Weapon, Spaz isn’t arguing with you about manners of the bike, he’s arguing simply about the sheer weight of the bike.
I can say from personal experience that the difference in confidence between a 325 pound bike versus a well balanced 415 pound bike is still significant. The difference between a 415 pound bike and a 450 pound bike is also significant. With a full tank of gas the Katana (and GSX650) is a handleful a slow speeds and pushing around / putting on its stand. Twice I almost dropped my 415pound bike but was just able to recover it. My dad HAS dropped his 425 pound bike because it got over too far (at a stand still) when he wasn’t paying attention. I have never had that problem with my ZZR-250, it can get leaned out very far with me on the other side, and I never feel like I’m going to drop it. This has a huge impact on general comfort with the bike.
And don’t kid yourself about the weight being for stability. The Kat is a pig because it was designed in the 80s, when all sport bikes weighed that much. Making a steel frame stiff with 80s metalurgy means weight. A lot more weight than a current aluminum frame (and that massive 5 gallons of fuel, up high does nothing good for low speed balance). The GSX650 is still that heavy because steel is cheaper to buy and work with than aluminum. They could have saved a fair chunk of weight by doing a full redesign of the frame, but they didn’t have to because the GSX650 is, as you said, an affordable sport tourer.
I’ve spoken with a late model Kat 600 owner. He LOVES his bike. It is fast and comfy. It’ll keep up with his buddies on CBRs and he can tour with his Dad on a Goldwing. But he spent the first few years riding a GS500, and he wouldn’t have done it any other way.
As always, you can learn on any bike, but not all bikes are friendly to new riders.
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”