Suzuki GSX750 Katana

The grey importer ushered me into the back garage where the Suzuki was being dismembered from its crate. Inch by inch the metallic white missile from hell was revealed. There followed lots of head scratching whilst trying to start her. Sonic booms from the exhaust hinted that the good times might be about to start. A burning smell from the battery, connected up to a double-decker charger, soon put a stop to that. The wannabe mechanic scratched his balls, pulled the battery out and went hunting for a replacement. The dealer, meanwhile, tweaked the electrical system by putting about a hundred amps through it, only deterred when smoke started pouring out of the starter motor!

They all looked pretty disconsolate when the only battery that would fit turned out to be new! With this shoved rudely in place, the four cylinder motor chewed out a few gobs of white smoke and then fired up. The choke was stuck fully open, soon had the revs screaming to seven grand! The engine was hastily switched off, some artful work with a grease splattered can of WD40 sorted that out. By then I was in two minds about the machine - it looked in excellent nick, had only 13500 kilometres on the clock and cost just 999 quid. On the other hand, the treatment received at the hands of the dealer clowns didn't instill any great sense of peace of mind.

With trade plates added, I was encouraged on to the pillion. The young mechanic rode with the usual death-wish but it did reveal the bike as fast accelerating, strong braking and fairly smooth - all in comparison to my previous mount, a Yamaha XJ750. I was allowed a brief go on the controls, impressed with the slickness of the gearbox and hard edge to the engine during acceleration. Despite my misgivings I decided to go for it, as it was the best bike I'd seen for under a grand by a very long shot!

A couple of weeks later they had finally sorted the paperwork, their whole attitude changing once I'd handed over the dosh. Being an old hand at the game, I'd written down the frame and engine numbers to make sure what I was paying for was actually what I got at the end of the day. The dealer's grimace of disgust stays etched in my mind but better safe than sorry.

The Katana range made Suzuki's name for innovative styling which they largely failed to follow through. Available in 550, 650, 750, 1000 and 1100 forms, the 750 was the odd one out, never seriously imported into the UK - don't know why as it arguably had the best styling and a superior blend of power and mass. Lately, the 1100's styling has turned up in Japan, allied to 250 and 400cc four cylinder bikes that weigh a fraction of the original's excessive mass. Whereas the larger Kat's were justly famed for their high speed wobbles, the smaller stuff had much of the inherent stability of the GS550/750...

That was the theory anyway (these dealers don't half go on, given a chance), one immediately put to the test as I rode back home along some favourite Kent back roads. Tight curves, humpback hills that left ya flying thru the air and some faster than motorway straights. I knew them off by heart and how they reacted to the XJ's chassis. The big Yamaha was a bit of a pig through the tighter stuff, whereas the Suzuki flew through them 10-15mph faster without really trying. A grin soon broke out and lasted until the first ridge.

Riding the big dipper kinda tarmac. We went flying off the top of a blind hill at about 90mph to meet a vista of total disbelief. Farmer Fred steering his extra wide combine harvester, in might as well give the hedgerow a free trim mode. The hedgerow on my side of the road, that is. As the machine was airborne at this point my panicked seized mind didn't really matter. Farmer Fred looks up, trying to work out what the irate buzz-saw noise means. Low flying aeroplane? Some form of extraterrestrial vehicle? By the time he figures out that a motorcycle is about to come through his cabin, I've grabbed everything I can grab, landed with a scream of tearing metal, burning rubber, and somehow twitched the 475lbs of oh-so-heavy metal sideways, through the hedge. Missing the harvesting part of his machine by about one millimetre.

Silly of me to think he might hang around to check whether flying through the air at 60mph and landing in a bog might've broken my neck. It hadn't but the fall, and the added strain of extracting the Suzuki from the bog, did in my back for months afterwards. The bike was still rideable, though its pristine finish was now ancient history. I still get retards making jibes about the way I'd repaired the cracked plastic with GRP.

The handling was a bit odd thereafter, shuffling through slow speed bends like it wanted to fall over rather than faithfully follow my every command. High speed work was fine, with only the slightest wallow at 135mph, which worked out as the top speed. This was real mph, not an optimistic reading on the clock - I've got the speeding ticket from the plod as proof! Kind chaps that they are. 100mph cruising was easy going, matching the bike's riding position perfectly and allowing me an hour's good comfort before my arse started screaming for mercy.

Fuel worked at 40mpg in full bore mode, though it would do 60mpg in laid back riding, that still included blasting the motorway speed limit by 20mph. Mind, the carbs needed a 1000 mile balance to keep the frugality reasonable. The rest of the consumables haven't done any serious damage to themselves in 7000 miles of abuse - I'm not a wheelie piss artist, which obviously helps!

The electrics are a bit marginal - 125 miles of night work leaves the front light flickering, the whole beast going dead if I'm silly enough to try the horn or indicators. I mentioned this to the dealer, he coming up with the usual refrain - they all do that, sonny! An auto-electrician reckoned it was firing on all three coils, so to speak, that maybe something was breaking down when the motor became too hot. I could spend hundreds trying to sort the problem and still not find the solution. Best to leave it until something goes terminal; meanwhile, join the AA!

The bike's surprisingly strong accelerating up to about 120mph, when things go into slow motion. I've given quite a few newish 600's the frights and it's faster than all the old style 750's, not to mention a Z900 and CB900 that have fallen by the wayside in highway battles. As might be expected at this relatively low mileage, the motor's as tough as they come and the bike has a general feel of being totally bullet-proof - well, as long as the electrics don't cause it to go up in flames. For the money I paid, even if I have to fix the electrics I'm still well ahead of the game.

Jon Trenington