My 2 youngest sons now have the 2024 Suzuki Katana which was a limited production motorcycle sold on an advance order basis in the United States in September 2023. I compare this new model's features to my 2020 Suzuki Katana.
What a beautiful bike the Katana is. I bought it 2 years ago, in silver and still now, when I park it, my head turns for looking at it 🙂. On mine I've installed Rizoma Fox, licence plate holder - I couldn't stand the original - saving a lot of weight. Then, a street legal, SC.Project muffler CR-T titanium, saving some more weight. And finally IRC SGrace Quickshifter (of course it works only in upshifting). I would like to lower the handlebar, just a little bit, but it requests changing the tank cover with a custom one made in Japan. No way... The fuel range is not an issue for me at all. Anyway I love it. Congrats to your sons also. After the silver, that matt blue is the colour I prefer.👍
Thank you! Yes these are fantastic bikes which most people fail to understand or appreciate. About the only thing I haven't done to my bike is to add the up only quickshifter. I also may switch to braided steel brake cables. I agree that the silver is the best color with the matt blue after that.
@@cycletron Yeah, brake cables could be a good idea. In my opinion, a radial pump Brembo MCS would also be a good idea. The bite of the original pump is a bit "filtered".
Got the Mk1 in black. Absolutely love it. Nothing on the 2023 I would want to change for. Call me old school but I can change gear without a gadget 😂. Small tank a slight nuisance but for the overall experience, who cares.
So cool that all 3 of you have one. My only experience with the K5 is from the GSXR. Test road a friends. I remember thinking there was something wrong with my bike afterwards because of the lack of power it had. So it left a lasting impression for sure. Hope they bring tons of miles and smiles to you all👍👍
Thank you Dave. We are all itching to get ride them all over the place but it looks like we will have to wait for Spring to arrive up here. Thanks for checking it out and have a great week.
@@papaya_virus Pues un Km. 0 matriculado este pasado octubre, pero sin kilómetros. El modelo azul mate. Nunca probé la original, pero vamos, que estoy disfrutando como un niño pequeño. Motaza en todos los sentidos.
I ride a Ducati Scrambler at the moment, looking forward to getting a Katana one day, I'm not even close to get that money, but that's the dream. Greetings from México.
Katana's are keepers, hold onto them for as long as you can. I too almost bought a 2020, The dealer was just too far from where I lived. He was trying to get rid of it for $8995...!!
Hey C.J., nice those Katana's out in front of your garage! Yeah Suzuki's I used to have myself: a 1979 Suzuki GS500 4 cylinder and a 1987 Suzuki DR650 1 cylinder adventure bike. I used the old Suzuki GS500 4cylinder (it was already old when I got it ;-) at the time for commuting and the Suzuki DR650 to travel to the Sierra Nevada in Spain (Europe that is) together with a friend who rode a 1977 Yamaha XT500 on a adventure trip, starting in the City of Leiden in The Netherlands. With both bikes I've had a blast of fun and I'd do it all over again with exactly the same bikes. The Yamaha urge how ever did call and so several Yamaha's passed their way through my hands; an Yamaha DT400 (two stroke Off Road/On Road Motorcycle) a few Yamaha Virago's (700 Cc and 900 Cc)... an Yamaha XS650, an Yamaha TDM850 and of course now my Yamaha MT-01 1700 Cc bike. And yes, I did own 4 Harley-Davidson bikes as well: an Orange 1977 Harley Davidson SX250 (my very first motorcycle), a Black 1976 Harley Davidson XL1000 (a serious pain in the butt!), an Orange 2008 Harley Davidson XR1200 (I never should have sold....regret, regret, regret :-( and the last one: my Black 1985 Harley Davidson FXRT...; Within hindsight now: This last bike I never should have bought in the first place)
Hi Dutchy, that is a nice list of bikes! We have the Virago experience in common. My first bike was a used 1982 Virago 535 that I got used with only 600 miles on it. Paid $1,000 for it in 1986. Then I traded it for a 1982 Virago 920 (still new left over bike in 1987. A few years ago we bought a 1982 750 Virago that was my second oldest son's first street bike at the age of 14. I still have it. You never know how much you will miss a bike until you sell it. That is why I am committed to never selling the Katana.
@@cycletron By all means....stick to the bike you really adore... never part from her...ever ! Yeah, well most bikes I owned were cheap or/and old. I did however always had a lot of fun, even when a bike did not cost me more then € 300,- so I found out that a few things were entirely not important at the purchase of a motorcycle: age, model, make, kilometers, condition, nothing really. with a little elbow grease you can make (almost) every bike go again. One very exception in this all: My 1976 Harley Davidson XL1000 Ironhead.. OMG what a piece of sh!t this was...it was circular breaking down... traumatized I was by this horrific piece of inferior engineering. It actually took me about 20 years to even think about getting another Harley, but my wife told me to do so...I needed that last push, because without her I most certainly would have missed the experience with my XR1200.... which was the bike I purchased... a dream on wheels... I had her modified in a almost non visual way just to improve the ride/ engine/ exhaust with one goal and one goal only: to be able to go like hell through the tight curves, bents and hairpins in the mountains... oh boy and she did...she most certainly did....a dream on wheels... if she would have been marry-able, I probably would have married her.... And yet I traded her in since the Harley-Davidson Riders-club I was a member of...they all rode Big-twins...and they rode slow...dead-slow. And so there I was with my Go Like Hell XR1200... constantly shifting up and down to be able to stay within the group when riding, being frustrated due to slow-go...Man I had to do something....and so the only real rid-able Bigtwin (for me that is) the FXR did its introduction to me... Sounded like a win-win situation, but it wasn't to me. Turned out not to be the right club for me...but the damage had taken place already...I had sold my XR1200 to keep up with the senior citizens of the club and now I am no longer a member of that senior citizen Harley Davidson Riders club...and so the Yamaha urge turned up again...and so I traded in my FXR for my Yamaha MT-01.
I had a 2020 Katana too and i love the sytle . Much better then the Katana in the 80 . With the exhaust from your sons Katana you get a lot of trouble here in good old Germany 😅😂
The Katana is not a great seller for Suzuki. The ridiculous small fuel tank has put paid to that which is a shame. It is a good looking bike with plenty of power. I do like the 2024 model in blue with the copper/gold wheels. I seriously looked at these but was put off by the tiny tank capacity. So I bought a Tuono 1100 V4 instead.
The Tuono is awesome. I found out that Suzuki sold a grand total of 18 of these special order 2024 Katanas in the U.S. last fall, and the 2020 model didn't see well either for a few years, so I doubt the Katana will ever be offered for sale in the U.S. again. My 2020 works great for me as I have a '23 Busa for long distance riding. I can see though that if it was your only bike, it would be tough to pick the Katana with the 3.0 gallon tank and an inline 4 engine. Stock this bikes get around 42 mpg on average. With a tune on my 2020, it gets around 38 mpg on average.
The Kantanas had 2 tooth larger rear sprocket than the naked GSX s1000 models. So what changes did you make to your front and rear sprockets compared to the stock ones. I'm guessing you went even deeper?
Did you mean the first three service intervals are included in the purchase price? That's a deal and savings on maintenance. You're spot on with the classic style and I'm not a fan of this trend of pinpoint LED headlights and transformer front ends - bikes that belong in a video game. Classic design with updated modern tech works just fine.
Yes, that is correct. The first 3 services are free within the first 2 years of ownership. I have not seeen this offered for a motorcycle before. I agree with you on the classic styling and would like to see more of this coming back. Yamaha has the XSR which is cool, but other than that bike, they have gone full on with the transformer look in my opinion.
@@andersd8956 They only sold them in 2020 and then only brought them back for the special order 2024 models here in the U.S. This bike seems to see better in Europe. No word yet on whether there will be a special order option later this year in the U.S.
I have brought them through the ranks starting with dirt bikes and then progressively larger street bikes. They each have over 10 years riding experience at this point.