Bargains now, valuable later?
Discussion
What bikes in your view are worth snapping up now, will give you great biking and yet rise in value as time goes on hopefully? I don't mean exotica like Ducati Super Monos or Honda CBX1000 sixes, i mean available cheap as chips now?
Today i have paid just £900 for a Kawasaki ZX9R Ninja from 1998, the C1 model with the 18kgs reduced weight from the B and ironically normal forks instead of the previous upside downers.
Of course it has paint issues and some small plastic faults but this is a 12 month MOT, beautiful sounding 900 sports bike, (lovely polished aftermarket can) with 145 bhp. Even today that's not shabby output.
I'm thinking the ZX9R right now is maybe THE best buy on the bike market?
Today i have paid just £900 for a Kawasaki ZX9R Ninja from 1998, the C1 model with the 18kgs reduced weight from the B and ironically normal forks instead of the previous upside downers.
Of course it has paint issues and some small plastic faults but this is a 12 month MOT, beautiful sounding 900 sports bike, (lovely polished aftermarket can) with 145 bhp. Even today that's not shabby output.
I'm thinking the ZX9R right now is maybe THE best buy on the bike market?
Kawasicki said:
Valuable later? Hmm...only in original condition with low mileage. They sold many...they were robust, so many high mileage examples will survive.
Great value for money though.
Whoever thought that the Z1 i paid £1,200 new for, a poor handling, very heavy, slow old (82bhp) inline 4 would be fetching £20,000 now? Like i said on another thread i don't get used bike values at all.Great value for money though.
I can't see a ZX9R appreciating in value at all unless its original and in mint condition, in fact values have slways been pretty low, I reckon the E2 was the best of the bunch, I sold my mint 7000 mile example 8 years ago for £1700 and the value hasn't changed at all, they live in the shadow of the Fireblade and GSXR.
The best you can hope for is your money back but I wouldn't spend an awful lot on it.
I reckon a good bet would be a mint GSXR750SRAD, I sold mine for again £1700 and I reckon I'd have to spend at least £2.5k to get a similar one now.
The best you can hope for is your money back but I wouldn't spend an awful lot on it.
I reckon a good bet would be a mint GSXR750SRAD, I sold mine for again £1700 and I reckon I'd have to spend at least £2.5k to get a similar one now.
When I bought my 1st TL-R; A very good one was 3.5/4k; in 2004.....
A very good one now is still 3.5/4k - but there are some around with aftermarket bits and cheap add ons for more......
What's crazier in my opinion is that in 2006-7 a BRAND NEW ZX10R with the underseat carbon akra's was only 8500.......
A very good one now is still 3.5/4k - but there are some around with aftermarket bits and cheap add ons for more......
What's crazier in my opinion is that in 2006-7 a BRAND NEW ZX10R with the underseat carbon akra's was only 8500.......
Few bikes are good "investments" but its nice to think they are to justify spending the money on them 
A £2000 bike in 1975 just adjusted for inflation today would cost £16k....without any increase in real value....
You still need to store, insure, maybe tax and service these bikes and wait patiently for 20, 30, 40 years for a time when they come back into fashion and then you might make a few quid.
Just buy whatever bargain bikes you like and enjoy them for as long as you want ....at the very least its cheap way of enjoying yourself
A £2000 bike in 1975 just adjusted for inflation today would cost £16k....without any increase in real value....
You still need to store, insure, maybe tax and service these bikes and wait patiently for 20, 30, 40 years for a time when they come back into fashion and then you might make a few quid.
Just buy whatever bargain bikes you like and enjoy them for as long as you want ....at the very least its cheap way of enjoying yourself
Unfortunately I think that the ZX9r will always live in the shadow of R1s, Fireblades and the early watercooled GSXR 750s of the same period so it won't have the same appeal as them - I'd even go as far as saying a ZXR750J1 would probably be a better 'investment' if you're after a Kawasaki.
Alternatively perhaps a Triumph t595 Daytona might be a bit more of a left field choice, first of their proper sportsbikes good enough to take on the 'blade, R1 etc etc
Alternatively perhaps a Triumph t595 Daytona might be a bit more of a left field choice, first of their proper sportsbikes good enough to take on the 'blade, R1 etc etc
I think the 750’s will be the next ones to start appreciating. ZXR’s, ZX7R’s, GSXR SRADs, YZF750’s and that ilk. They’re in the sweet spot power-wise and that breed of Superbike with the Homologation spawn off’s has a sub zero cool about it. They’re physically larger than todays sports bikes and have an old school feel which means full fat fuelling and smoothness, not snatchy and optimised to meet emissions targets. They’re a joy to ride and getting increasingly harder to find good ones.
Grindle said:
What bikes in your view are worth snapping up now, will give you great biking and yet rise in value as time goes on hopefully? I don't mean exotica like Ducati Super Monos or Honda CBX1000 sixes, i mean available cheap as chips now?
Today i have paid just £900 for a Kawasaki ZX9R Ninja from 1998, the C1 model with the 18kgs reduced weight from the B and ironically normal forks instead of the previous upside downers.
Of course it has paint issues and some small plastic faults but this is a 12 month MOT, beautiful sounding 900 sports bike, (lovely polished aftermarket can) with 145 bhp. Even today that's not shabby output.
I'm thinking the ZX9R right now is maybe THE best buy on the bike market?
Good work! My thinking is that if you can pick something up when it's in its malaise period, get it up to scratch with scrounging up closeout parts, carefully picking through the OE parts still available versus restoring the parts, elbow grease and a bit of good luck it's a bit of fun and may hold your monetary investment. For all the talk about notable (super)bikes from the 90's, the original Fireblades and R1's aren't exactly cracking big dollars like an RZ500 or CBX1000 would - it's the SBK homologation bikes which are still worth heaps (and climbing).Today i have paid just £900 for a Kawasaki ZX9R Ninja from 1998, the C1 model with the 18kgs reduced weight from the B and ironically normal forks instead of the previous upside downers.
Of course it has paint issues and some small plastic faults but this is a 12 month MOT, beautiful sounding 900 sports bike, (lovely polished aftermarket can) with 145 bhp. Even today that's not shabby output.
I'm thinking the ZX9R right now is maybe THE best buy on the bike market?
There's a good ZX9R forum: https://www.zx-9r.net/
Dont know about valuable later, but K5/6, all Fireblades up to the 954 and the 1st R1's can be ridden pretty much depreciation free.
Great opportunity to experience iconic bikes of the past, enjoy a couple of thousand miles on them for a year and then sell them on for pretty much what you paid for them if not more.
Obviously you need to purchase decent examples to start with.
Great opportunity to experience iconic bikes of the past, enjoy a couple of thousand miles on them for a year and then sell them on for pretty much what you paid for them if not more.
Obviously you need to purchase decent examples to start with.
Pick something pretty rubbish and low-volume from the late 70's/80's/early 90's that doesn't have too much plastic and still looks like a "proper" motorcycle.
As an example, there's a Kawasaki S2 350 near me going for £6k just now and I saw this on ebay last night while browsing:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CB-500-T-L-REG-19...
That is a total project needing a lot of time and money spent on it just to make it as s
t as it was originally but I can guarantee someone will buy it...
As an example, there's a Kawasaki S2 350 near me going for £6k just now and I saw this on ebay last night while browsing:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CB-500-T-L-REG-19...
That is a total project needing a lot of time and money spent on it just to make it as s
t as it was originally but I can guarantee someone will buy it...Walter Sobchak said:
They're still too new at the moment but I have a feeling the 899 Panigale is going to be a good bet in the future.
On what basis ? Its outshone by just about every other Panigale ever released, there is no R or other special version, unlike he 748 which came as an R or the 848 that came as an Evo Corse, in 20 years time why would anyone buy a standard (as its standard unmolested bikes that have shown value growth) 899 ?Panis thats will potentially prove wise buys, R's / Speciales / SL's but cost of entry today is high.
The rest are just cannon fodder ..... and I say that as an owner of an 1199.
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