Sub ?1k bikes

[Whosthedaddy]

What can you actually expect from a cheap bike?

I know that this time of year the prices of bikes will be stupid and inflated but can you get a decet bike that doesn't require work, fettling or even an MOT and is still less than 10 years old?

Do sellers just chance their arm during the summer and sell absolute crap and hope that some mug comes along with the money?

Can you get a bargain (or just a decent sturdy and reliable bike) this time of year for less than a grand?
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[MarJay]

If you do find a decent bike for less than £1k then it will probably be a KE100 or RXS100 or something like that.

Here is a short list of the bikes I've bought for £1k or less

RD350LC - £1k on the nose, no MOT or tax or anything. Needed a new rear wheel and much work on the brakes before it was MOTable. It failed the first MOT that I took it for because the carbs were leaking petrol. I was very very very very lucky to get it for this price.

RD350YPVS £500 - needed a lot of engine work. Chassis was basically sound but not perfect. It did run but would not have passed an MOT. Couldn't tell you how much it has cost me, but it is a project bike so I'm not all that bothered tbh.

MZ - £300 Had tax and MOT, good tyres etc, but it also had no gearbox oil at all, and the kickstart return spring was broken. Not an easy repair but it is done now. Not very fast.

VFR400 NC30 - £800 No tax or MOT - needed a fair bit of work to be roadworthy. Needed a new front wheel and various other service items. The exhaust was rusty and I had to use a G clamp to bend it out of the way to get to the sump bolt. Sold it for £900.

In each case I believe that I had been pretty lucky to get those bikes for those prices. I was just in the right place at the right time. Despite this, they've nearly all cost me over £1000 in total apart from the MZ which I've spent about £150 on.

I also bought another seized YPVS for not much money, and sold it for pretty much the same amount after nabbing all of the useful bits off of it. Again that was pure luck that a guy at work was moving house and happened to want rid of an LC and a YPVS.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[MaybeGuy]

the only bike ive paid over £1k for was my R6, and that wasnt much over at 1250

i had a GSXR SRAD for £900
VFR400 NC30 for £400
GSXR400 for £200
cagiva mito for £100
DTR125 for £100

so yeah, theres loads of stuff out there, just takes patience and determination.

the way i do it is to always have £500 hidden away, then when i find one i can just go 'right, here you go, ill take it'. then take it and double my profits.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[craigs23]

Bikes I've had for around that price recently:

1991 CB1 - £500. Absolute bargain. Mechanically spot on, with suspension tweaked from a race-engineer to be (forks had CBR600 internals and were set up like an RS250's item - individual damping in each leg, rear suspension was an Ohlins sprung tweaked Fireblade shock). The suspension alone was worth the money.

1999 CG125 - £250, 17,000 miles. Little MOT and Tax left. Okay-ish condition and working order. Couldn't be bothered to try and get it through its next MOT, so sold it on Ebay for £330.

1993 CB400 Superfour - 11,000 miles, £650, MOTed and Taxed until October. Mechanically good but needs some cosmetic tidying.

[Poseidon]

There's bikes out there if you don't mind putting in the work and getting your hands grubby. I bought my Triumph for £750 (haggled down from £900). Did all the work myself and including a new rear tyre, spent less that 300quid getting it through an MOT. Took me about 24working hours in total(6 lots of about 4 hours on days off). Bonus is that now I get a sense of pride and belonging every time I take her out! And some guy offered me £1500 cash for it! (didn't sell it, but nice to know she's got some profit it her!)

Also worth noting that I have never owned/worked on motorbikes before. Just a haynes manual and a socket set got me through... Oh... and the BCF workshop of course!!!
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[G]

[extreme3d]

I bought my FZR600 pictured on my profile for £300. Was advertised as a non runner with total gearbox failure but from the description given on the symptoms I felt that wasn't the case and the owner wasn't aware the FZR is prone to losing the front sprocket nut.

So I kept my mouth shut, went to pick it up, paid £5 for a new sprocket nut, reattached the drive chain and result, one mint FZR600

Plenty of good bikes out there going cheap - always go and take a look as often simple things can go wrong that in the current owners eyes are not worth the trouble and they want rid.

[boundy]

I've got a lovely RF600R on a 1994 for sale, 6 months T&T and needs nothing doing to it, thats up for sub £1000

[Seb]

My 1999 GS500 set me back 500 quid with 9 months mot and a couple of weeks tax left.

All it's needed was a rubber cap from the end of a walking stick plonked on the center stand stay
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2010 Triumph 1050 Sprint ST

[c-m]

[ms51ves3]

[0ddball]

My zxr was around a grand 3 1/2 years ago. Apart from tyres, oil/filters, 3 bulbs and £10 for a 2nd hand clip on when some tit in a van side swiped me i can honestly say it's cost me nothing and has never failed to start and has never had any running issues.

I'd say there are loads of decent bikes out there for less than a grand.

Unless you are one of those people who think anything less than 100% mint and more than 3 years old isn't a decent bike. And i know you're not one of those people WTD.

[suggs]

i bought this 91 Gixer a few months back, close to mint condition, tax and test for a year, came with race and standard cans plus paddock stand. ive just returned from a 2000+ mile ride on her (see pic) with no issues what so ever.

i love this bike and dout ill part with it.

the price..£900


https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/karting4/Lands%20End%20to%20John%20O%20Groats/030820091330.jpg

https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/karting4/Lands%20End%20to%20John%20O%20Groats/310720091273.jpg

[Tango675]

Yes, but it will be hard work finding one.
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Somebody give that windup merchant a torque wrench..

[MaybeGuy]

suggs, they saw you coming with that price
mine was a 97 for that price and was in good condition when i got it.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Blau Zedong]

[Biker101]

I bought my varadero for £1K 3 years ago when there was nothing available under £1500, i gave it a service and it cost £50 in diesel and trailer hire to collect it and sold it a year later for £1150.

Never let me down, reliable as ever and it took some hammering through the winter.
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Past: 06 Runner SP50 >>> 01 Varadero XL125 >>> 08 Kwak ER-6f >>> 05 CBR600rr
Present: 99 FZS600 Fazer

[suggs]

yeah but who wants a SRAD lol, slingshots hold there money much better and are far nicer in my opinion. never seen one like mine sell for less than i payed plus ive been offered £1500 for it since but dont want to sell

[Polarbear]

I've had a ZZR1100C for £800. It was bloody brilliant. Only sold it to get the deposit on my busa.

FJ1200 for £ 600. Tatty but mechanically bullet proof.

There are some real bargains out there.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Blau Zedong]

[-Ali-]

[arry]

[gmanxiii]

Bought a 93 ZZR600 about this time last year for 650quid, 38K Just been MOT'd with few weeks left of tax. Bit of wear and tear but everything was spot on. Sold it for the same few months later because it was just a hack whilst i fixed my CBR, shame as it was a good bike just couldnt be arsed running 2.

I set myself a budget and just looked at all sorts in my price range, GS500, GPZs, 400's till i found one something that was looked after fairly well and was ready to just ride away.
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I kills hondas

VFR400NC30 > ZZR600 > CBR600FX > CBR1000rr

[chris-red]

https://motors.shop.ebay.co.uk/Motorcycles-Scooters-/422/i.html?LH_BIN=1&LH_Price=..1%2C000%40c&_dmpt=UK_Motorcycles&_fcid=3&_fln=1&_mPrRngCbx=1&_sop=7&_ssov=1&_stpos=rm126sy&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282&gbr=1&Capacity%2520%2528cc%2529=225%2520to%2520374%2520cc%7C375%2520to%2520524%2520cc%7C525%2520to%2520674%2520cc%7C675%2520to%2520824%2520cc%7C825%2520to%2520974%2520cc%7C975%2520to%25201159%2520cc%7C!
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[Cptn. Awesome]

So far the only bike I've ever bought was less then £1k and it was my '87 VFR400 NC24. I paid £580 down from £650 and all it needed was one of the contact on an HT lead rubbing with some wet and dry to clean it up.

We did a couple of other things to it also as well as getting it sprayed as the paintwork on it was shocking. I dare say though that the other work on it wasn't totally necessary, just preventative.

For less than £1k there seem to be a few bargains to be had in the Adtrader.
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Rides - '60 Plate Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.25, '03 Plate Kawasaki ZX6R B1H and an '87 VFR400 NC24

Naughty Fawbish: "An eagle is but an eagle until the suns flare blinds his prey." - Fawbish, 2010.