Katana Owners Club U.K.

me old man has told me that the kat will be restricted to 100bhp as it was bought in Germany. he isn't too sure how it was restricted, so can anyone shed any light on this for me?

ta

Ceo or clocks. I wouldn't worry about it

clocks ok then ta

Meant to say cdi or clock. But to be honest not many will be over a 100 HP now any way

ok cheers

how do you restrict something through the clocks? id have thought the cdi, exhaust, carbs or even the cams would be more likely.
HOWEVER
was the 100bhp restriction in place in 1981? im not too sure about it myself. im sure the voluntary 100bhp restriction by bmw came in the mid 1980s when bmws own 16v k motors were putting out close to 100bhp, but im not sure the japanese importers were plcaing any restrictions on output so early in the 1980's

its not so fancy. basically there is a sensor in the clocks that retards the ignition when the speedo reads 112 mph, but its simple enough to overcome, you just pull the wires from the sensor. but in the absence of a full engine management system, the only way to restrict the power output of an engine is to design it to produce a certain power output by either restricting the mix going in, restricting the exhaust coming out or messing with the timing of whn it gets burned in the cycle. all a bit too hi tech for 1981, remember this is the era where an electronic ignition still needed mechanical weights on springs to retard and advance the ignition based on engine speed.

yea the "voluntary 125bhp limit" happened in the mid to late 80's

cheers for all the thoughts gents, much appreciated

In 1978 Honda launched the CBX 1000 6 Clylinder bike which was the first to have more than 100 bph. At the same time the German interior ministry thought about limiting the performance output of motorbikes because of the increasing number of death toll amongst accident victims at that time.
This and the fact that motorbikes of that eara gained weight and power but tyre performance could not keep pace with that development made the bike producers install that 100 bph limit as a voluntary act in 1978. That way the producers did avoid a statutory rule by the goverment.
This gentlements' agreement weathered market cycles until 1998 when Suzuki launched the Hayabusa. The discussion here in Germany about that bike was hysteric, especially among non bikers...

Before that date many bikers would buy new bikes as so called grey imports to have full power or simply unrestrict the German model and legalize it via Tüv. There were appropiate kits available at the official dealers to have the bikes' performance opened up.

This is the point of interest for bagman now, I think. How did the kit for a GSX 1100 engine look like?

I don't know, I must admit. But it's very likely that Suzuki did the restriction by the camshafts, as they did only a little later with the EFE engines.