The frisky Cat

Folks,

Have been enjoying the new (to me) Cat this weekend.

OK, after riding litre bikes for years I'm finding the Cat pretty frisky. The engine is a peach, with revs to spare. Still have to get up to the 11,500 rpm and looking forwards to it. The front end feels very light compared to my R1 4xv and Ace. Maybe its the bars but it feels kind of high up for a sportsbike, although the steering is quick with a tendency to fall into the corners, like a sportsbike should.

I do have a touch of headshake when decelerating with hands off the bars, and the bike is going into a friend's workshop to check that tomorrow. I've never had a tank slap and don't want one!

Overall I would call the Cat a sportsbike and IMHO it feels quicker than a 5eb R6, despite the numbers. The mid range is amazing for a 600 and seems to do everything a litre bike can do except rip my arms off.

Interested to here other's views of the Cat riding experience.

c.

fwiw I started fitting 120/70 ZR17's (as opposed to the 120/60 ZR17 stock) on mine and it calmed the front end right down.
Front was a tiny bit higher (slight bonus), but it wasn't nearly as 'snatchy' when tipped into a corner.
For me, it felt a lot more balanced.

The Cat has pretty conservative geometry and isn’t known for shaking its head. The only time it happened to me was when I was accelerating hard over raised, painted hatch marks (which had been tar-and-stonechipped over so I didn’t see them). Maybe worth a look at the headset bearings and also the suspension setup.

For a 600, they are torquey though - more than any R6.