GS650G - Background

The GS650 Katana was introduced at the same time as the GS650GT Tourer that it shares most of its mechanicals with. The most noticeable difference with this Kat was its shaft drive. Although it is generally the slowest of the first Kats (the 550 with its 6 speed gearbox could be pressed into out performing it), the shaft drive together with Suzuki's tough 8-valve motor, meant that there was very little maintenance to do. In fact the 650 was a great motorway bruiser and was very popular amongst dispatch riders.
The styling wasn't quite as radical as its larger brothers due to the fact that it didn't have the sharp, distinctive fairing. There were two models the GX (up to 1982) and the GZ (1982 to about 1984) during the models life span. With the GX Suzuki didn't quite get the oil supply right (this was also the case on one or two other models, most notably the GSX400F), and it was possible to strangle the oil supply to the big ends, when the oil level was low. The GZ cured this problem and also sported anti-drive forks and a fuel gauge.