Katana 750/1000/1100 fairing - how is it attached to the frame?

[Dezza]

I have been thinking of fitting a Kat fairing to my Magnum 2 off and on for the last 25 years and have reached the stage of possibly getting one. How does it fit a Kat frame? The Harris has 2 lugs on the headstock as in race bikes and I was assuming a new bracket is going to have to be made or a stock Kat bracket modified. The logic behind  this is the Kat and Mag 2 were designed by the same bloke so it should look pretty good. Cheers for any input.

[spondonturbo]

they have a two piece steel frame inside the fairing which mounts off the headstock at the front and also on the sides of the mainframe. You can see exploded views on Robinsons website under Suzuki parts if you want an idea of what they look like. At the end of the day you can get anything to fit anything. You may be better making the support frame from scratch as kat ones are not easy to get hold of at reasonable money. You can get them new, but would be a shame to cut up a new one

[johnr]

steve from lucky7 was in the proces of having kat fairing frames manufactured from stainless steel or ally, no idea if he has got anywhere yet (he borrowed ne of mine as a pattern) i suppose if folks start calling him and asking about them, he might get his finger out.

[Nickydodds]

I seem to recall young Dan (Harriskat) mentioning replicating them as well John...

[coombehouse]

I think there was a Harris Magnum with a Kat fairing at the PB Kat Frenzy back in the day. Think it was in the magazine too if someone has a copy. 

Btw I was there too  with a little write up on my Kat. My only claim to fame!

See in this month's Classic Mechanics there is a pic of Roger Turner. He was there too & was seriously quick. Bike looks the same too.

[melkweg]

[johnr]

that back brake and swingarm looks incredibly trick!

Edited October 23, 2016 by johnr

[Dezza]

Thanks for the replies - I also remember seeing a Harris Magnum with a kat fairing in an ancient copy of PB, but I flogged all my old bike mags (8 boxes of them) a while back. I should have bought the Kat fairing I saw at Newark auto jumble for 40 quid earlier this year (doh!). It looks like to get one on the Harris frame the best course of action will be to make a new bracket from scratch.

 

The mag 2 in the pic above looks really good bodywork wise. Stock magnum swingarms are really beautifally made, and look great with the right setup of aftermarket parts. I wish I hadn't sold mine (double doh!). I have never seen the point of spending a fortune on paintwork/engine tuning on a special, then using stock brake/wheel components. Each to their own though

Edited October 23, 2016 by Dezza

[busa ash]

i have just bought a spare standard arm dezza , as it has a chain run protector thing and out of the three magnums magnum 2 s i have non have the pivot chain protector

[melkweg]

Busa Ash any chance you could post some pics of chain slider?

[SiBag]

The Chain slider I had on my original Harris arm was just a machined C shape (a little over 180 deg) of nylon that snapped onto the pivot.  And there was a rubber gubbins that screwed to the swing arm leg. If any of that makes sense..

[Dezza]

The original swingarm on a magnum 2 did not require any chain protector directly attached to the arm itself. As SB says, there is one on the bottom frame rail. This is a C-shaped nylon job that clips over the rail. I still have this on my bike. Presumably the stock arm did not require a guard as when a 630 chain is used the chain is always far enough away not to come into contact. Using a 530/525/520 means the sprockets are smaller for the same number of teeth so the chain is nearer to the swingarm. I made another nylon guard for the top of my alloy (non-Harris) swingarm for this reason. The rear suspension design also means that the chain is fairly slack with no load as it tightens quite a bit when compressed.

 

Maybe this discussion needs transferring to the trick frames section as it's gone a bit off topic