Confirming my frame and engine number

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark Baldacchino
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Mark Baldacchino

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Hello team,

This is my first post thank you for having me in the forum.

I am looking to buy a Cat with the following ID:

01-81
Frame: GS110X526827
Engine: GS110X138660

Can anyone tell me if this is the correct engine and / or if this is a genuine Australian wire wheel model.

Cheers, Mark.
 
Hi Mark, welcome to the Forum and thanks for posting. Have you eyeballed the VIN plate yourself and know for sure those numbers are correct? If those numbers are stamped on the aluminium VIN plate it is not a genuine W.W. Kat. The frame and engine numbers are Katana 1100, just not a W.W. model.

Cheers.
 
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Thank you. No I have not seen the VIN myself. But I have a copy of rego papers and the previous sales paperwork. I thought (was hoping :)) that all 1981 1100 Kats were wire wheel.
 
Mark Baldacchino said:
Thank you. No I have not seen the VIN myself. But I have a copy of rego papers and the previous sales paperwork. I thought (was hoping :)) that all 1981 1100 Kats were wire wheel.
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Like many Kats it sounds like W.W. have been retro fitted to a stock 1100, not an issue if you like W.W. and are not paying the premium that some genuine W.W. Kats sell for. Suzuki supplied small numbers of genuine Australian W.W. Kats in batches from 1981 to early 1982 alongside the larger batches of stock 1100 Kat fitted with cast ally wheels.

Seeing the VIN plate would also confirm if the 1/81 date is correct.

If the Kat has a decal on the steering head with the numbers listed it is not an Australian model Kat, all Australian Kats were fitted with an ally VIN plate riveted to the steering head. Many Australian Kats are running around without VIN plates (lost when painted or powder coated in most cases) so not having a plate does not mean it is not an Australian Kat however, if it has a decal identifier then it is a Kat built for another market like N.Z. or South Africa.
 
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VIN plate vs Decal. The VIN plate rivets in this image are not OEM rivets.

Kat 1000 VIN Plate.JPG

JDM Katana 1100 VIN Decal.jpg
 
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Thanks heaps, its a nice bike but I think I would be paying a premium for after market wheels so I might hold off and see is a genuine article does come up. I'm in no hurry. I don't mind paying for the genuine article.
 
Mark Baldacchino said:
Thanks heaps, its a nice bike but I think I would be paying a premium for after market wheels so I might hold off and see is a genuine article does come up. I'm in no hurry. I don't mind paying for the genuine article.
Click to expand...

Hi Mark, if it has W.W. fitted they could well be "genuine Katana W.W." and not aftermarket wheels that have fitted to a stock 1100 Kat, easy to tell from the info stamped into the rim on genuine wheels. One of the reasons W.W. used to be retro-fitted to non-W.W. Kats was the price. In the past it was inexpensive to source and fit W.W. to a stock Kat to have the look but not the cost of a genuine W.W. Kat. Not so much the case now, a pair of W.W. are pretty pricey these days, if you can find a set of Suzuki hubs and the correct size Takasago alloy rims!

Feb 2013 Rubber.JPG


Three genuine W.W. Kat out for the day in Woodford.
 

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Just querying how frame number is matched to an 81 build, my parts book indicates frame from gs110x-522093- is an SZ, SD from gs110x-535683-, so a serial of gs110x-526827 would make it an SZ, therefor an 82 so build would have to be plated 8/81 onwards (approx). Not trying to cause an issue, I am trying to educate myself.....
 
minus45 said:
Just querying how frame number is matched to an 81 build, my parts book indicates frame from gs110x-522093- is an SZ, SD from gs110x-535683-, so a serial of gs110x-526827 would make it an SZ, therefor an 82 so build would have to be plated 8/81 onwards (approx). Not trying to cause an issue, I am trying to educate myself.....
Click to expand...

Australian Kats have the date on the VIN plate. It is not the actual date of manufacture of the complete Kat, it is the month and year the VIN plate was attached to the Kat steering head (and in most cases was the month of manufacture) in Hamamatsu.

In the period our Kats were built Suzuki model change over was in July each year. So by the book, SZ Kats should have been built from the second half of 1981 and the first half of 1982 and then SD production commenced for the second half of 1982, so each year there were two models in the one calendar year.

However, there is an exception. Production of Australian Kats commenced in the first half of 1981 and these Kats were manufactured and designated as SZ models prior to the official introduction month for the SZ. No Kat model change over to SZ was done in July 1981 for the early Kats produced as they had already been built and exported to Australia as SZ models, the result was all Australian Kats built for the whole of 1981 through to July 1982 were SZ models.

There are a couple of Kats in Brisbane with 3/81 and 5/81 VIN plates and both are VIN plate stamped as SZ models.
 
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Thankyou for that info, I have been suitably educated as I wasn't aware of this exception, everything now makes total sense to me. Cheers
 
Dealers were fitting “wire wheels” to everything in the day, I can remember seeing Red and silver (SD) Katana with wire wheels Brand new on the showroom floor at Springwood Suzuki. At the time I had no interest in Street bikes But I remember clearly as I had never seen a Coloured Kat ( other than Silver) or one with Wires before. I was there to look a RM’s. I was 15-16 and a older friend had let me ride his big bore Kat.
 
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