I am the proud owner of a 2005 Katana 600 and hopefully I can hit some of the important subjects that soon to be owners or people who just want to know will find helpful. I may seem to contradict myself in this review but these are my opinions going both ways so everyone can know as much as...
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I am the proud owner of a 2005 Katana 600 and hopefully I can hit some of the important subjects that soon to be owners or people who just want to know will find helpful. I may seem to contradict myself in this review but these are my opinions going both ways so everyone can know as much as possible before purchasing or while deciding. Pros/Good things about the Katana 600) Honestly the bike looks good and the pics hardly do the bike justice on how great it looks. Even though it's not fuel injected, the designers put everything on the bike to combat possible problems that arise due to it being carbureted. There is a turn dial on the side of the bike for storage that allows the bike to be stored without worrying about the fuel sitting up and caking in the bike. Also, with the turn of the same dial, you can set the bike to Prime to get your fuel flowing again. Then back to the on setting with the same dial to have your bike running smooth again and there is also a choke switch for when needed. The bike IS comfortable. The seat may not look so sporty but the comfort outweighs the look in my opinion and if it's still a problem there is a sporty seat cover to ease you over on the look of the seat. I ride with my friends all the time. One owns a 07 GSXR 750 and the other owns a 06 Honda CBR 600RR and I've never had a problem keeping up with them while riding through town and along the city edge. Yes, the bike is fast, if you're a first time rider or just like the feel of speed, this bike will surely do the job. I was amazed at how fast the bike gets going 0-60 in like 3 to 4 secs and 100mph in less than 10 secs, so like I said the speed is there. I'm not too sure about the 0-60 time but I know it's 4 secs or less. It handles turns and curves nicely. After you get a feel for the bike, you'll be handling turns with ease and don't worry, you can lean like all the other bikes once you've fully gained control of the bike and know the bikes limits of leaning into a turn with respect to your weight and the gas in the tank factor. Passengers will love to ride with you cause it's actually comfortable for them to be on the bike! I know that there are grab bars for the passenger but I've only had girls ride with me and why wouldn't I want them to be hanging onto me;-) But be sure to respect the quick jump in the weight due to riding a passenger. Take your turns easy and be sure to tell the passenger to hold close and not to counter weight your leaning by staying straight up or leaning opposite of you. Tell them to hang on close and move slightly as you lean into a curve, turn or whatever. Overall you can have as much fun on this bike as any other bike if you plan on riding a bike the way a bike is meant to be ridden. Cons/ Bad things about the bike. First and foremost, the weight of the bike is 100lbs over the average weight of most bikes in its class. Average weight is 360 give or take a few and the Katana is 465lbs. The bike handles funny at very low speeds such as turning or slow cruising at about 5 to 10 mph through a parking lot. You can really feel the weight and gas when the tank is full. Respect this flaw and find what works for you and the bikes weight and your weight while on the bike. Seeing how the engine is carbureted you can spill gasoline into the engine by revving the throttle while the bike is shut off. Anytime you do this, it pours a small amount of fuel into the engine. It'll take a good amount of turns to do this but if some kid or someone who doesn't know is sitting on your bike daydreaming about riding while turning your throttle, they could flood your engine causing problems. Low speed 90 degree turns while driving. Until you get a good feel for the weight of the bike you may have to hold the handle bars from turning into the turn too much. Best you can do is take the turn wide as possible until you're comfortable with leaning. The round design of the front end isn't as aggressive as most bike of the day and the rounded garfield eyes headlights are nothing near the aggressive look of the GSXR CBR and the other bikes but this I is my opinion; if it's fast and quick, it should look the part as well. The rear tire is not as wide as most sports bikes. It's 150 in width average is about 180 and of course the more tire you have to the ground the better grip you get. No digital read out on gauges except for odometer. The speedometer font is small and as for quick glimpses of your speed, is not such an easy task. You actually have to focus on the digits and anytime your eyes are off of the road, it is time for disaster. I've adopted a general speed method where I look down for a split sec and based on where the needle is pointing I kind of figure I'm doing around such miles per hour. In first gear, depending on how your pushing the bike, there's a massive dead range from 5000 rpm all the way to the redline. This is only in first gear. If you're riding the bike normally, at average road speed, you'll run into the dead gain right after 5000rpm. I shift at 5000rpm while in first gear to avoid all of the noise with no speed gain. But if you're taking off in first gear and you're really getting on it, first gear has no dead spot at all. It's good all the way thru the rpm range. So when it counts most to need that power all the way through just know that if you take off in first gear hard and fast, you'll get all the power through the rpm band. Due to the fact that it's carbureted, there may be soft or dry starts every once in a while to where you may have to hold the start button a lil longer or even a couple of times to get the bike to start. There's no temp gauge on the bike so you have to take extra caution to drive the bike soft and easy while the engine is cold as not to heat the engine too quickly which can lead to serious engine problems. Shifting the bike at 5000rpm or less for five to 8 minutes should be enough time for the engine to get to running temp. Passenger riding can be a real task seeing how the bike is already top heavy. Be SURE to be very careful on turns especially slow turns, while riding a passenger on the bike.
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