new bike ideas? [Archive] - Kiwi Biker forums

FROSTY

13th June 2004, 13:12

Ghost Lemur

13th June 2004, 13:28

Any of the 400's.

They often seem to go for between $2,500-$3,500. There's also a Fzr-600 import on TradeMe. Oh and this ZXR 750 (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Road-bikes/Japanese/auction-12446994.htm) for a s=r of $3,100.

jimbo600

13th June 2004, 14:05

Mongoose

13th June 2004, 14:13

A mate of mine is getting back into biking after a little while away.
he wantrs something mid sized and sporty but heres the rub--He only has about $3000 to spend.
any suggestions of bikes suitable for a born again biker.

Depends on how fussy one looks and age your mate is, plenty around if yer not to fussy about cosmetics, but make sure its fully checked mechanicaly what ever road he takes.

FROSTY

13th June 2004, 17:10

not too fussy --more interested in how they go than how they look

wkid_one

13th June 2004, 18:13

Depends entirely on what he wants to do with the bike.....

400's are a good bet

Two Smoker

13th June 2004, 18:35

i third the 400's...... GSX-R, ZXR, VFR, RVF, FZR, CBR

Take your pick lol......

Milky

13th June 2004, 20:55

I'd say a ZXR400... then I can sell him a manual :) anyone else want one btw? covers everything from '89 thru '99, or H1-L9

Hooks

13th June 2004, 21:43

I climbed straight onto my GSX last year after a 13 year layoff !!......Got a good deal, $2500....all warranted and rego'ed....was a bit of a challenge but only took a couple of weeks of full on riding to get into it again. Something older with a bit comfort and power that can get you around pretty much anywhere you want has done it for me ......Good on them by the way...I hope have as much fun as I am these days !!.... :rockon:

Bandito

13th June 2004, 21:55

GPZ 500s, More comfy, rideable, reliable and cheaper to keep on the road than any of the 400 fours with very similar performance levels. My wife has had two GPZ 500's and two ZXR 400's and as value for moey proposition the 500 twin is a MUCH better bet.
Hard to think of a better bike for your friends budget and situation.

FROSTY

13th June 2004, 23:04

He is now making noises about a VFR750 honda.
actually Im thinking it'd be a good bike for him

merv

14th June 2004, 07:57

He is now making noises about a VFR750 honda.
actually Im thinking it'd be a good bike for him

For $3,000 it would have to be quite an old one.

moko

14th June 2004, 08:10

GPZ 500s, .......Hard to think of a better bike for your friends budget and situation.
Good bikes,do you get the Honda CB500 in N.Z.,similar sort of thing to the GPZ but a bit better built.The later ones were built in Italy,lovely flexible motor.All my own work here

http://www.usedbikeguide.com/reviews/honda7.htm

WSB rider James Toseland started his career racing a CB,they`re really user-friendly and a great favourite with riding schools here.Latest model has monoshock frame and fuel-injection but there`s nothing wrong with the old ones,S model has a half-fairing.

RiderInBlack

14th June 2004, 08:19

For $3,000 it would have to be quite an old one.At least pre 1991 and heaps of Km's and hard to find. Bloody good bike but. The 1991 VFR750 I had was capable of 220-240KPH. Still a lot of power if you are not used to it, but it was fairly forgiving.

Yarg

14th June 2004, 12:09

Try turners auction , for a "cosmetically" damaged bike. I know someone who got a CBR600 -92 model , minor scrapes for $2000. Re Rego, touch up 7 away ya go. have to be patient to get a good deal.
.02 worth. :msn-wink:

merv

14th June 2004, 12:31

Good bikes,do you get the Honda CB500 in N.Z.,similar sort of thing to the GPZ but a bit better built.The later ones were built in Italy,lovely flexible motor.All my own work here

http://www.usedbikeguide.com/reviews/honda7.htm

CB500s weren't sold here, but I am sure WT could recommend a GS500E instead.

merv

14th June 2004, 12:36

At least pre 1991 and heaps of Km's and hard to find. Bloody good bike but. The 1991 VFR750 I had was capable of 220-240KPH. Still a lot of power if you are not used to it, but it was fairly forgiving.

'86 - '90 was the pre-single sided swingarm model and yeah you should get one of those for $3,000.

'90 on with single sided swingarm cost more. Here's a good example for sale that a fellow Ulyssian is having to part with http://www.ulysses.org.nz/wwwbbs/config.pl?read=5765

Cheap at $4,500 I'd say as it is in good nick.

vifferman

14th June 2004, 12:44

This is a wee bit open-ended, doncha thinK?
You haven't said anything about how long he's been off bikes, what his riding skills are, how big he is, what history he has, how important age and condition are, etc ....
There's all kinds of bikes for sale, but is this intended to be his bike for a few years, or just a starting point to "get back into it"?

Best thing is if he does a search on bikepoint.co.nz or looks through a motorcycle trader mag, gets a feel for what he can get for his money, then narrows it down from there. Once he's got a list of "possibles", he can check out what's good/bad from the list, and narrow it down to "probables".

kerryg

14th June 2004, 12:46

I'd be careful about buying damaged bikes at Turners. It's not for the faint-hearted. I bought a "cosmetically damaged" bike there for just over $2000....and it ended up owing me over $8000 and I did everything as economically as I could (e.g. repaired the plastic, instead of replacing it, had the paint done by a car-painter friend, fitted an aftermarket can and screen etc). Admittedly I'm fussy and I wanted the bike returned to as close to original as my budget and common-sense permitted but even so it didn't stack up. Could have bought a good bike for the same or less money and saved myself the trouble. Try $800 for a fairing sub frame, 2 x headlights over $350 each (not including the mounting hardware and rubber seals and bulbs etc etc), $400 for a disk rotor etc etc. It adds up REAL fast. $15 for a little plastic clip (x 8) that seriously must have cost under 5cents to make.Of course if you're going to turn it into a street-fighter or race bike it might be a different story. Damaged bikes are cheap at auction BECAUSE parts are so prohibitive, that's why the insurance companies write them off for quite minor damage. I used to go to the auctions regularlyand it was amazing to see the high prices people would pay for bikes thinking that for a few hundred dollars they could fix them up. IMHO you really need to buy VERY cheap and/or you need to very carefully assess what is going to need doing, make a few inquiries about parts availability and cost before putting your hand up at auction. Motorcycle new parts are a horror story, and second hand parts can be hard to come by if you haven't got a coomonly available bike. That's my 2 cents worth, anyway.

moko

16th June 2004, 06:48

CB500s weren't sold here, but I am sure WT could recommend a GS500E instead.

You guys missed out big-time then,great little bike reknowned for being a back-lane giant-killer in the right hands.Way better than a GS500,which have a pretty poor rep here,mainly because of corrossion issues so maybe not such an issue in N.Z. GPZ is nearly as good though,still on sale as a current model in the U.K.Do you get the ER5 varient?Basically a GPZ in "retro" guise and very popular,twin shock rear end is the biggest difference apart from the "70s-ish" styling.

Sensei

16th June 2004, 17:21

A early CBR 600 or maybe a NC30 VFR 400 . Vfour's are great little bikes owned two NC21 & a Race spec NC 30 excellent spread of power & great handling to. Depend's to on his weight as this may come into play with Bike size . Take him out to the shop's & try before he buy's thats the best way Sensei NP :Pokey:

R6_kid

16th June 2004, 18:12

check out turners motorcycyle auctions on tuesday afternoons. Good deals there!!! I almost punched my dad coz he didnt let me place a bid on a no reserve CBR600F, mid 90's had come down on the side and lost a mirror, scraped the fairings otherwise fine. The price $990!!! (900 plus auction fee) i walked out with a bent 98 PX150 Vespa for $660 and have nearly got it going for a total cost of $1040.

wari

16th June 2004, 18:16

kerryg

17th June 2004, 10:48

at penorose or ?
Yeah every second Wednesday at 10:30am but mostly they sell shite or over-priced stuff

vifferman

17th June 2004, 11:07

You guys missed out big-time then,great little bike reknowned for being a back-lane giant-killer in the right hands.Way better than a GS500,which have a pretty poor rep here,mainly because of corrossion issues so maybe not such an issue in N.Z. GPZ is nearly as good though,still on sale as a current model in the U.K.Do you get the ER5 varient?Basically a GPZ in "retro" guise and very popular,twin shock rear end is the biggest difference apart from the "70s-ish" styling.
I have seen CB500s here, and FT500s as well, but these may have been imported as used Jap imports. Yes, the ER5 is seen here too.