Katana 750

Why don't you just go and take a ride on one of them and decide for yourself? That's the way I do it. Tests are interesting but most of my best bikes have gotten "lousy" reviews. Remember that the testers never spend a cent of their own money on the bikes they test.

Well because I haven't ridden in a few years and after looking in cycle trader I found a lot of Katana 750s, a few SVs and a good number of 600F4Is and GSXRs for good prices.
I have a CB I am working on restoring but that is a project and not a bike right now.
The GSXRs I think are a bit extreme for what I would want to do for now. The real tempting bike for me is the old FZ1 but they are pretty rare. I think people that have them keep them.
So some advice of people that have them is always good. Things like what goes wrong with them and such. Frankly I don't think any of the big manufactures have made a bad motor cycle in many years.

The Katana's are good bikes. They made the same bike for many years, so it's proven design. I think it would be a good choice for a re-entry rider like yourself. I'd say go for it. You can always sell it for what you paid, or even make a few bucks if you buy smart.

A lot of riders buy the Katana by mistake when they really want the hottest 600/1000. That way you can find the bike used with about 2000 miles on them for a great price. They really are a good bike, some people don't like they styling but the bike is comfortable and fast.It is really all the bike 95 percent of riders need. The other 5 percent are just kidding themselves.