Hi guys. Yesterday i purchased a 1993 kawasaki zx4-r for £1400 with the intention of using it as a daily commuter. The bike is a 93 model but was not registered until 97. It has only 9600 miles on the clock with all mot's and service history to back it up. The last mot had over 500 spent on it since it had been in dry storage for year engine and gears work perfectly all tyres, brakes and chain are next to new and carbs have been recently jetted extras include a micron can and adjustable rearsets other than that the bike is standard and in excellent condition with the exception of a few stone chips. My dilema is that im thinking this is to good to be used as a daily commuter as i cannot find one in as good condition or with low mileage on the internet. I have attached a picture of the bike if somebody could give me a rough idea of the value of the bike it would be much appreciated. Thanks
It's worth £1,400 - that's what you paid for it and that's its true value. FWIW that looks like a good price, but if it's been stored for a bit and has low mileage check the rubber components, fork seals and fuel lines, as well as the tyres, as they may have perished with lack of use.
I feel your pain. Many moons ago I bought virtually spotless Honda 400 4 for a stupidly cheap price. It was so gorgeous I felt I couldn't wear it out on a commuter run, so I pushed it into the house where it became a towel rail in the hallway for two years. Then I sold it for four times what I paid for it. But in retrospect it was just a Honda. What I should have done was take it out and thrash the nuts off it. What you have is a very nice zx4r. It's never going to be a classic, it's just another mid 90s grey import. Even if it turns out to be worth £500 than you paid for it, and you sell it, what will you get for your £1900? Take advantage of the fact you've bought a nearly new 400 ninja for the price of a Chinese 125 and ride the bugger into the ground....
+1.. my mate bought one years ago when we both had H2 ZXR750's..with the famous hoover tubes..he used it as a commuter and then started using it on runs out on a sunday..thrashed the fkn knickers off it for a year..binned it, did it back up, got rid...great fun, but as has been said, it will never be a classic..even the ZXR750R doesnt fetch big money...very few jap bikes become classics..even the RC45 doesnt pull particularly strong prices..they always seem to end up as white elephants, the exception being the RC30.
The RC45 was always considered vaguely disappointing compared to the RC30 when it came out. And was also always in the shadow of the 916.
theres an RC45 at my local garage in for a service..amazing how old fashioned, low tech, fat and bloaty if looked..i loved them when they came out...it got blown away on the road by the humble but ubiquitous Firdblade..unless you chucked another £5k+ at it, when it became moderately average, but exclusive.. Sadly, a white elephant...rather like the SP1... Now, the RC30, that was a different story, but they look positively prehistoric nowadays...as for the NR750...another white elephant, but i can let it off because Tambo ripped it off mercilessly..
Hmmm, bit of a double-edged sword this one. I see what you mean regarding putting it under wraps if it's as nice as you say it is? How many other people have ZXR400's under wraps for a rainy day? Not many I'd hazard a guess at. 400/4 Hondas were instantly collectible for obvious reasons, ZXR's??? Maybe by its rarity as time goes on, there probably won't be that many surviving nice original examples. For that reason alone it might be worth hanging on to. Every marque has its die-hard collector. In all sincerity, I don't really think the time/monetary/value angle will add up (but it might) and I would be sorely tempted to thrash the hell out of it. But a part of me thinks if it's managed to survive this long in safe hands perhaps it's its destiny to be loved and cherished forever and ever, amen. Say a little prayer for the baby Kwacker
