A Sharp Suzuki Katana Resto from Sydney’s Sabotage Bikes
6 min read
It’s enjoyable to look again at many years previous with rose-coloured glasses on. The massive hair. The fluoro colors. The Sony Walkman and the nice, nice motion pictures. And no, I’m not a millennial who’s pining over one thing that I by no means actually knew; I’m sufficiently old and jaded sufficient to have lived via the last decade and to understand that it wasn’t all wine, roses and Tab Cola.
I keep in mind Chernobyl and the ever current chilly battle. I’ve lived via the worldwide epidemics and the quite a few sectarian wars of the last decade. And the terrorism. And the famines. What a miserable mess all that was. The extra you take a look at the 80s, the extra the superficial stuff dissolves and the extra you realise simply how far we’ve come within the 40 years which have handed since then.
An identical destiny awaited Giles and Andy from Sydney’s Sabotage Bikes after they took an extended, onerous take a look at a buyer’s 1981 Suzuki Katana GS650. And whereas their problem could not have been on the size of, say, stopping world thermonuclear battle, there’s little doubt that they took on the motorbike restoration equal of it. The painful look on their faces as they instructed me that there was just about nothing on the bike that wasn’t changed, repaired or re-fabricated instructed a headache-inducing story of an ever-growing record of points that each one needed to be remedied earlier than the bike can be able to trip. Ouch.
However first, somewhat context. “Effectively, we’ve spent since Christmas shifting our entire store to a brand new premises, ” says co-owner and co-wrencher, Giles Colliver. “It’s by no means a enjoyable job, however the brand new workshop will make us far more environment friendly. We’ll be doing extra motorbike neighborhood occasions, equivalent to swap meets, talks, rides, and extra. We now have some actually thrilling builds that we’re engaged on this yr too. We will’t say an excessive amount of about them at this level, however watch this area…”
And as casually as Giles mentioned that, do not forget that they’ve each been shifting and restoring the Suzuki Katana, too. Why do issues the straightforward means, boys? In fact this isn’t a customized construct, however somewhat an entire restoration that’s taking a really unhappy, sorry-looking inventory bike again to manufacturing unit end, or as shut as potential to. And for individuals who are too younger to recollect the unique bike’s specs, Giles helps out by jogging our recollections. “The bike has a bikini fairing, 4-into-2 exhaust, a sporty lean-forward using place, and naturally an in-line 4 cylinder engine. I suppose you may name it a form of ‘80s manufacturing unit cafe racer for those who wished to?” Works for me.
Off the again of the unique 1100 bike’s success, Suzuki expanded the household to incorporate a 550, 750, 1000 and this, the 1981 Suzuki GS650 Katana with the shaft drive. It’s the infant of the Katana household and imagine it or not, the present proprietor of this bike is similar man that initially bought it again within the day. Now that’s dedication.
“It is a pretty uncommon story the place the proprietor purchased the bike from new,” smiles Giles. “He received it straight off the showroom flooring again in ’81. It was ridden heaps in these early many years – throughout Australia – because the proprietor was within the Australian Navy on the time.” Then a brand new household meant the bike received much less and fewer tarmac time, and sadly it was additionally uncovered to the Aussie solar for very lengthy durations of time, which means it fell into disrepair and was significantly climate crushed. Or as Giles notes, “One mate who noticed it within the store after it had been dropped off quipped, ‘Whoa, was that factor set on fireplace?’”
Giles and Andy knew they’d our work reduce out once we began peeling the bike’s layers again. Not a single washer, grommet, bracket or bolt may very well be cleaned and put again on the bike. Each half wanted important consideration or substitute. They’d actually be incomes their carry on this job, and then some. This was confirmed when the proprietor briefed them to get it again to the identical manufacturing unit end as he noticed that day on the showroom flooring in 1981.
“Every little thing received stripped down,” continues Giles. “The painted elements have been despatched to our mate Kyle Smith, and the brake calipers and discs have been Cerakoted. These have been the one two elements of the construct that we outsourced. The engine was absolutely rebuilt with the cylinders honed, and the valves re-lapped. Then the body was blasted and powder coated adopted by a full rewire, however utilizing as manyof the previous elements that we might.”
Andy says that the forks have been so badly corroded they wanted to be machined down and re-chromed. They even reconditioned the previous ignition coils as you possibly can’t get this specific shade of orange excessive pressure lead any extra. “We have been in a position to convey these again to retain the intense orange splashes all through the bike,” he says.
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Giles continues by explaining the quantity of consideration that the bike wanted. “With every bit needing a whole lot of love and affection, we pulled in all of our abilities to get this bike completed and again on the highway. For example, the seat pan was so rusted via it extra carefully resembled a chunk of Swiss cheese than a formed little bit of sheet steel. So we layered it with fiberglass to convey again some rigidity and to additionally present a very good base for the seat foam. The entire thing was then re-upholstered.”
And what do the gents like most concerning the accomplished venture? “That we really accomplished this venture,” quips Giles. “It actually was a big endeavor on a motorcycle the place elements should not widespread, and it was in all probability too far gone for a resto. However we caught to our weapons and persevered. The proprietor’s face once we revealed it to him was additionally very cool; clearly it introduced again so many recollections and feelings for him. It was nice to see”
The ethical of this story is straightforward. Be it a customising request or full restoration, no job involving a forty-year-old motorbike goes to be a simple process. A builder is likely to be completely happy that the bike solely had one proprietor, as a result of he may have a fairly good thought of the bike’s historical past, spills and thrills. Sure, time heals all wounds. Nevertheless it additionally creates fairly a number of of its personal, too – simply ask Giles and Andy.
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Photos by Machines That Dream
