Help for buying

[tolea]

Hello guys,

Im new on this forum. Thus I'm gonna introduce myself.

I'm french and crazy about 400 cc... Own a GK75a for 11 years now. And looking for a zxr that's why I registered here.

cheers

[tolea]

Hello guys,

I came here to find some advise regarding my future purchase (hopefuly )

I'm looking for a L9 with few mileage. In Netherlands, they do have such bikes, full origin and few mileage. So I might import one from there.

Otherwise, one is already imported where I live ( I'm not leaving in UK), probably also from Netherlands.


I will post some pictures for you t osee the bikes. But I'm wondering what to check on such bikes? To be sure their mileage is real, and they are not former race bikes....
Also what else do I have to check? For example, stains on the forks' tubes (fucntionnal section of the fork)...



thank you

cheers

[tolea]

Hello guys,

Here some picture of the bike.
- The bike is a L9 with few mileage. It seems to be in a good nick.
- Colour scheme quite strange.... coming from Germany. Does someone know the name of this colour scheme? I couldn't find the answer on the forum.
- 10000 miles

On my opinion, the good stuff are the following ones :
- good nick
- no top block (and then no track?)
- full origin


My questions :
- how can I see that the bike has been used on track?
- which wear signs might I check before buying the bike? No service booklet...
- about the engine? gonna have to check if it revs well?
- about the forks?
- about the damper?
- about the steel downpipes?
- about the wheel bearings?
- about he fairings?
- rear decal "400" was taken off by one previous owner?
- do L9 problems have any known problems? For example cylinders head as it used to be on H models (if I remember well?)


thanks.

cheers

[banner001]

The colour is Ebony/Metallic eventide, was used on L5 to L8 bikes. L9 bikes are only officially the green/white/blue or pure green. It's possible that this was a L8 bike that didn't sell until the L9 bikes were out, or that it's an L9 bike in L8 fairings... Or maybe there were some markets where these colour were sold as L9 bikes?

Almost impossible to see if it was a track bike, but as yours looks very original I'm guessing that it wasn't one.

There are no known common issues for these bikes, just remember that it's a small capacity 20h year old carbed bike...its not going to run first time every time, you will have starting issues, it will breakdown on you unless you maintain it, it will have some electrical issues soon, they have to be worked hard to get enjoyment from them so don't lead an easy life.

That being said this one looks in really good condition, the L9 bikes do have some differences engine wise from the L5-L8 but I'm afraid I don't know what they are... If you can find these out then you can get an exact date of the engine at least...

[tolea]

Hi banner,

Thanky for your reply. and thanks for the scheme.
I'm gonna see the bike this week. Then I will check both numbers. VIN + engine one.

From what says the current owner, this bike used to belong to a german guy who imported it. He would have kept it if he wouldn't have been obliged to move.

For electrical issues, clearly that might appear. I will check this. BTW if it used to be maintained normally, the risk would be reduced no?
I got a 25 years old bike thst is stil running fine so far

cheers

[tolea]

Hello all,

Thus it's from 1997 at least regarding the frame and not the v5

Really good nick. One fork seal to change.
Moto had a service 1 year and a half ago.

Some "slight" scratches on the fairings, I think it might have fallen at very low speed/stop position. But from both sides...
- front fender is broken and badly repaired
- end can slightly damages
- braking lever replaced (black color)
- front indicators suck... I think replaced as damaged
- left front braking hose tat shows some signs of corrosion? it seems to be dry. (use to leak?)

and this scheme

your opinion?

thanks mates

cheers,

[banner001]

Looks good to me, buy it and replace the bits you don't like over time.

Not a common colour scheme, but that's good! Keep it original.

[MRLZXR400]

Hi,

Sorry for the late post on this.
Just to add to what Banner has said, they are a great little bike, I own an L9 which I restored over the last year with the help of this forum, not to mention Banner who was a mine of info.
Pretty much everything you need info wise to work on these bikes is on this forum.
I found it a relatively easy bike to work on and the vast majority of bits are easily accessed and every part is still available from a good Kawasaki parts specialist or on eBay, new or secondhand.

The bike you show in the pictures looks in pretty good condition.

I’ve got half a dozen bikes but my ZXR400 is easily the most smiles per mile. 🏍

Hope you enjoy it.

[masterofinsanity]

check out the buyers guide http://www.zxrworld.co.uk/index.php/dow ... yers-guide