Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

After selling the ZZR and deciding on a 9 the hunt began for the best one I could find...

We found one in Victoria that seemed perfect - 2003, 15000 kms, scorpion pipe and immaculate. After numerous phone calls, emails and photos we decided that it was the one and were ready to pick it up tomorrow. The fella, as he doesnt ride it much, booked it in for a service yesterday so it'd be good for the trip back to Canberra. Unfortunately he had a little issue and the bike ended up on its side. The damage report is scratches down the right hand side of the bike, the 3 front fairings need a respray and replacement stickers, dent in the end cover bit of the exhaust, broken indicator at the front - and crack around that bit of fairing and scratches on the mirror. The immaculate bike is immaculate no more. On first conversation with the guy he was happy to knock $500 bucks off. Im pretty sure that that is not enough to get the bike back to pretty.

There is another one - same year, one owner, all log books and service history, stock pipe etc in Sydney for around the same price - but it has 40 000 kms on it.

The question is - do I bother trying to get quotes to repair the bike and talk the Vic guy down and just get it fixed or do I save some time and effort and get the one in Sydney that seems already perfect?

There is also another one in Vic for the same price - 20 000 Kms but has been ridden hard and maybe not taken care of as well - but reasonably tidy... decisions decisions.. what would you do?

It's gonna cost more than $500 to repair the damage on No.1 to immaculate status..

IMO the second one sounds the goods. As long as scheduled maintenance is conducted and the bike is looked after then the odo number becomes less relevant. My brother is riding a Ducati Monster 900 with 95,000 on the clock, and it's still nice and tight, due to the care, attention and servicing he affords it. Certainly that's the one I'd choose over the other two (and it's closer to your location as well)

we know the 9's are good for 150,000kms +


if you wanted the immaculate no more one, then i'd want it for 2 grand cheaper. to bring it back to its immac state would in theory require "NEW" fairing sections, "NEW" pipe and "NEW" genuine kawasaki parts.

if anything less than new is used then it becomes not as immac as it was when you agreed to buy it a given price.

500 bucks wouldnt cover the stickers if you bought genuine. and as for colour matching

Forget the dropped one $500 will go nowhere to fixing it.40,000 ks is nothing for a late model 9 if it has been looked after mines done 164000 with no real sighns of it stopping soon

[quote="macca"] The damage report is scratches down the right hand side of the bike, the 3 front fairings need a respray and replacement stickers, dent in the end cover bit of the exhaust, broken indicator at the front - and crack around that bit of fairing and scratches on the mirror. The immaculate bike is immaculate no more. On first conversation with the guy he was happy to knock $500 bucks off. Im pretty sure that that is not enough to get the bike back to pretty. [quote]

That damage sounds like 2 or 3 grand to get right . A pair of ZX9R stickers I priced from Kawa was $140 and matching the paint is difficult , could be better to spray the whole bike .

Get a Vic to check it out or do you have some photos or links ?

Get the one that has the best colour , 20,000 k / 40,000 k aint making much difference to a 9 motor .
How do you know the 20000 k one has been riden hard ? Whats its service history like ?

Things like tyre condition , when its due for a service and chain age can add several bucks to the equation .

Macca, I dropped mine in soft dirt (RHS) and needed mid panel and bellypan repainted and the 3 decals on the mid panel...cost nearly $1k. The triangular decal 20cm long and 9cm at the wide end single colour cost over $200. Nothing was broken only scratches.

Second hand panels in good condition for the F series seem non existent.

CMC had a blue one same as mine a while ago not sure if they still have it.

Common opinion is that mileage doesn't seem too much of a problem especially if you are going to keep for a long time.

40,000km is nothing on a 9!!

What colour is the one in Sydney?

the kid wrote:Get a Vic to check it out or do you have some photos or links ?

Tony has the pics will ask him to upload them…

the kid wrote:Get the one that has the best colour , 20,000 k / 40,000 k aint making much difference to a 9 motor .
How do you know the 20000 k one has been riden hard ? Whats its service history like ?
Things like tyre condition , when its due for a service and chain age can add several bucks to the equation .

They are all green, I havent looked at any other colours
I dont know for sure that it has been ridden hard, just the fella cant remember when the last service was, and one of the reasons he's selling it is he needs to keep his licence and his kids need to keep their dad... so I just assumed...
The one in Sydney has full service history and new tyres …

laidback1952 wrote:CMC had a blue one same as mine a while ago not sure if they still have it.

Its not green .. thats a pre-requisite for me and I think it sold…

Mel wrote:40,000km is nothing on a 9!! What colour is the one in Sydney?

You'd be the expert on that for sure Mel!!
And its green of course

[quote="macca
I dont know for sure that it has been ridden hard, just the fella cant remember when the last service was, and one of the reasons he's selling it is he needs to keep his licence and his kids need to keep their dad... so I just assumed...
[/quote]

Mmmm , interesting , could be he is a pussy that doesn't ride and its been sitting unused .
Shouldn't really suggest he is a pussy , having kids and a mortgage and a renovation etc etc etc made me give up bikes for a while when I had no time or money to spare .
When I bought my 9 it had 7500 k on it and was over 3 yrs old . Bloke just didn't ride anymore and it was sitting around until he finally decided it had to go .

Does "ridden hard" mean much...

I would prefer a bike that had been ridden hard with good service history than one that been left in the shed for 20 years or wasn't serviced regularly. Just how hard can you ride a bike on the road anyway and isn't that what they were designed and built for.

For me a thorough service history can prove that the odometer is accurate which can be more of an issue.

Good hunting and agree, green MUST be first choice...

Ridden hard = Ridden as manufacture intended. Most people cant ride the wheels of a 250 let alone a 9r

Macca, contact the guy from the other link I gave you...maybe he still has that bike.

dub wrote:Macca, contact the guy from the other link I gave you...maybe he still has that bike.

Did that, thanks Dub - that is the 2nd vic bike I am referring to ..

Go the Sydaney job me thinks, or buy my 9 even. Really cheap The one that has been dropped won't even begin to look decent for $500. This is why insurance companies write a faired bike off for bugger all damage, just not worth repairing the plastics.