www.zxrworld.co.uk

Had my zxr 400 for around 2 years now and have loved every minute of it! Part of me is wanting to move up to a 600cc sports bike as the people I ride with are all on them and my bike itself is a bit tatty and has niggly problems now and again!

But after going out on it today for the first time in months im not too sure I actualy want to sell it, for the amount of money I would get for it I think id rather pop it in a garage and strip it down slowly and do it back up and get it looking nice/mint if possible.

I could still have a 600 but would only look to spend 2.5k as apose to 3-3.5 so its not as if im going to be bikeless.

The main things putting my off doing this are:
Lack of mechanical knowledge/engine knowledge
Tools
The general state of the bike now.

I know its not a long list but I woudent want to spend the time and money doing something like this to find out the engine is knackard or something when im nearly finished it, which is why the mechanical knowledge is a problem.

Tools - all I have at the moment is a 100 piece socket set, can get a few things from work that would be handy.

The state of the bike at the moment is average, but when you try to work on it everything semes to be corroded or stuck etc which makes small jobs into long ones which become daunting etc.

Ive been looking through projecct threads on here and would love to do something like a full strip down and clean/rebuild but I dont want to loose motivation half way through etc and just have boxes of bike bits sat around.

What would everyone else do? put it in the brothers garage and work on it slowly, having a 600 for the summer.

Or sell it and get a nicer 600 for the summer?

That is a real tester- most people who work on their bikes started workingon them because they had to - in other words they didnt have the money to put in to a mechanic etc etc and couldnt afford a better one.

You like the zxr 400 but you want a 600
Summer will be here soon and a project tends to work better in the winter when there is less riding time and more "garage time"

Total cost of getting a mint 600 - say £4000 (in fact 2500ish plus the value of your zxr). So you pay 2500 and have minter bike to ride with your mates over the summer

Or - keep the zxr, do it up and buy a cheaper 600. The total cost of this are difficult to estimate but you will spend loads of time and money refurbing the zxr and you will have a bike in the garage that you dont ride over the summer when you are on the 600

My advise would be sell the zxr, get a zx6r ad if you want a project then round november time buy a cheap, tatty zxr and spend the winter learning spannering skills

If I were you I'd sell up cuz what you are buying would take its place and there would be no incentive to getting it done. It'd be different if you were getting a tourer/scrambler/cruiser etc but a modern 600 would be exacly like the zxr only with a few more horses.

If you really want to learn about bikes the ZXR is a great bike to work on cuz its so standard and bits are cheap but the quality of the fasteners/brackets/finish etc isnt up there with a honda for example so expect to get the grinder/crowbar/knockometer out a couple of times. Also dont underestimate what it takes to make a bike 'mint'. I'm in awe of some of the bikes these guys have, 100's of hours spent, lots learned and lots of cash thrown in most cases.

Personally I dont like the modern 600's, they're not fast enough to scare you but handle so well that you dont really get the 'thrill' factor. I'd spend the money on some track days and learn to ride the nuts off the 400 so you can keep up. Or go the whole hog and buy something really silly like a gsxrthou .