Suzuki Katana 1100  (1988)

Nov. 1989 - Dec. 1997    8 seasons   2,750 - 15,524 miles

Even though this bike was purchased in November, I couldn't get the seller to come down at all on the price.  I did get a super deal, though.  Two seasons old and less than 3,000 miles for under $4k.  The unique feature of this bike was the electric windshield.  I figured it to eventually have some kind of problem, but it never did.  It never actually worked that well, though.  The upper position caused wind buffeting.  But it was cool to run it up and down at stoplights to entertain other motorists.

This bike was billed as a sport-tourer and had low bars (but not as low as the Hurricane) and somewhat rear-set pegs.   At this time, the popular open-class bikes that were a bit too radical for my tastes.  I didn't want to be bent over the bars and scrunched onto the tank.  And GoldWings or Honda ST1100's went too much the other way, too limited in the performance and handling departments.

I sold it through an internet ad (cost me $10 on the honor system) to a guy from West Virginia with whom I negotiated the entire deal through email and a few of phone calls.  I had the battery out for the winter already, so once I was sure he was coming to get it, I had to quickly charge the battery and fire the bike up so it was ready when he showed up.  He picked the bike up on a frigid night in Dec. just before Christmas.  I showed him the bike in the driveway by shining a 60 watt bulb on a cord on it and even rode it up and down the street in freezing weather for the guy so he could see it run.  He loaded it onto a small-bed pickup, using just two tie-downs and drove home in a snowstorm.  I got $2,800 for it and had used the bike for 8 years.  The ZX11 was already sitting in the garage waiting for spring so I was able to let this great bike go without hesitation.

Last Updated Jan. 11, 2000