bikes for under a grand!?
Discussion
can it be done? by that I mean has anyone ever bought a bike for under £1000 and it's been flawless mechanically, or can be put right for under the grand budget.
damage to fairings etc excluded.
I've seen 4 bikes recently all under a grand with the view to a cheap track bike.
zxr 750
zxr 400
cbr 400
fzr 1000 exup
everyone I've went to see has been a shed apart from the exup, each requiring new rubber, brakes done, bearings here and there, sprockets, dodgy clutches, blown fork seals, pitted forks, chains gone, carbs needing done, flat spots, batteries gone, exhausts blowing the list could go on and that's before fairing damage is taken into account.
3/4 of these bikes had just got brand new mots. but they are un rideable IMO. bags of utter s
t, neglected pieces of tat.
so has anyone ever managed it or am I just going to need raise my budget
on another note I did instantly fall in love with the exup after riding it. the position was great and the engine was just so well balanced and smooth. if it wasn't for pitted forks, head bearing, gone tyres and sticky brakes id be the new owner of it. intact if the forks were just all right I'd have had it in a heartbeat.
damage to fairings etc excluded.
I've seen 4 bikes recently all under a grand with the view to a cheap track bike.
zxr 750
zxr 400
cbr 400
fzr 1000 exup
everyone I've went to see has been a shed apart from the exup, each requiring new rubber, brakes done, bearings here and there, sprockets, dodgy clutches, blown fork seals, pitted forks, chains gone, carbs needing done, flat spots, batteries gone, exhausts blowing the list could go on and that's before fairing damage is taken into account.
3/4 of these bikes had just got brand new mots. but they are un rideable IMO. bags of utter s
t, neglected pieces of tat. so has anyone ever managed it or am I just going to need raise my budget
on another note I did instantly fall in love with the exup after riding it. the position was great and the engine was just so well balanced and smooth. if it wasn't for pitted forks, head bearing, gone tyres and sticky brakes id be the new owner of it. intact if the forks were just all right I'd have had it in a heartbeat.
I went to see a baby cbr today from
a kinda dealer. I say dealer he was more of a breaker come joiner.
it had been a project completed. spray can job looked st
brakes gone. rear disc need replaced blown exhaust, tyres fked, battery gone.
he had just cleaned and synced the carbs. it blew smoke and I mean thick smoke with choke on and off.
it had the worlds greatest flat spot as well.
he wanted £800 for it!!!!!!!!
I'd give him 300.
the guy with the exup wanted 600 down from 700 I offer 500 but he liked it too much to punt it for that.
a kinda dealer. I say dealer he was more of a breaker come joiner.
it had been a project completed. spray can job looked s
tbrakes gone. rear disc need replaced blown exhaust, tyres f
ked, battery gone. he had just cleaned and synced the carbs. it blew smoke and I mean thick smoke with choke on and off.
it had the worlds greatest flat spot as well.
he wanted £800 for it!!!!!!!!
I'd give him 300.
the guy with the exup wanted 600 down from 700 I offer 500 but he liked it too much to punt it for that.
theshrew said:
When ive been on my lessons one of the instructors took me to a place near Chester that had a load of older bikes fairly cheap. Think it was called Bretton Motorcycles it was more of a Hells Angels type place but had quite a few sports bikes in.
their great website said:
Bikes - Bretton Motorcycles Chester
No vehicles are available at this time. Please return later.
No vehicles are available at this time. Please return later.
I've once bought a VFR 400 and a ER500 both cost 800 pound and were in alright nick, Ok, the er5 was a little bit rusty around the downpipes and swingarm, but once scrubbed off and painted over, and the VFR did have a V small oil leak but that was just the washer for the sump plug, so a 50p fix.
you can find them, just you need to keep checking the usual sites every day for them to pop up, as they dont hang around long
also, 1st post, so hello there
you can find them, just you need to keep checking the usual sites every day for them to pop up, as they dont hang around long
also, 1st post, so hello there
just keep on checking ebay/autotrader/the usual sites every day
thats what I did, and I managed to get a VFR 800 in immaculate condition other than the collector box, for a small bit more than a grand.
they do come along, but I was checking ebay every day about 3 times (sometimes more) for about 3-4 weeks, its better than I could imagine as it was an auction not a classified and with no reserve so could get it a lot cheaper than it they just said 'its X pounds' and I really think the bloke i bought it from didnt want to sell it for the price i got it for. plus as he was a decent bloke he chucked in a seat cowl, panniers and a haynes manuel for free.
so they do come along, you just have to keep looking every day for them, sometime, for quite some time.
my last 2 bikes, i was searching for about 3-4 weeks and found them within my budget within a while, but one was 1.2k and the other was 900 quid. so just keep looking.
but after typing all of that I have just thought, it might not be the best of times to buy a bike, as its the summer. people tend to sell their bikes a bit cheaper at the beginning of winter and sell them for a bit more in the spring/beginning of summer.
thats what I did, and I managed to get a VFR 800 in immaculate condition other than the collector box, for a small bit more than a grand.
they do come along, but I was checking ebay every day about 3 times (sometimes more) for about 3-4 weeks, its better than I could imagine as it was an auction not a classified and with no reserve so could get it a lot cheaper than it they just said 'its X pounds' and I really think the bloke i bought it from didnt want to sell it for the price i got it for. plus as he was a decent bloke he chucked in a seat cowl, panniers and a haynes manuel for free.
so they do come along, you just have to keep looking every day for them, sometime, for quite some time.
my last 2 bikes, i was searching for about 3-4 weeks and found them within my budget within a while, but one was 1.2k and the other was 900 quid. so just keep looking.
but after typing all of that I have just thought, it might not be the best of times to buy a bike, as its the summer. people tend to sell their bikes a bit cheaper at the beginning of winter and sell them for a bit more in the spring/beginning of summer.
I picked up a yamaha fazer 600 2 weeks ago, for £760 off gumtree. 2001 plate, genuine 1 lady owner since new, 21k miles, full main dealer service history, 12 months tax and mot,recent tyres, done less than 2k in last 4 years, every reciept for everything and anything, every old mot and tax disc, just been serviced, rentec rack, datatag, both keys. Felt like id robbed her! Only downsides are paint flaking off engine and a small blow from headers. Perfect as a general use bike, and keep cbr for sunday blasts. It runs lovely and very comfy, pleased with it so far!
I picked up a yamaha fazer 600 2 weeks ago, for £760 off gumtree. 2001 plate, genuine 1 lady owner since new, 21k miles, full main dealer service history, 12 months tax and mot,recent tyres, done less than 2k in last 4 years, every reciept for everything and anything, every old mot and tax disc, just been serviced, rentec rack, datatag, both keys. Felt like id robbed her! Only downsides are paint flaking off engine and a small blow from headers. Perfect as a general use bike, and keep cbr for sunday blasts. It runs lovely and very comfy, pleased with it so far!
1996 ZX7R, 23k miles, £1000, rode it for a year as it was, then put £1k into it the 2nd year, K-Tech front suspension internals, chain sprockets, rebuild brakes etc. change the exhaust, which it didn't really need and repair and paint lower fairing... oh and new tyres, It's all good - but yeah, first year only thing I spent over and above the £1k purchase price was a service kit, plugs filter oil etc. 
It has to be within a 50 mile radius to be honest now.
Im fed up making a 100 mile round trip to see something that is perfect with no faults to get there and its shagged.
the problem with ebay is that I would never ever buy a bike for this kinda money without seeing it first and very few in Scotland come up for that price.
they look great in the picture, the seller boasts his new MOT but you get there and its on its way out.
Im not even just looking for a certain type of bike as well. Anything kinda sporty would do. Its just there is so much st out there.
Im on gumtree 3-4 times a day, ebay at least once.
Im looking at a £700-800 bike and im thinking, christ I value my ninja at £1200-1500 and it needs nothing done to it to get at least a year or two out of it, with no marks on it. these bikes you could spend up to and beyond the value of my ninja and they would never look or ride as good.
I suspect come winter there might be a few...
this goes back to my post the other day about MOTS they really are a waste of time when looking at bikes. they mean fk all...
Im fed up making a 100 mile round trip to see something that is perfect with no faults to get there and its shagged.
the problem with ebay is that I would never ever buy a bike for this kinda money without seeing it first and very few in Scotland come up for that price.
they look great in the picture, the seller boasts his new MOT but you get there and its on its way out.
Im not even just looking for a certain type of bike as well. Anything kinda sporty would do. Its just there is so much s
t out there.Im on gumtree 3-4 times a day, ebay at least once.
Im looking at a £700-800 bike and im thinking, christ I value my ninja at £1200-1500 and it needs nothing done to it to get at least a year or two out of it, with no marks on it. these bikes you could spend up to and beyond the value of my ninja and they would never look or ride as good.
I suspect come winter there might be a few...
this goes back to my post the other day about MOTS they really are a waste of time when looking at bikes. they mean f
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