine. As 750 Katana's are cheaper to come by then 1100's I decided to look for a small Kat as a start for the new project.
Also because I intended to completely rebuild the whole bike and especially the frame and rolling gear the most important parts were the bodywork which looked fine to start with.

Before taking the bike apart I made the effort to make a complete sketch of what the bike should be looking like and specified all the parts needed intending to stick to it till the end of the project.

the Kat frame all braced and painted

Armed with this plan I started collecting the bits while dismantling the Katana further. Most of the ideas for the frame were already present before I got the bike and are a step up from the frame bracing I did on my GSX. Apart from modifying the ThunderAce swingarm to make it fit the rest of the building process was pretty straightforward. In the meanwhile I had collected all the part that were needed so much like a model kit I could just put the pieces together knowing everything would fit because I had worked out everything beforehand.
the finished bike outside da house

Mainly because of the limited (no) budget I had choosen from the start to focus on the rolling gear and just have a working bike. That's why the engine was to remain mostly stock (apart from things that didn't cost any money and I could do myself). So the next plans are to get some more power from the engine. As my GSX is in the process of getting some bigger pistons fitted there will be some "left-overs" still good enough to be hand down to the Kat. Also some refinement in the appearance department will take place making the package complete..

Click here for further info on the Kat project..

Latest pics..