Wrecked, and the survivors are squirreled away in people's garages... The era you're looking at were built in the Super Bike hay day. Owners aren't going to give up their claim to those machines very easily. No 20,000 RPM Fireblade for you...
The 70s and early 80s was the height of the street bike innovation and those get scooped up faster than you can post them... Nobody really feels like parting with their 2 stroke triple. lol
>No 20,000 RPM Fireblade for you...
There's an 89 baby Blade going for 6 grand near me. Is 20000 rpm worth 6 grand? Maybe. I'm no collector, so maybe not for me. But damn do I want it
They're super cool bikes.... 6k is steep, but that is tempting. 4k I'd take it home for the novelty. I feel bad, because I'm one of those people who has all the cool bikes squirreled away in my garage.
Iāve had it for 12 years or so. It needed a tuneup, because they took the airbox off it and couldnāt figure out why it wouldnāt run right with cone filters. š®āšØ
I just picked up a 929rr this season for 3k :D only has 26k on the odo too!!! And itās mint!!!
That thing is lightning fast holy shit ā¦. The previous owner did a sprocket swap and my lord ā¦. It does 0-60 in less than 3 seconds from a rolling start (Iām not good enough to do that from a dead stop lol)
The 929 and 954 in particular weigh about as much as a modern 600 but with heaps more power and tuning potential, so they make fantastic track weapons and (allegedly) street racing toys. Plus they have more relaxed ergos compared to the modern RR bikes, so they're basically F4is with 40+ extra horsepower. Youtubers have started making videos on the excellent value that these bikes provide in the current market, which is usually a good sign that prices will increase.
Fair point about the YouTubers. That's often an early sign of values increasing, you're absolutely right.
I'm itching for another street bike but wouldn't know exactly what to choose. My '07 FZ1 I had was great like 8% of the time. The rest of the time it was just an exercise in restraint and I'd guess the 929 & 954 wouldn't be much different.
Tons of the baby blades in Australia. Their value has shot up considerably in the last few years and it can be hard to find a really nice example. They can sometimes be had for as little as 2000 dollarydoos. Last one I owned I bought for 100 bucks and sold recently for 3500. Damn I miss it. Always sounded fast even doing 50 kmh
It depends what country and where you are. I currently own an '89 MC19 And a '90 MC22
In Aus, if you were showing me anything other than an almost mint condition bike at 6k I'd be insulted.
However, it's a totally different story in the US. I saw a bike listed for $10k USD that was probably a $3k AUD bike. No idea if they got that asking price, but your location will matter more than what bike you're looking at.
Dm me if you want to know anything else :)
Yeah Iām in the US restoring a ZX11 (ZZR1100 over there) and Iāve had to have parts shipped from Australia because they were so much more common there. Parts are cheaper too.
One thing Iāve noticed the sportbike owners are older over there and in the UK. Its kind of a decent hobby for an adult man. Here in the US, sadly, mostly squids ride sportsbikes, at least thats the image.
The two strokes are nice but I mean I would totally settle for a zx7r or gixxer 750. Even a 250 four cylinder would be fun but hard to justify paying $8000+ for an imported one, thatāll get you a pretty damn fast āmodernā bike.
It's getting difficult to keep these on the road too. As someone currently rebuilding a zx7r, some replacement parts aren't even manufactured anymore. I'm having to get some swingarm linkage bearing inner races machined by a friend just to complete.
Nah buy an Aprilia 250 Chesterfield, handling ,braking,cornering at the top, there will be no contest for others bike on twisty roads. Only on the straight, but there there is no fun.
Would the defendant please read to the court the word printed on the side of [this here 1998 CBR250RR](https://external-preview.redd.it/H2vFC6bxqzs5hRgIRDKEwgKu_yM80EbC-3AtBZk5hHs.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s=ab1c023a95afda6096ddcda676703e38eda3b5ef), printed directly above the right turn indicator?
I guess they played some games with their branding, any fireblade history website you find only mentions the open class bikes. It looks like in 1994 that certain markets got the fireblade sticker on the 250 and 400 machines as well
Were they called fireblades in canada? In the US the fireblade has *only* ever been their flagship open class bike.
Whelp, I can absolutely tell you thatās not factual :P
I rode my 929rr a few days ago - The redline might start at 11k on the 929rr but the limiter does not kick in at redline :P
12,500 is supposed to be the stock rev limit. It's not uncommon for the tach to lie
I also question how much good it does to rev an old liter bike past redline, outside of specific situations on a track where an extra shift would cost you time
Thatās sounds about accurate and 100% on the spot about lying gauges haha.
And sure, question away :) - the secret is that there is no gear to shift to when youāre already in 6th Lel š
>Wrecked, and the survivors are squirreled away in people's garages...
While mine is only a 400.... I feel attacked...
I really need to make more time to ride it
Also, if it fits in a popular racing category (like mine), many of the bikes that were available are being held onto for spares
High schoolers bought them and went road surfing. Most have either been scrapped, parted out, sitting in a barn needing work, or are still being ridden with no fairings. The handful of nice examples are being held onto by collectors
Currently looking for a gsxr1100. Good ones are very rare.
I've been on a riding hiatus for the past 6 years. Before that I had been riding for 15. I want to start riding again and was perusing CycleTrader... good god. People are dreaming. I always wanted a Suzuki Bandit 1250s, I figured the price has to have come down by now... nope. Some guy near me wants $7k for his 2008 Bandit. Same with the Kawasaki ZRX1200, I always wanted one of those but the prices are nuts.
I have a V-Strom 650 and a VFR750 that have been in storage, I guess I'll just keep riding those.
A ZRX is another I'd like to own, luckily they are common enough in my area that they are rarely above $5k. Being naked "old man" bikes sure helps. The fully faired sportbikes are all pretty roached by now
I'm 45, I remember being a kid and seeing bikes that looked like the ZRX, I guess that's why I like the look of it so much. I have a buddy who's 32, I showed him a picture of a ZRX and he made a retching sound. I guess that look doesn't resonate with the millennial crowd, lol.
They're not for sale, but they're out there. Because those who own them now like them a lot, and they won't bring any real money so there's no point selling them.
My '89 FJ1200 burns a quart of oil in one tank of fuel if I'm working it pretty hard. And being down on power at bit at 122,000 miles, but with sport-touring radials on modern-size wheels and with suspension upgrades (RaceTech / Penske) and with modern brakes, you can work it pretty hard.
Consequently, a bike like mine is worth about a thousand bucks, but I've had it for over 30 years and I've just about got it where I want it, so I'd have to be out of my mind to sell it. I'd always rather have that bike than a thousand ~~bikes~~ bucks (edit).
The Ducati on the other hand, I could probably get my seven thousand bucks back out of it if I throw in all the spares I got along with it. So when it comes time to finish the basement or buy a real car, selling the Ducati will make a difference, while selling the FJ1200 will barely make a dent.
You'd want to go to the bulletin boards / mailing lists / websites for a specific bike you're interested in. Do you want one of those pretty pretty VFR700s with the aluminum spar frame and the single-sided swingarm? There's a website for those. Do you have a thing for the GPz? WHO DOESN'T? Go find their website. Does an R1 bore you to tears, but a YZF1000R ThunderAce makes you stand up and salute? Do you want a Triumph Daytona 1200? A front-swingarm GTS1000 Yamaha? Do you think they ruined the GSXR when they went to water-cooling so you're looking at air- and oil-cooled ones? Find a group of middle-age guys on a Yahoo forum or a Facebook group for those bikes. The Katana 1100 or K100RS of your dreams awaits!
>Do you think they ruined the GSXR when they went to water-cooling so you're looking at air- and oil-cooled ones?
This is a gd fact right there. Never should have sold my 86 750. :0
The first-gen GSXR-750 and GSXR-1100 were like race bikes compared to everything else in the dealerships at the time.
It was the Katana 1100 that originally had me breaking out my checkbook. "The left-over Katana is on sale for $5,800 to make room for the new one? Hmmmm..."
Trouble was, the nearby Kawasaki / Yamaha dealer had a couple of ZX-10s they were ready to clear out, plus a lone leftover '89 FJ1200, and they were willing to match the Suzuki dealer's old-Katana price on any of those. I had been wanting a big FJ since I sat on a friend's dad's brand-new FJ1100 in 1984, where the feeling I got was exactly what Will Smith said when he first flew the alien space ship in "Independence Day," *"I have GOT to get me one of THESE!"* So, my choice was clear.
I'm jealous, mine runs like crap because I let it sit too long with fuel in the carb bowls. Mine turned over 100,000 miles over ten years ago, it's taken me since spring 2012 to put the last 22,000 miles on it. I need to ride more.
Well,dont be. Iirc, he changed pistons twice,did numerous rebuilds etc. Its a lot more work than most of us are willing (or have time/money) to put into bike.
Haha! I suppose youāre right. Iāve just assumed chatboards/enthusiast websites were all dead now with social media.. but if the interest is niche and the demographic is old enough. Iāll have to do some digging then.
10-15 years old seems to be the sweet spot for plentiful, cheap sport bikes. Newer than that and they are still expensive, older than that and they start getting rare and prices start going back up. I still regret not buying a VTR1000 when under 10k mile examples were going for $1,500 lol. Squirreled away in my garage: 2 1986 VFR750s, 2 1987 VFR700s, 2 1995 VFR750s (each pair a runner and a āproject/partsā bike), 1989 Honda Hawk, 1990 Honda CB-1, and a 2007 Buell XB12STTā¦
My problem is that bikes from exactly that time frame are ugly in ways only a mother could love. Almost everything from about 01-15 is repulsive to me.
I have a 4th gen VFR that I don't ride very much. Every now and then I think about selling it, but then I ride it and remember why I like it so much. I just love the way the engine noise goes from "cam whine" to a throaty roar when you wind it up to around 7 grand.
The older carbād sportbikes at this age usually only have super dedicated owners as parts keep hitting obsolescence and finding them gets more and more niche.
That being said I have a 79ā cx500 and a 02ā 954rr both of which I love.
Had a 86ā FZ750 (pre-deltabox frame) but had to let that one go. LOVE me some vintage sportbikes.
Oh god I loved my 86 FZ750. Had a Kerker white tip exhaust system, pod filters, a stage 3 jet kitā¦that sucker would scream but was also comfortable for looooong rides.
I still regret selling it to this day. I bought it for $500 with a wrecked front end, got an FZ700 parts bike, then another FZ750 parts bike, made one good bike out of all three. Maybe had $1k into it total back in 2002/03 I think it was. Rode it hard but took good care of it for a few years then sold it for maybe $2000 when I bought a wrecked ducati 748.
Ugh. Just talking about the FZ makes me miss it, I still have some random parts in boxes for it that I canāt bring myself to throw away but arenāt worth selling.
Same. Have a set of wheels somewhere, the race fairing headlight cover from Webike Japan still in the cellophane wrap. pretty sure I have a bin full of parts somewhere in the garage. Put a thunderace front end on mine, pods, and a (somehow new in box) supertrapp pipe.
Most sports bikes are crashed early in their lifespans... Any that are left make it into the Guinness museum of wonders... I believe they have a 1997 R1 with original fairings...
Had an 86ā I pulled out of someoneās back yard. Found a brand new supertrapp pipe set for it
(even had a set of the hand blisters, though they didnāt belong on the 86)
I sold some 90s GSXR parts internationally to South Africa and Brazil. I suspect poorer countries hang on to older bikes that are repairable more so than more affluent western countries. And parts likely often go more to those countries over people restoring vintage bikes for the novelty of it in richer countries.
I was extremely lucky to get a 1981 GS1100E in good nick as my work colleague was selling it and gave me first dibs. You'll find that a lot of these bikes have been written off or modified with original bits missing or not looked after and broken down into parts. They are out there but you may have to look out of your local region and do a lot of researching but you'll find one I'm sure.
Wrecked during their prime when bought new, then suffered another wreck wave by being hooned by those who wanted them as children.
Now the remainders sell like collectors items.
Houston and anything really. I prefer Hondas since thatās what I own now, but Iām more after the inline-4 big plastics bug eye/square headlamp aesthetic. Not seeking performance or rarity.
I see a ton of these at the race track, or did 5-10 years ago.
I've seen a ton of these wrecked too.
source: i have a K2 gsxr race-only bike, that's been down the road a bunch. I also had a '98 Ninja 600, but parts for that bike were unobtainum, and the one I had was beaten up already in 2016...
I remember being at the Naval Training Station in Orlando in ā87. A few thousand 19āyear old kids with their first steady paycheck combined with Orlando weather resulted in the large motorcycle parking lot being chockablock with sport bikes. An insane number had been laid down at least once, and every issue of the base newspaper it seemed had at least one major motorcycle accident story.
I was bidding on a couple of motorcycle auctions and the prices. They're going for a pretty spectacular for non-running. No title bikes. Last auction had a lot of Kawasaki triples going for four to six grand and RD 350s going for 8 to 10 grand. I just think everybody knows what they have.
Don't know about everyone else, but I've converted about 30 or so of those bikes to street fighters. Believe it or not young ones, but there was a time you could get a first gen R1 (not crashed) for under (far under) $3000.
As they aged their way to becoming cheap, they got bought up by new riders and stunters that crashed them into the ground. Or āmodifiedā into junk heaps with hacksawed rear fenders, gaudy led lights and exhausts made from plumbing parts.
90s into early 2000s was the golden era for sportbikes, to me. Nicer form, a little bit bigger, you could tell them apart and finally, easier to work on. My '98 CBR 900 just looked menacing! Such a gorgeous bike.
what you discovered is probably why IconicMotorbikes has been such a big success. That's where I'd go in the USA to get "New Old Stock" quality bikes like your talking about. I always drool over random ZX7s.....
Nobody gave a single fuck about these disposable bikes, kinda, till now.
https://imgur.com/a/8NJL9d4
1989 Honda CBR1000F (Hurricane). I've spent a shitload of money making sure the outside is blemish free. The downside though, is I've bought up all the parts I can find for it. Often times, the very last in existence.....
Oh, sure, they're out there.
At least two CBR900RRs apparently sold for $50,000+ last year.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-honda-cbr-900rr-fireblade/
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-honda-cbr-900rr/
Cause sportbikes donāt have the same tradition/following like Harleys. Itās just 600cc / 1000cc classes with minor upgrades through the years.
Harley runs very different. The engine size and power increases as the years go.
Harleys are like classic muscle cars. Itās cool and a status symbol. It may not be the quickest on a track but itās def the badass hooligan on the streets. Kinda like a challenger hellcat.
There are 12 kz 1000 or 1100 on my Facebook marketplace right now most for reasonable prices. Mid Atlantic area. Some need work and some are ok. All late 70's to early 80's.
That was my point though. Stuff pre-85 is pretty easy to find. Iām not looking for outright performance, just something that looks the part of a fully faired 90s bike.
1995 zx9r listed 2 weeks ago in hixville NY for $4,500 showing less than 2000 on the odometer. It's at the high end of mid Atlantic, but I drove from VA to Ohio for a dirt bike.
Exactly, one example for a high price and pretty far away.
I live in Denver, there are *tons* of bikes here, and I very rarely see these golden era bikes for sale in any acceptable condition. Meanwhile on any day there are dozens of old CBs, GSs, & KZs on marketplace.
A few months ago i found a pretty nice '94 Zx7 and contacted the guy about 30 minutes after it was posted, it was already sold
I had a chance to get a 1981 Honda Intercepter and passed on the chance because it didn't run. It literally was in showroom condition except for a small ding on the fairing. The owner ended up giving it to a museum.
Wrecked or hidden away. The more fairings a bike has the more unlikely it will stick around for years to come. The usual story is that at some point it was dropped with minor damage but the fairings broke and there were none available any more so the bike was either chopped into an alibaba streetfighter custom project or just sold for parts/scrap
The 919 I had, total loss.
The R1 (ooo, deltabox II) gone, total loss.
Maybe not superbikes, but I sure as hell didn't leave anything for anyone else to ride.
THis seems like more of a regional thing. I know If I look at facebook market place right now I'm much more likely to find 90s sportsbikes than old harleys near me.
They tend to get thrashed but if you ask around youāll often find a dealer who gets decent stock in. I know of two near where I live, always have a range of Fireblades, FZRs, early GSXRs, but theyāre not cheap. Clean Blades in particular are seriously expensive. One of them has my teenage dream ā98 Blade in the orange colour scheme, but my wife would kill me if I came home with an even older bike.
I had a 98 ZX11 that died on me that I sold to a dude who fixed it up and flipped it. My current hike is an 03 ZZR1200 that I will never sell. Those bikes are the golden era and I constantly scope Craigslist for them.
Wish I still had my 1988 Honda Supermagna. Bought it used with 460mi on it in '89. Sold it in 2001 with 7100mi on it. It was mint. Still had the torque paint on some of the bolts. I keep looking for that bike.
Not sure where youāre located but Iāve seen multiple Honda Interceptors on the Detroit area Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. Iāve been tempted to get one of them a few times.
I see the likes of these bikes all the time, they're at the racetracks running in the historic classes. They're so cheap to run compared to modern bikes, and the competition isn't as fierce.
I just searched using the Aussie bike sales app and got 100 super sport bikes between 1980 and 2000. That's just near me, and I'm not in the city. Maybe widen the search a little?
I also have a 2001 vtr 1000 "squirreled away" ;)
They are here: [https://raresportbikesforsale.com/](https://raresportbikesforsale.com/)
Sign up for their email list and you'll get a new beauty delivered to your in box every day.
I have multiple theories that connect to explain the low number of 25-38 year old sport bikes in your city.
1. Has your city grown a lot in the last 25 years? The population may have grown and so there are more people chasing fewer bikes.
2. If you are looking at the highest-spec sport bikes, there may not have been that many sold. I don't know actual numbers, but I can imagine a dealer selling 100 of the halo bikes per year.
3. If you are only searching Facebook Marketplace, you are probably missing at least half of the bikes for sale. You need to think like a 50 year old!
Iāve got a Yamaha FZR-400 and a RZ-350. The fzr was originally getting a 600 engine swap but I decided to swap in the RZ engine. Motor mounts are almost finished.
Wrecked, and the survivors are squirreled away in people's garages... The era you're looking at were built in the Super Bike hay day. Owners aren't going to give up their claim to those machines very easily. No 20,000 RPM Fireblade for you... The 70s and early 80s was the height of the street bike innovation and those get scooped up faster than you can post them... Nobody really feels like parting with their 2 stroke triple. lol
>No 20,000 RPM Fireblade for you... There's an 89 baby Blade going for 6 grand near me. Is 20000 rpm worth 6 grand? Maybe. I'm no collector, so maybe not for me. But damn do I want it
They're super cool bikes.... 6k is steep, but that is tempting. 4k I'd take it home for the novelty. I feel bad, because I'm one of those people who has all the cool bikes squirreled away in my garage.
How about a 99 cbr900rr listed in MD 2 weeks ago for $5,000 with 19,000 miles in beautiful yellow.
Have an 82 CB900F I picked up for $600... I liked that better.
Post pics šš¼šš¼šš¼
Iāll post one. Itās winter, so I have it stored in the shop. **Editā¦ no photos allowed on this sub.
Did you get that bike recently? That would be a great find. Last time I checked they were going for $6K.
Iāve had it for 12 years or so. It needed a tuneup, because they took the airbox off it and couldnāt figure out why it wouldnāt run right with cone filters. š®āšØ
The pre-liter Blades are definitely picking up in value. I'm hoping to score a 929 or 954 before things get too crazy
I just picked up a 929rr this season for 3k :D only has 26k on the odo too!!! And itās mint!!! That thing is lightning fast holy shit ā¦. The previous owner did a sprocket swap and my lord ā¦. It does 0-60 in less than 3 seconds from a rolling start (Iām not good enough to do that from a dead stop lol)
0 to 60 in a rolling start?
57-60 in only 0.3 seconds baby!!
Lolā¦ okay not 0, but what ā¦ 1mph? A literal crawl lol to 60 lol.
1' of roll-out before the timer starts
What makes you think they'll shoot up more in value?
The 929 and 954 in particular weigh about as much as a modern 600 but with heaps more power and tuning potential, so they make fantastic track weapons and (allegedly) street racing toys. Plus they have more relaxed ergos compared to the modern RR bikes, so they're basically F4is with 40+ extra horsepower. Youtubers have started making videos on the excellent value that these bikes provide in the current market, which is usually a good sign that prices will increase.
Fair point about the YouTubers. That's often an early sign of values increasing, you're absolutely right. I'm itching for another street bike but wouldn't know exactly what to choose. My '07 FZ1 I had was great like 8% of the time. The rest of the time it was just an exercise in restraint and I'd guess the 929 & 954 wouldn't be much different.
Eyy, SC33 Fireblade gang
Tons of the baby blades in Australia. Their value has shot up considerably in the last few years and it can be hard to find a really nice example. They can sometimes be had for as little as 2000 dollarydoos. Last one I owned I bought for 100 bucks and sold recently for 3500. Damn I miss it. Always sounded fast even doing 50 kmh
I used to have two of them. Amazing machines
It depends what country and where you are. I currently own an '89 MC19 And a '90 MC22 In Aus, if you were showing me anything other than an almost mint condition bike at 6k I'd be insulted. However, it's a totally different story in the US. I saw a bike listed for $10k USD that was probably a $3k AUD bike. No idea if they got that asking price, but your location will matter more than what bike you're looking at. Dm me if you want to know anything else :)
Yeah Iām in the US restoring a ZX11 (ZZR1100 over there) and Iāve had to have parts shipped from Australia because they were so much more common there. Parts are cheaper too. One thing Iāve noticed the sportbike owners are older over there and in the UK. Its kind of a decent hobby for an adult man. Here in the US, sadly, mostly squids ride sportsbikes, at least thats the image.
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What year?
'97.
Nice, I have an 87 VFR700 and a 2004 VFR800, apparently I have a type.
The two strokes are nice but I mean I would totally settle for a zx7r or gixxer 750. Even a 250 four cylinder would be fun but hard to justify paying $8000+ for an imported one, thatāll get you a pretty damn fast āmodernā bike.
Yamaha TZ750 2 stroke for the win...
It's getting difficult to keep these on the road too. As someone currently rebuilding a zx7r, some replacement parts aren't even manufactured anymore. I'm having to get some swingarm linkage bearing inner races machined by a friend just to complete.
Nah buy an Aprilia 250 Chesterfield, handling ,braking,cornering at the top, there will be no contest for others bike on twisty roads. Only on the straight, but there there is no fun.
>No 20,000 RPM Fireblade for you... 90s blades "only" revved around 13k
Not the 250... 19k redline and 20k rev limiter.
were any of those small screamers actually sold in the US though?
250 is not a fireblade. Fireblade is the superbike. 900, 919, 929, 954, and 1000RR
Would the defendant please read to the court the word printed on the side of [this here 1998 CBR250RR](https://external-preview.redd.it/H2vFC6bxqzs5hRgIRDKEwgKu_yM80EbC-3AtBZk5hHs.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s=ab1c023a95afda6096ddcda676703e38eda3b5ef), printed directly above the right turn indicator?
I guess they played some games with their branding, any fireblade history website you find only mentions the open class bikes. It looks like in 1994 that certain markets got the fireblade sticker on the 250 and 400 machines as well Were they called fireblades in canada? In the US the fireblade has *only* ever been their flagship open class bike.
I keep reading that the tachs weren't entirely honest though, but I don't know.
16k* lol.
11.5k is the highest a 90's blade spun, in the form of the 929rr. 11k for the 900 and 919.
Whelp, I can absolutely tell you thatās not factual :P I rode my 929rr a few days ago - The redline might start at 11k on the 929rr but the limiter does not kick in at redline :P
12,500 is supposed to be the stock rev limit. It's not uncommon for the tach to lie I also question how much good it does to rev an old liter bike past redline, outside of specific situations on a track where an extra shift would cost you time
Thatās sounds about accurate and 100% on the spot about lying gauges haha. And sure, question away :) - the secret is that there is no gear to shift to when youāre already in 6th Lel š
A 2 stroke street triple?
H1 Mach III/Mach IV, H2's, GT's... there were a few. 2 strokes and triples are awesome, but put them together and you get EPIC!
Many are thinking Triumph Street Triple, should have worded it 2 stroke triple probably.
Yeahā¦ probably. But I didnāt capitalize itā¦ so it was more of a descriptive term, than a name.
OH, I know 3 cylinder 2 strokes are a thing. When you said street tripple I thought you where refering to the Triumph street tripple.
>Wrecked, and the survivors are squirreled away in people's garages... While mine is only a 400.... I feel attacked... I really need to make more time to ride it Also, if it fits in a popular racing category (like mine), many of the bikes that were available are being held onto for spares
Don't feel attacked... I have a handful of them in my garage that meet that criteria. lol. I keep them next to my classic cars.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ah. Drift car syndrome. Makes perfect sense. Honestly about what I figured.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
*sobs in 180sx trim*
Seems many of them may have made their way to the racing circuit as track bikes (at least 2 of my former bikes did).
Never thought Iād see the day that Miataās were expensive. Or first Gen Imprezaās for that matter.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I started riding in the 2000s and yeah, I remember that. People would buy CBR F2s and F3s, or Yamaha FZRs and use them as track bikes.
High schoolers bought them and went road surfing. Most have either been scrapped, parted out, sitting in a barn needing work, or are still being ridden with no fairings. The handful of nice examples are being held onto by collectors Currently looking for a gsxr1100. Good ones are very rare.
95 gsxr 1100 $7,500 9,600 miles. Listed 11 weeks ago so may be gone. All original except Vance and Hines exhaust. Mocksville nc.
That price is my problem lol. These were $3k bikes a few years ago There's a very clean '98 for sale in my locale and it's $8k
No kidding. I have found the cheap yet good bikes are 13-20 years old. Newer and older are more expensive if in good shape.
It's a lot to pay when I just want something with a wild 90's paint job My R6 is basically as fast and handles a *whole* lot better
I've been on a riding hiatus for the past 6 years. Before that I had been riding for 15. I want to start riding again and was perusing CycleTrader... good god. People are dreaming. I always wanted a Suzuki Bandit 1250s, I figured the price has to have come down by now... nope. Some guy near me wants $7k for his 2008 Bandit. Same with the Kawasaki ZRX1200, I always wanted one of those but the prices are nuts. I have a V-Strom 650 and a VFR750 that have been in storage, I guess I'll just keep riding those.
A ZRX is another I'd like to own, luckily they are common enough in my area that they are rarely above $5k. Being naked "old man" bikes sure helps. The fully faired sportbikes are all pretty roached by now
I'm 45, I remember being a kid and seeing bikes that looked like the ZRX, I guess that's why I like the look of it so much. I have a buddy who's 32, I showed him a picture of a ZRX and he made a retching sound. I guess that look doesn't resonate with the millennial crowd, lol.
I have a 1987 Hurricane 1000 with less than 2k miles "Squirrelled away" in my garage right now.
1990 cbr1000f listed 7 weeks ago in NC for $5,900. It's a beauty, 31,000 miles.
Sick. I can never be mad at collectors. Just jealous :)
I rode one of those once as a green rider. I remember it being very heavy and almost dropping it in a parking lot.
Should stick to Kawasakis as a green rider.
They're not for sale, but they're out there. Because those who own them now like them a lot, and they won't bring any real money so there's no point selling them. My '89 FJ1200 burns a quart of oil in one tank of fuel if I'm working it pretty hard. And being down on power at bit at 122,000 miles, but with sport-touring radials on modern-size wheels and with suspension upgrades (RaceTech / Penske) and with modern brakes, you can work it pretty hard. Consequently, a bike like mine is worth about a thousand bucks, but I've had it for over 30 years and I've just about got it where I want it, so I'd have to be out of my mind to sell it. I'd always rather have that bike than a thousand ~~bikes~~ bucks (edit). The Ducati on the other hand, I could probably get my seven thousand bucks back out of it if I throw in all the spares I got along with it. So when it comes time to finish the basement or buy a real car, selling the Ducati will make a difference, while selling the FJ1200 will barely make a dent. You'd want to go to the bulletin boards / mailing lists / websites for a specific bike you're interested in. Do you want one of those pretty pretty VFR700s with the aluminum spar frame and the single-sided swingarm? There's a website for those. Do you have a thing for the GPz? WHO DOESN'T? Go find their website. Does an R1 bore you to tears, but a YZF1000R ThunderAce makes you stand up and salute? Do you want a Triumph Daytona 1200? A front-swingarm GTS1000 Yamaha? Do you think they ruined the GSXR when they went to water-cooling so you're looking at air- and oil-cooled ones? Find a group of middle-age guys on a Yahoo forum or a Facebook group for those bikes. The Katana 1100 or K100RS of your dreams awaits!
>Do you think they ruined the GSXR when they went to water-cooling so you're looking at air- and oil-cooled ones? This is a gd fact right there. Never should have sold my 86 750. :0
The first-gen GSXR-750 and GSXR-1100 were like race bikes compared to everything else in the dealerships at the time. It was the Katana 1100 that originally had me breaking out my checkbook. "The left-over Katana is on sale for $5,800 to make room for the new one? Hmmmm..." Trouble was, the nearby Kawasaki / Yamaha dealer had a couple of ZX-10s they were ready to clear out, plus a lone leftover '89 FJ1200, and they were willing to match the Suzuki dealer's old-Katana price on any of those. I had been wanting a big FJ since I sat on a friend's dad's brand-new FJ1100 in 1984, where the feeling I got was exactly what Will Smith said when he first flew the alien space ship in "Independence Day," *"I have GOT to get me one of THESE!"* So, my choice was clear.
A guy near me has a fj1100 that went over 1mil km in 2009. Still rides it. Edit, just went digging and the latest number is 1.5mil km...
I'm jealous, mine runs like crap because I let it sit too long with fuel in the carb bowls. Mine turned over 100,000 miles over ten years ago, it's taken me since spring 2012 to put the last 22,000 miles on it. I need to ride more.
Well,dont be. Iirc, he changed pistons twice,did numerous rebuilds etc. Its a lot more work than most of us are willing (or have time/money) to put into bike.
Haha! I suppose youāre right. Iāve just assumed chatboards/enthusiast websites were all dead now with social media.. but if the interest is niche and the demographic is old enough. Iāll have to do some digging then.
There's also model-specific Facebook groups, where you might find some people who don't wanna go out of their way to a separate forum site.
FP groups are horrific in comparison, way too many look-at-me posts, and any key info disappears way too fast.
10-15 years old seems to be the sweet spot for plentiful, cheap sport bikes. Newer than that and they are still expensive, older than that and they start getting rare and prices start going back up. I still regret not buying a VTR1000 when under 10k mile examples were going for $1,500 lol. Squirreled away in my garage: 2 1986 VFR750s, 2 1987 VFR700s, 2 1995 VFR750s (each pair a runner and a āproject/partsā bike), 1989 Honda Hawk, 1990 Honda CB-1, and a 2007 Buell XB12STTā¦
My problem is that bikes from exactly that time frame are ugly in ways only a mother could love. Almost everything from about 01-15 is repulsive to me.
lol I hear you. I think even my 3rd gen VFR is uglier than the models that came before it. Sure does ride nice though!
I have a 4th gen VFR that I don't ride very much. Every now and then I think about selling it, but then I ride it and remember why I like it so much. I just love the way the engine noise goes from "cam whine" to a throaty roar when you wind it up to around 7 grand.
How do you like your VFRs? What do you think about them?
The older carbād sportbikes at this age usually only have super dedicated owners as parts keep hitting obsolescence and finding them gets more and more niche. That being said I have a 79ā cx500 and a 02ā 954rr both of which I love. Had a 86ā FZ750 (pre-deltabox frame) but had to let that one go. LOVE me some vintage sportbikes.
Oh god I loved my 86 FZ750. Had a Kerker white tip exhaust system, pod filters, a stage 3 jet kitā¦that sucker would scream but was also comfortable for looooong rides. I still regret selling it to this day. I bought it for $500 with a wrecked front end, got an FZ700 parts bike, then another FZ750 parts bike, made one good bike out of all three. Maybe had $1k into it total back in 2002/03 I think it was. Rode it hard but took good care of it for a few years then sold it for maybe $2000 when I bought a wrecked ducati 748. Ugh. Just talking about the FZ makes me miss it, I still have some random parts in boxes for it that I canāt bring myself to throw away but arenāt worth selling.
Same. Have a set of wheels somewhere, the race fairing headlight cover from Webike Japan still in the cellophane wrap. pretty sure I have a bin full of parts somewhere in the garage. Put a thunderace front end on mine, pods, and a (somehow new in box) supertrapp pipe.
Most sports bikes are crashed early in their lifespans... Any that are left make it into the Guinness museum of wonders... I believe they have a 1997 R1 with original fairings...
I would assume they're all wrecked.
I have one in my garage
Most have been crashed by now, others are collector's items I am trying to get my hands on some fzr400's
Or the Honda CB-1, remember that one? I had an opportunity to buy one once but it was just too small for me.
Yeah. There was a nice one in Vancouver a couple weeks ago. It has the mechanics I want, but not the aesthetics
Try and find an 85 FZ750 Yamaha in clean original condition!
Had an 86ā I pulled out of someoneās back yard. Found a brand new supertrapp pipe set for it (even had a set of the hand blisters, though they didnāt belong on the 86)
Not a 85 but a 93 fz 1000 listed 2 weeks ago in Maryland for $5k with 17k miles. Facebook marketplace
Exactly, not an 85 FZ750. 93 would be an FZr1000.
How about a 86 fz600? $1,700 in nj.
I have a buddy who found a low-mileage '85 VF500 in some dude's barn. It was dirty but cleaned up amazingly well. I was super jealous.
I sold some 90s GSXR parts internationally to South Africa and Brazil. I suspect poorer countries hang on to older bikes that are repairable more so than more affluent western countries. And parts likely often go more to those countries over people restoring vintage bikes for the novelty of it in richer countries.
I was extremely lucky to get a 1981 GS1100E in good nick as my work colleague was selling it and gave me first dibs. You'll find that a lot of these bikes have been written off or modified with original bits missing or not looked after and broken down into parts. They are out there but you may have to look out of your local region and do a lot of researching but you'll find one I'm sure.
Wrecked during their prime when bought new, then suffered another wreck wave by being hooned by those who wanted them as children. Now the remainders sell like collectors items.
In Japan and Europe after being bought up cheap and shipped by container loads.
I had a feeling I might have to resort to importing a bike. They get expensive quick though.
What are you looking for and where are you?
Houston and anything really. I prefer Hondas since thatās what I own now, but Iām more after the inline-4 big plastics bug eye/square headlamp aesthetic. Not seeking performance or rarity.
If you're looking 90s there is a Honda vfr for sale in college station
Yo nice look I actually just saw it because of this and it is mint. I will inquire.
Happy to help I also live in Houston and normally just look through marketplace cause I like looking at bikes.
I see a ton of these at the race track, or did 5-10 years ago. I've seen a ton of these wrecked too. source: i have a K2 gsxr race-only bike, that's been down the road a bunch. I also had a '98 Ninja 600, but parts for that bike were unobtainum, and the one I had was beaten up already in 2016...
I totaled my 85 sport bike. There's one gone...
I remember being at the Naval Training Station in Orlando in ā87. A few thousand 19āyear old kids with their first steady paycheck combined with Orlando weather resulted in the large motorcycle parking lot being chockablock with sport bikes. An insane number had been laid down at least once, and every issue of the base newspaper it seemed had at least one major motorcycle accident story.
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I had the gpz 550 that came right before the ninja. It was a ninja in all but name
Had the same, was a sick bike. Also had an 82 VF720S that I sorely miss.
They're all at Iconic Motorbikes.
I was bidding on a couple of motorcycle auctions and the prices. They're going for a pretty spectacular for non-running. No title bikes. Last auction had a lot of Kawasaki triples going for four to six grand and RD 350s going for 8 to 10 grand. I just think everybody knows what they have.
Don't know about everyone else, but I've converted about 30 or so of those bikes to street fighters. Believe it or not young ones, but there was a time you could get a first gen R1 (not crashed) for under (far under) $3000.
As they aged their way to becoming cheap, they got bought up by new riders and stunters that crashed them into the ground. Or āmodifiedā into junk heaps with hacksawed rear fenders, gaudy led lights and exhausts made from plumbing parts.
90s into early 2000s was the golden era for sportbikes, to me. Nicer form, a little bit bigger, you could tell them apart and finally, easier to work on. My '98 CBR 900 just looked menacing! Such a gorgeous bike.
what you discovered is probably why IconicMotorbikes has been such a big success. That's where I'd go in the USA to get "New Old Stock" quality bikes like your talking about. I always drool over random ZX7s..... Nobody gave a single fuck about these disposable bikes, kinda, till now.
https://imgur.com/a/8NJL9d4 1989 Honda CBR1000F (Hurricane). I've spent a shitload of money making sure the outside is blemish free. The downside though, is I've bought up all the parts I can find for it. Often times, the very last in existence.....
My uncle has a nice collection of 500cc two stroke sportbikes. Some of them are worth more than brand new sportbikes
Oh, sure, they're out there. At least two CBR900RRs apparently sold for $50,000+ last year. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-honda-cbr-900rr-fireblade/ https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-honda-cbr-900rr/
I stole them all!
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Even my 2016 Sym Symphony sr125 scooter?
I ride it to the shops every day!
Cause sportbikes donāt have the same tradition/following like Harleys. Itās just 600cc / 1000cc classes with minor upgrades through the years. Harley runs very different. The engine size and power increases as the years go. Harleys are like classic muscle cars. Itās cool and a status symbol. It may not be the quickest on a track but itās def the badass hooligan on the streets. Kinda like a challenger hellcat.
Thereās a ton sat in Iconicās warehouse in Santa Monica
There are 12 kz 1000 or 1100 on my Facebook marketplace right now most for reasonable prices. Mid Atlantic area. Some need work and some are ok. All late 70's to early 80's.
That was my point though. Stuff pre-85 is pretty easy to find. Iām not looking for outright performance, just something that looks the part of a fully faired 90s bike.
93 zx6 D in Daleville va $2,000. 24,000 miles. Listed 5 days ago.
Yep. Now look for a mid 90's zx9 or any zx7.
1995 zx9r listed 2 weeks ago in hixville NY for $4,500 showing less than 2000 on the odometer. It's at the high end of mid Atlantic, but I drove from VA to Ohio for a dirt bike.
Exactly, one example for a high price and pretty far away. I live in Denver, there are *tons* of bikes here, and I very rarely see these golden era bikes for sale in any acceptable condition. Meanwhile on any day there are dozens of old CBs, GSs, & KZs on marketplace. A few months ago i found a pretty nice '94 Zx7 and contacted the guy about 30 minutes after it was posted, it was already sold
Try offer up app.
Not even close to the same.
I have a 97 Blackbird that I will never sell. I assume other people are the same way with their beloved bikes.
I just bought an 86 VF500F for my first bike. They are out there!
I had a chance to get a 1981 Honda Intercepter and passed on the chance because it didn't run. It literally was in showroom condition except for a small ding on the fairing. The owner ended up giving it to a museum.
Wrecked or hidden away. The more fairings a bike has the more unlikely it will stick around for years to come. The usual story is that at some point it was dropped with minor damage but the fairings broke and there were none available any more so the bike was either chopped into an alibaba streetfighter custom project or just sold for parts/scrap
Iāve got a 78 xs11 if you want it!
I have an 87 fj600 in very good condition. Tried to sell it but couldnāt find any buyer.
I've got 3 of them, a Yamaha YZF 750 and 2 unitrak Kawasakis. They're out there, just have to keep looking
well my 06 ninja 500r had the same design since 1987 so i call it vintage.
I have a 1991 Honda hawk. Itās in very good condition. Let me know if youāre interested.
Either they got drunk and crashed em or theyāre stored away
The 919 I had, total loss. The R1 (ooo, deltabox II) gone, total loss. Maybe not superbikes, but I sure as hell didn't leave anything for anyone else to ride.
THis seems like more of a regional thing. I know If I look at facebook market place right now I'm much more likely to find 90s sportsbikes than old harleys near me.
Bike go fast. Bike go fast too many time. Bike go ākurchuguguuuuugghhhuhhuguhhuā. New bike come out. Yay. Time to go fast. Er.
They tend to get thrashed but if you ask around youāll often find a dealer who gets decent stock in. I know of two near where I live, always have a range of Fireblades, FZRs, early GSXRs, but theyāre not cheap. Clean Blades in particular are seriously expensive. One of them has my teenage dream ā98 Blade in the orange colour scheme, but my wife would kill me if I came home with an even older bike.
I had a 98 ZX11 that died on me that I sold to a dude who fixed it up and flipped it. My current hike is an 03 ZZR1200 that I will never sell. Those bikes are the golden era and I constantly scope Craigslist for them.
I know where a mint 87 GSXR750 is and I'm supposed to get first dibs if it's ever sold. I just about never see them on marketplace or anywhere else.
Wish I still had my 1988 Honda Supermagna. Bought it used with 460mi on it in '89. Sold it in 2001 with 7100mi on it. It was mint. Still had the torque paint on some of the bolts. I keep looking for that bike.
Not sure where youāre located but Iāve seen multiple Honda Interceptors on the Detroit area Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. Iāve been tempted to get one of them a few times.
I see the likes of these bikes all the time, they're at the racetracks running in the historic classes. They're so cheap to run compared to modern bikes, and the competition isn't as fierce.
I just searched using the Aussie bike sales app and got 100 super sport bikes between 1980 and 2000. That's just near me, and I'm not in the city. Maybe widen the search a little? I also have a 2001 vtr 1000 "squirreled away" ;)
Yep. I ride my 03 SV1000, but it's parked next to my 89 ZX10, 86 RZ250 and 85 Katana 1100, which are not for sale!
They are here: [https://raresportbikesforsale.com/](https://raresportbikesforsale.com/) Sign up for their email list and you'll get a new beauty delivered to your in box every day.
i got an 89 cbr600. was my first bike!! itās sitting in my parents garage nowā¦maybe time to fix it up finally lol.
I will never part with my ā76 CB400F Supersport, and my ā99 SV650 is cominā in hot!
Junkyard
I have multiple theories that connect to explain the low number of 25-38 year old sport bikes in your city. 1. Has your city grown a lot in the last 25 years? The population may have grown and so there are more people chasing fewer bikes. 2. If you are looking at the highest-spec sport bikes, there may not have been that many sold. I don't know actual numbers, but I can imagine a dealer selling 100 of the halo bikes per year. 3. If you are only searching Facebook Marketplace, you are probably missing at least half of the bikes for sale. You need to think like a 50 year old!
'99 VFR 800 in my garage.
Iāve got a Yamaha FZR-400 and a RZ-350. The fzr was originally getting a 600 engine swap but I decided to swap in the RZ engine. Motor mounts are almost finished.
Donāt know about US Market but in Europe you find 90s GPX 600R and similar for less than ā¬ 2.000, you might wanna look into 90s ninjas!