www.zxrworld.co.uk

HI all , being a potential new owner of a zxr 400, i thought i would turn to this knowledgeable forum for some help with a decision i have to make shortly.

I found a nice looking bike on autotrader, however price does seem a bit steep £2895 for an L9 (00 X plate) with 6k miles on the clock (uk model) bike has been checked over and everything seems in order apart from 'play in the linkage' according to a local garage who checked it over. Maybe something was lost in translation between mechanic and seller, you see the seller arranged for this and passed info on to me( mechanics report to follow) but as im in edinburgh and bike is in sedgefield its not easy access. led to believe this linkage is actually the linkage on swingarm. Potentially is this a big job to fix and if so what sort of money is being quoted to get these things fixed.

Im going to give the garage a call tomorra and find out exactly what is wrong and get an aprox cost.

Im thinking negotiate price down on extent of the problem.

all replies would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

j

certainly rather steep pricewise imo.

if its the needle roller bearings which is usually the cause i would get a quote from cradley cos they are bloody expensive and you can only get them from a kwak dealer.

there is no way id pay close to 3 grand for a zxr, whatever plate it was on .. (unless it was a full-on race bike, with spangly bits)

you can get a very nice L for 1200-1500, and replace EVERYTHING for under a grand and have essentially a new/upgraded bike.

there's sod all on the L9 that makes it worth more than an earlier one.. except its younger, and if it needs work, thats irrelevant.


but, yeh, linkage bearings are expensive, and tbh if they are shot, other stuff is likely to be aswell, .. if its not the bearings its the lugs on the swingarm have elongated.. and thats no fun either.

be surprised if they are shot on an L9 anyway unless its not been looked after?

I paid £1900 for an 8000 mile bike (albeit a 1993 bike) three years ago with nothing wrong with it. If I was buying another now I could probably pay less than that.

Not worth it IMO just for a newer plate, especially if it needs work.

zimm wrote:there is no way id pay close to 3 grand for a zxr, whatever plate it was on .. (unless it was a full-on race bike, with spangly bits)

you can get a very nice L for 1200-1500, and replace EVERYTHING for under a grand and have essentially a new/upgraded bike.

there's sod all on the L9 that makes it worth more than an earlier one.. except its younger, and if it needs work, thats irrelevant.


but, yeh, linkage bearings are expensive, and tbh if they are shot, other stuff is likely to be aswell, .. if its not the bearings its the lugs on the swingarm have elongated.. and thats no fun either.

Would anyone even pay £3000 for a race bike???

Maybe if it's a proven race winner...

I'd pay maybe £2500 for one from a dealer if it was in really good condition with ss pipes etc. Not with 'play in the linkage' though!

think u will find this helpful

http://www.parkers.co.uk/motorbikes/use ... deriv=4459

gem

thanks all for the useful info, yea deffo seems the bike is overpriced, Im gunna get back to the guy and see how much he is willing to move by.

mechanic says bike is in 'mint' condition apart from these bearings and reckons they will be shagged after repeated use, raised concerns with it passing an mot next year.

that parkers link proves damn useful too.

thanks all

only thing the parkers dont consider is mods like full systems etc but its a darn good starter for 6. defo dont go payin that much for a 400 just not worth it.

have you read our buyers guide on the main site ? http://www.zxrworld.co.uk

a 6k bike with shagged rear suspension linkage play? Sounds like its been sitting around far too much.

Its a pain in the butt job to do, as you have to drop the shock off the bototm of the linkage, undo the swingarm pivot mount bolts and the dog bones and keep the rear end of the bike up in the air from around the subframe.

The needle rollers are expensive, as from memory there is around 6 of them. If they are gone i would hazard a guess that the bearings are gone in the main swingarm too causing the play in the swingarm when they check it at the MOT (put bike on sidestand, and roll it onto it so the rear wheel is up in the air, while someone wiggles the swingarm around).

I know a 2002 zxr (51 plate) for sale through in paisley all black (respray), 25k miles, been standing for a while though, but has had alot of work done to it in the past. My mate lost interest in it, and he would probably let it go for a decent price probably just over 1k lower than that one.

Gemini wrote:think u will find this helpful

http://www.parkers.co.uk/motorbikes/use ... deriv=4459

gem

nice site.
altho, i found my road R1 to be only worth 50 quid more!! i hope not, i did'nt think they where that cheap yet
http://www.parkers.co.uk/motorbikes/use ... deriv=4253

mongo wrote:a 6k bike with shagged rear suspension linkage play? Sounds like its been sitting around far too much.

i deffo know it hasnt been ridden in a while, the guy selling the bike bought it for his daughter who seemingly doesnt ride it. so its been sat in a garage without any use for a while. im going to make the guy a muchly reduced offer and thats on the proviso that he pays to get the bike fixed prior to me buying it.

Gunna call him now so I will be posting again very soon.

once again thanks for all the useful info posted and if I can provide any input on any other posts I see here I will certainly contribute and share with the group.

j

update>>

seemingly i am over exagerating the linkage problem, seller is producing a report which confirms the bike is in mint condition just now, the only potential problem being that in the future the linkage could develop some play :S

i am really surprised the linkage is shot on an L9