Why a £1500 sportsbike might be a bad idea
Read this before buying a 15-year-old 'bargain'
Today's motorcycle market is awash with cheap secondhand sportsbikes. The introduction of new models every year has taken its toll on secondhand values, driving them down to rock bottom prices. Scout around the web and you'll find an early 90s litre sportsbike for £1500, or even less, which seems bloody tempting for a 170mph corner-carving missile.
Take an early model Fireblade - desirable, iconic and still a competent tool in the right hands - but is a 15-year-old one a good buy or are you just asking for trouble? We take a closer look.
The typical example
Everyone has Walter Mitty dreams about finding a mint, low mileage, one owner example someone's had sat in a temperature-controlled garage for the last fifteen years but sadly finds like this are few and far between.
Expect a Blade of this age to have covered approximately 50,000 miles and been owned by around eight people. Chances are it will have been dropped, probably more than once and it's highly doubtful the service history will be complete.
If you're expecting this fifteen-year-old machine to ride like new then you're going to be in for a shock. Sportsbikes are finely tuned pieces of kit, which feel awful if they're not kept in tip-top shape, so you may need to spend a surprising amount of money to get the bike anywhere near how it felt over a decade ago. The total bill often amounts to more than you paid for the bike in the first place. If you've little mechanical aptitude, or don't enjoy fettling bikes then a tired old sportsbike can be a big money pit.
Next page
Discuss this story
Does the same hold true for non-sports bikes, or are these machines just more fickle beasts? Kind of looking ahead to buying my first bike hopefully later in the summer, and with being skint at the moment this has got me wondering what the minimum spend is for a bike that is going to be fun enough to keep me coming back, and likely to run without any problems for 12 months! What would people suggest as either fantastic bargain bikes or a minimum realistic spend to secure something reasonable?
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 19:30
Your reasonable and my reasonable might be slightly different. I might find a C90 fun and more than powerful enough for me whereas you might want R1 performance as a minimum.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 19:40
My grandad used to have a C90 - used to be able to drive em without a CBT on Hoy  I think I am getting at something that would be seen as a reasonable choice for a first bike after passing an intensive direct access course. Kind of interested in a more general way too - there are loads of interesting looking machines out there for small amounts of money, but are chances going to be that they are money pits?
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 19:53
that article caused a bit of a discussion when it was first printed and IMO if you choose wisely you can pick up an old sportsbike in bloody good condition for a grand, if you choose badly you could buy a knackered new dog for £5K. I bought this bike for £1100, it had about 10K miles, few owners and a FSH, I rode it for a year and sold it for £1100. it was a good solid fast bike
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 20:00
My dad took me school in the 70s on a c90  i loved it. I'm in the same boat, but i'm erring towards spending a little more money and taking the extra on finance rather than buying an old shitter thats going to cost me loads to keep on the road. Spent the last weekend looking at bikes and I now think that a Honda CB600 Hornet might be my current choice. I need to go book that test
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 20:01
The Hornet is on my list at the moment, changes daily though Also thinking of Bandits, SV650s and pretty much anything else I stumble upon! I had planned on sticking to the sub-grand price range, but if it makes more sense to abuse the credit card that bit more and push up to £1500 - £1800 then I will consider it very carefully. I really don't want to go down the finance route just yet as I would be gutted it I dropped something I owed a fair wedge on! The article just brought thoughts to the forefront of my mind that I had been trying to ignore! Oh aye - other things that have caught my eye: Kawasaki GPZ500, ZX600, Honda CBR600F.... Probably even more I haven't thought of yet too... oh aye... Thundercats, they were popping up on the radar too! Just don't let me get that Speed Triple I have always wanted eh... going to save that for a while
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 20:20
LOL you sound just like me at the moment. CBR600F is a cracking bike, one of the guys at work has one and has offered to let me take it round the car park to see if i like it. SV650 - Was my favorite for a while, again one availble at work to test. Thundercat - Not sure on this one, never been a fan. ZX6R - I'm quite liking the earlier 2001ish model that one of the blokes at work has. Slightly less mental than the newer ones. I'm a member of a bandit club with some mates even though I have a Honda at the moment and they are trying to get me to have a Bandit, but there is just something i dont like about the Bandit or for that matter teh Fazer.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 20:30
I would say if it has evidence of frequent servicing, and all the visible consumables (tyres, chan/sprockets, brake pads) look good, then there is no problem buying at the £1,000 to £1,500 end of the market. As others have said, many almost new bikes have been abused and unloved. Many older bikes have been cherished. In my very limited experience, there is no substitute for speaking with and getting a feel for the owner. Someone who loves bikes, has a garage full of tools and will willingly chew the fat for hours is the sort of person to buy from in my opinion. Martin.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 21:44
The article is a non-story in a classic way. Should be in MCN. "Old bikes might have worn tyres:" Not like six month old 2,000 mile sportsbikes then? "It might have done 50,000 miles and not been serviced and worn parts not replaced- oh dear!" Fuck off article-writing moron. Michael, Caithness.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:08
Yep, far too much to choose from Think I will have to sit down and work out what I want the bike to do... I am guessing a true alrounder is going to be the answer! Have a leaning more towards naked than faired, but see the attraction of the plastic as I do want to do a fair bit of touring. Martin - would you think that spending less than a grand would be a bit of a mistake for a first bike if I am looking for something that can do the miles? Kind of thinking of a week around Ireland in early Autumn for starters.... Michael - can kind of see where you are coming from Where in Caithness you from - absolutely love it up there... not as much as Orkney, but along with Sutherland that most northerly part of the mainland just does it for me!
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:22
Michael - can kind of see where you are coming from Where in Caithness you from - absolutely love it up there... not as much as Orkney, but along with Sutherland that most northerly part of the mainland just does it for me!
Am in Thurso, on the Dounreay side for easy commuting. I commute on a Triton, which is fun but cannot compare in terms of bike for the money, with a used VFR or sportsbike for less than £1000.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:29
Love that north coast road right the way around from Thurso to Ullapool... lot of fond memories of road trips up that way! The scenery is just stunning. Probably be next year before I get the chance to do it on a bike, well... unless the housing market prevents me relocating! Quite fancy a big road trip up to Orkney and back down the west coast road.... fun!
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:37
Rob as the others have said you can get a bike for less that 1k that will be reliable and has been well looked after, but its all swings and round abouts.... do you wanna spend 5k on your first bike to throw it down the road in the first week? Will your 1k bike be reliable? Buy what you like and feel comfortable on, dont feel that you have to follow fashion. I'm just in the proces of booking my DAS, i've had some lessons on the 500s, but i'm mainly just been commuting on my 125 for the last year, every day come rain or shine. I bought a Honda Varadero and decided that I wanted to get some road sense before I did my DAS. Once i pass my test in the next month or so I believe I'll have the confidence to get a slightly more expensive bike and not have to worry as much, as someone who's never ridden a bike and done an intensive DAS* ,about chucking it down the road. But as i've sold my 2nd car and replaced it with my 1st bike, be it only a 125, I have to put reliability at the top of my wish list, until i can afford a collection of bikes. Which is why i'm tending to look at hondas at the moment, I've had several honda cars and now 1 bike and never had a major failure.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:40
Yeah - that is kind of what worries me! Don't want to spend too much and then drop the thing, would rather have something that looks like a dog but runs okay! I am just hoping that all the driving will have helped with road sense, along with a load of mountain biking to help with the balance side of things... still... we shall see! Wish I had got my arse in gear a while back so I could have spent some time on a 125 in all honesty... still - you live and learn Shall see what is on the market in (hopefully) early August and take it from there. I was just trying to guage some reaction from folk as to a sensible spend to give me the best chance of getting something that wasn't a shocker 
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:54
If you are considering an SV, get over to forums.sv650.org Their for sale section is full of looked after bikes. They seem to be an obsessive bunch. But I have just sold a "tired" example. The engine was strong, but the rest of the bike was starting to be tired.....because it had not been cuddled all it's life. Find a tidy one, and they are great. Don't buy a naked one, get a faired bike. The nakedness will limit it's appeal for distance work, in my humble opinion. Honda's defo stand the test of time better, but tend to cost you more. Plus, just going by ebay recently, a decent CBR600F (red / white / blue, FX model...carbs...allloy frome) with 12,000 miles on the clock went for £2400.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:56
Oh, I also bought a 1995 30,000 mile blade for 2k and spent £600 on suspension only to write the bike off. When buying older bikes, you need to pick and choose VERY carefully.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 22:57
If you buy a cheap bike, just make sure that all the wearing parts are not just about to need replacing. Stuff like discs & shocks. Both can be expensive to replace and maybe should be at around 40000 miles, maybe £300 for a pair of front discs, and £400 for a shock (although cheaper options are available). The rest like brake pads, tyres are consumables anyway, but I guess if they all need replacing you could be in for another £300. As long as you are careful you can get a cracking bike for £1500, but if it's going to stand you in another £1000, then a £2000 bike might be a better buy. But it's all down to specifics.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 23:01
I think the article is badly flawed and stating the obvious If you're buying a £1500 bike you're going to have to expect to spend an amount of money it that's appropriate to a £1500 bike. So you're going to need some mechanical knowledge and not be afraid to get your hands dirty. If you keep taking it to mechanics / specialists for bits to be overhauled then it's going to cost far more than the bike is worth, in which case you either don't care about the money, or are clever enough with your money to have bought something newer in the first place. If on the other hand you keep half an eye on ebay for spares in good nick, do the work yourself and get advice from friendly garages then you'll keep it on the road for bugger all and have much more satisfaction when you stomp all over someone on their brand new bike that they're scared to ride properly. As ever, get the best example of a bike for the money you've got, and take someone with you that knows what they're doing.
Posted: 25/06/2008 at 23:44
I got this fantastic 1992 Honda CBR400RR for £1400 Its done 19000 miles, had the front and rear suspension upgraded with a cbr600 shock and ohlins spring and ohlins springs in the forks, all the brake pads and discs are tip top and the electrics are perfect, even the regulator rectifier. Tyres are fine, the bodywork is flawless and its all original. It's a fast and extremely reliable machine with gear driven cams which very rarley go wrong and sound fantastic when you wind the power on! Just goes to show when you shop carefully you can find a perfect bike for your needs Tom
Posted: 26/06/2008 at 00:38
Unless you have a death wish you're going to keep your bike in reasonable nick while you're riding it so although there must be a few old dogs out there surely there'll be some gooduns as well?? hope so I need a new one 
Posted: 26/06/2008 at 02:32
This article looks familiar, was it not printed in "ride" a few years ago. £200 for a chain and sprockets???????? I got mine for £100 nice gold heavey duty chain and sprockets, oh and a couple of hours time in the garage at the weekend.
Posted: 26/06/2008 at 10:13
This article is there to scare new riders into buying bikes that are new or nearly new. My 16 year old ZXR400 cost £700. Spent £200 on servicing including chain and sprockets and £50 for refurbed front brake calipers. It now serves as a road and track bike as I wait for my new road bike and is regulary thrashed by x-racers (they're always asking to have a go on track days) who say it goes great and the suspension is a little soft as its bog standard suspension. A little care with researching and buying can get you a great bike for less than grand.
Posted: 28/06/2008 at 00:12
I totally agree with Tappy, if you're willing to get down and dirty, you can keep a good old bike. I had a 1990 GSXF 750 with 60000 miles on the clock and the only thing it really needed done was the carbs cleaned and rebuilt. I paid someone to do this as i didn't have the time due to working but that bike took me to France and back a few times and out for rides with my mates. I am now thinking about an older GSXR to play with and wouldn't hesitate to get one from the early 90's, just check out that it's all there to start with or that what it needs is within your ability to put right.
Posted: 04/07/2008 at 00:22
The article is rubbish, who puts it together? Obviously no-one with an idea of second-hand bike prices etc........ most bikes over 4 years old could do with the same sort of refresh if they were to be as new. you could do most of those things for about £600 tops. £1500 will get a whole load of bike and a good one if you look around.
Posted: 27/07/2008 at 20:44
You're daft if you think you can get a decent sportsbike for £1000, unless you know a LOT about mechanics. But lets face it a new rider probably won't know that much. Letting a new rider loose on a sportsbike is approaching madness anyway, but a sportsbike that could very well be un-roadworthy...insane! OK, you can get many decent bikes for cheap. But good advice for a NEW rider, would be to maybe not buy a £1000 sportsbike. I personally have had lots of sub-£500 bikes; but these are for blatting around London on, not for carving up A-roads at 80. At city speeds, you don't need suspension that works, powerful brakes, or top notch bearings. But you do when using a 120bhp motor in anger All the replies about what a great bike you got for less than a grand...a GSXF? Is that really the bike you'd recommend to a newcomer? OK, its fairly powerful but handles like an absolute dog and is very heavy with crap brakes, not exactly what a newcomer needs. ZXR400? I think you were lucky mate. Unless you really know what to look for, 2 out of 3 of these will go pop LONG before 16 years are up. Hence none being around anymore. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have a cheap bike as your first bike, but if you are, don't get a sportsbike. Get something with advantages in other areas, like a Tenere or an old Beemer...because the 'sports' side of the sportsbike will have worn off long ago and you'll be left with something that may be good for an experienced long distance courier, but not quite the right bike for a newcomer. The motor will massively overpower the chassis, and you won't have the experience to ride around the flaws. You're honestly better off saving your money till you can afford something better if you want a sports bike; you can't even really get a decent Hornet or SV for that kind of money. Its your first bike; you don't want a dog, so be realistic. £1500 will get you a decent CB500 at best. Alternatively, you could buy a REAL dog, and ride gently just to keep your hand in, while you save up for something decent. But really, a sportsbike for £1500 is a pipe dream. Bu the time your finished with insurance, sorting anything dodgy out and everything else, I'd come back when you've got a few thousand.
Posted: 19/03/2009 at 15:23
Buy your bike in the winter when people want rid of them and get a bargain. Bought a 97 Blade with 7K on it for £1800. 2 local owners FSH mint. Very cheap but Im racking the miles up now!!
Posted: 24/07/2009 at 15:32
as a beginner about to take DAS I have plumped for a brand new suzuki gsx650f. I wouldnt know if a used bike was in good condition if it was obvious so am relying on the manufacturers warranty. at only £4999 with 3 years interest free that isnt really much more than buying a bike for £2500 and finding loads of problems and paying for mot's etc... Plus im hoping after 3 years and payments are complete ill be more confident to buy a something a bit more sporty and hopefully not lost too much value on the bike if i look after it. I believe the gsx650f is a good starter bike as well so perhaps i wont wrap itround a lampost as easily as i may with another bike.
Posted: 27/07/2009 at 22:10
i think this is very good advice.... if your stupid enought to expect a brand new bike for 1500 quid ive owned my 92 blade for 5 years and its an on going commitment youwouldnt expect an 18 year old car to be tip top ....so why a bike ?
Posted: 19/07/2010 at 15:42
however my 92 RRN is a retro cool classic and people look at itwhen its parked up they wont look at a K2
Posted: 19/07/2010 at 15:44
|
|
