Well I just traded in my 95 Katana for a 01 Triumph TT600. I guess I will have to leave this group now :-( You guys have been great and I will miss all your great help.
A couple of things I learned from my new bike:
1) I sort of see why sportbikes are not for newbies. While mine does not have the instant power of a GSXR (although it does have 93HP), it BEGS to be driven hard, especially around corners. The bike corners so well that it entices you to go faster through a curve than you normally would. My Katana while handling curves well never gave me the same feeling of invincibility.
2) My Katana was scared me. I never realized how afraid I was of that bike. I constantly felt like I would drop it on slow (walking) turns and on medium speed turns it always felt like it was "fighting me"... in other words if I didn't do things just right the bike insisted on going straight (of course when I did do things "right" it turned like it was on rails). A friend of mine rode the Katana the other day and commented on it being "top heavy". I guess that's exactly the feeling I am describing. The new bike seems more balanced and forgiving.
3) The previous owner did a lot of harm to the Katana. I was upset about the muffler noise, but turns out it had other problems as well. Glad I traded it in. Let this be a lesson to other people. Have a knowledgable person check out the bike, even if it is an old "dirt-cheap" bike that you don't plan on keeping.
4) I LOVE to ride....DUHHHHH :mrgreen:
Now if only my doctor will give me the OK to really ride again (I cheated the past few days in order to try and then buy the bike).
A couple of things I learned from my new bike:
1) I sort of see why sportbikes are not for newbies. While mine does not have the instant power of a GSXR (although it does have 93HP), it BEGS to be driven hard, especially around corners. The bike corners so well that it entices you to go faster through a curve than you normally would. My Katana while handling curves well never gave me the same feeling of invincibility.
2) My Katana was scared me. I never realized how afraid I was of that bike. I constantly felt like I would drop it on slow (walking) turns and on medium speed turns it always felt like it was "fighting me"... in other words if I didn't do things just right the bike insisted on going straight (of course when I did do things "right" it turned like it was on rails). A friend of mine rode the Katana the other day and commented on it being "top heavy". I guess that's exactly the feeling I am describing. The new bike seems more balanced and forgiving.
3) The previous owner did a lot of harm to the Katana. I was upset about the muffler noise, but turns out it had other problems as well. Glad I traded it in. Let this be a lesson to other people. Have a knowledgable person check out the bike, even if it is an old "dirt-cheap" bike that you don't plan on keeping.
4) I LOVE to ride....DUHHHHH :mrgreen:
Now if only my doctor will give me the OK to really ride again (I cheated the past few days in order to try and then buy the bike).
