Hi all,

Been looking for somewhere to get advice about a particular Kawasaki machine (ZX-6R) and this looks like the place.

Owned a couple of Kawasakis in the past, GPX 250 and 600 and a GPZ 750, looking to get back into it, and a nice one's come up at my local dealer.

Link to the bike is here:
ZX-6R at Alford Bros Folkestone
(edit: Link fixed 22/06/08)

Bike is up at £1899, they've said they'll knock of the 99.

Book price (Dealer) is £1605, private (Good) £1430.

The bike is in good nick, and I have taken it for a test ride.

I loved the feel of it, and the acceleration was awesome, but it did feel a bit twitchy (although to be fair, I only had half an hour on it).

I just wondered what others on here thought of it, whether it was worth that kind of money etc (which includes a 30 day parts and labour warranty, 6 month's Tax and a year's MOT).

Any advice offered here would be great.

Thanks for reading, and a great forum.

Anything is only worth what somebody is willing to pay. If you thought £2000 was a fair price, you would pay that.

HOWEVER! The ticket price is £1900, the book price is £1600, so the dealer wants £300 more than the book says.

£99 off the ticket, £30 odd for the six months tax, £25 for the cost of the MOT [if any work is needed,it will have been done and put on the cost of the bike]

Leaves £150 over the book price. You may think it is worth that much more, but it does give you a bit of room for more money off. The way things are at the moment the dealer may be desperate to sell some of his older machines just to make a bit of money.

If the dealer say's that it hs had new tyres or brake discs or similar, then bear in mind he has done that to make it sellable and legal, not because he was feeling generous that day.!

Hi Carlos,

I have a few thoughts but not knowing what your circumstances are it is a little difficult to give anything other than general advice without making some assumptions.

My general thoughts are that it looks a nice bike but the mileage is very high for the price. Personally and depending on my budget I would be looking for a much lower mileage machine. There are a lot of good deals out there at the moment both through local dealerships and of course Ebay.

However on the assumption that you will be paying cash, you will be in a much stronger position to negotiate with the Dealer, as he will definitely want to make a sale and take your money. I would tell him that I wanted to pay no more than £1400/1500 and then negotiate from that point onwards. Also I would expect a 3 months parts and labour warranty.

Again, if you are able to pay cash you are more likely to secure a good deal by buying privately.

To give you an example, through Ebay I recently bought a mint condition 03 GPZ500s with 20,000 fully documented miles and full service history for £1K.

Just to see how good a deal I had made, I then took the bike into my local Kawasaki dealership that said their buying in price for it due to the higher mileage would only be £1425 or £1800 if used in part exchange. So you can see what can be achieved with a little endeavour.

Obviously you will be making the final decision but let your head rule rather than your heart and for comparisons you could look on Ebay anyway. Here is an example of a very low mileage 'T reg' machine with only 2 previous owners, that is currently for sale within your price range.

ZX6R (new link)

Anyway Good luck in whatever you decide. :055


:kawa

Edit by Carlos - 20/06/08 **Thanks Merc for the link, I did notice it wasn't correct, but found the correct auction anyway from the link you did provide)**

OK guys, thanks for the replies.

I agree, the mileage sounds high, but does work out to average 4000 per year, which I suppose, is "average".

Been looking on eBay for the last couple of weeks for an old GSXR around the £1000 mark, but have quickly realised that my price in mind was unrealistic (unless I want to buy something that's a bag of bolts!!), so have just been looking to see what's out there.

Have also looked at some other ZX-6Rs, ZXR-400s, and CBR 600s too, but I'd want to see them first, and there don't appear to be too many near where I am geographically (SE Kent).

I've considered talking to the dealer, he's had the bike a month, and they haven't even cleaned it!

I figure a sensible offer (I do really like this bike) would be around £1500 and go from there.

What does everyone think? or is the mileage just too high anyway?

Thanks again for your input.

OK, how about this one on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1996-KAWASAKI-ZX6R-F...id=p3286.c0.m14

Guy says he'll take £800.00 for it (and the scratch on the fairing looks much worse in the pic than it does in real life - it's hardly noticeable!).

I await your advice.....

Ijust got my zx6r on wednesday off ebay.its a 98 and with only 18000 on her.she is nearly mint and i only paid £1300.theres a real good one ive looked at inrossendale lancs for £1295 with 16000 on clock so id keep looking as theres good ones to be had from private sales,

Are you saying that at 800 quid it's not a good deal then?

Sounds a good deal for the seller thats for sure.....the bikes got 39000 on the Clock!! :256 I'd be amazed if the bidding gets up to £600


UPDATE: ONLY REACHED £510 BY THE END OF THE AUCTION

OK Merc, looks like I'm missing something here.

I've read elsewhere that good priced mid-range bikes can be had within my budget (remember, my original budget was around £1000), but don't seem to be able to find anything half decent.

Looked at a GSXR750 today, N plate, no MOT or tax, but guy reckons he had it MOT'd a year ago and hasn't ridden it since so should be OK - £1000

Trouble is, would anyone believe him?

This bike is sweet sounding, looks great, and in my eyes I thought it was a good price, bearing in mind other "similar" bikes.

I admit the mileage is high, but surely this is reflected in the price tag?

Looks like I've really lost touch with pricing in the years since I last had a bike.

So, what WOULD be a fair price for that bike?

PS: He's also giving me 7 days "warranty" to have it checked over properly if that makes any difference?

Personaly id just keep looking.if its a zx6 you relly want then id be willing to travel.have a look on ebay and autotrader im sure thees one for you.bear in mind you will get a better deal from a private seller.get an rac check done on the bike.its moneywell spent.

I'm somewhat at a loss here Carlos...you've asked for advice and have been given good advice, yet you are still considering buying Trouble by looking at high mileage bikes. Tourers with 30000 odd miles my be ok but youre after a sports bike, so if you buy one above 25/30000 miles, do expect to have your hand in your pocket for repairs sooner rather than later.

The last bike you've just mentioned is without tax and MOT, if this guy thinks it would sail through the test, tell him to get it tested first and then see what the story is. However, my strongest advice to you is keep searching for a low mileage bike within your budget...bikes appear daily on ebay so it shouldn't be long before you find the perfect one for you.

Buying a bike is very much akin to marriage...Do it in HASTE, and you'll repent at your leisure! :lkl

Here's one that finishes in 14 hours...it a 2000 model with 14000 miles, its just the one that you could get for not much more than your budget with a bit of luck.. with 9 months tax and mot'd till Mar 2009. If I was after a ZX6R I'd take a chance and bid on this one with the hope I'd get it at a good price. Anyway, watch it and see what it goes for.. use the experience as a marketing exercise so that you get a feel for prices.

Another ZX6R


UPDATE: SOLD FOR £1242

OK Merc, point taken, and Thanks. I'll keep looking.

Carl.

There ya go Carl it sold for £1242 and thats a good buy!! :wwo


Another ZX6R

:kawa

Thanks, as I said previously, a lot of it is about distance to travel to view before buying, I certainly wouldn't buy from eBay before looking.

Cheers for your advice again.

If you look on for sale on this forum ,theres a sweet looking zx6 for sale £1800

http://kawasakiownersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=2840&hl=

Isn't that back to the whole "too high mileage" argument at 29000?

the important thing to me would be the service history and this bike has a full one.so its been well looked after. kwik