Description
National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
Viewing: Tuesday 8th July from 1pm
Auction: Wednesday 9th July from 9am
Location: National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry Road, Bickenhill, Solihull B92 0EJ
1982 Suzuki Katana 6-Cylinder
No Reserve
Registration No: VPV 700X
Frame No: GS100X00500318
MOT: Exempt
Part of the Pip Higham Collection
Incredible 6-cylinder special
Supplied with a current V5C
Pip Higham is a highly respected former motorcycle dealer, classic magazine columnist and record breaking drag racer who was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2017 after his exploits throughout his career. The background for all this success was Pip’s own business, the ‘Village Bike Shop’ in Manchester, where he provided a service for those who wished to go that little bit quicker than the rest. The quest for more performance saw him develope mainly Suzuki based specials, racing in the Streetbike class across Europe and ultimately America, becoming the first European into the ten second bracket and then the first rider ever into the nines. ‘The Deuce’, a VBS development producing 160 bhp using Pip’s own tuning parts, ran in the nine second bracket many times at terminal speeds up to 154 mph for the quarter mile. A lifelong motorcycle enthusiast Pip has also restored many bikes to a very high standard, sometimes incorporating subtle little modifications to improve performance.
The 6 cylinder Katana that Suzuki never made, this incredible one off build by Pip has been well documented in various Classic Bike magazines and is a credit to Pip's ingenuity and engineering skills. As he explains.....'The ‘6’ has been a feature of my life for longer than I care to consider, I originally did a few tentative sketches for a GS1000 version back in 1979 but as I collected more and more GSX engine parts, I decided to go down the 4 valve route. A challenging project, I stopped counting at 1000 hours! Originally it lived in an EZ chassis but the airbox to knee interface made it almost impossible to ride, so I bit the bullet and built it into the Katana chassis seen here This had 2 big advantages, one, the footpegs are about 5 inches further back, and 2, I installed fuel injection with much less obtrusive air inlets to the outer cylinders, the combined effect is that there is now space for knees, and the gear lever and brake pedal can be operated easily….. plus I love the Katana styling!
The spec is roughly as follows:- 6 cylinders, 24 valves, 10 main bearings and 20 cylinder hold down studs!! It has DTA digital engine management, which gathers information from various sensors and works out the most advantageous fuelling and ignition timing. The system is all new and is currently running a DTA generic map, it would benefit from mapping more precisely, to facilitate this I will include a Toshiba laptop (with the DTA software loaded) plus the relevant connecting cables, also a controller which allows much more rapid changes to be effected in real time. I apologise for the fact that I have been unable to complete the mapping updates, In the past I have used DTA’s products on several of my bikes and even on my MGA! They are reliable and incredibly flexible. Otherwise the running gear is all more modern Suzuki with a later swing arm converted to twin shock, rebuilt Six pot Tokicos up front and £2500 worth of amazing Racefit Titanium exhaust that will definitely not pass any Db test in the free world!' A unique opportunity to acquire a fascinating one off special that will draw crowds at any gathering of motorcyclists, supplied with the aforementioned computer equipment, a bespoke set of 6 carbs, the original plug for casting the cylinder block. Not run since last year it will need the normal checks before use, supplied with a current V5C.
** Bidding will take place live at the venue, online via our H&H website, by telephone and commission - T&Cs apply**
Parking and entry into the auction is free for auction attendees with a catalogue, available at the door.
Catalogues can be purchased for £20 (admits 2 people).
