Cheap 750-ish twin

[Gracie Jones]

Howdy all,

Anyone got a view on a sub 1K winter hack? Ideally looking for a 750-ish twin and expecting it to be old and pretty tatty, but hopefully mechanically sound.

Have found a couple of good possibilities on Autotrader:

Zephyr 550 for about £900 (not a 750 or a twin, but still nice)
Kwak GPZ for £500 (again, smaller than I want, and not that pretty)

There are of course CB500s and ER5s etc, but looking for something a bit different. This is really just a winter hack / spare bike, but would like something cool nonetheless.

Any suggestions?

Luke

[Cillit-BANG]

Are we talking V-twin, parallel-twin, apposed twin, or any twin?

Why a twin in particular?

Honda cx500? ok, not 750cc, but damn pokey, and sound great.

[Gracie Jones]

Any kind of twin really. I want the torque. Yes, had considered the CBX, but forgot about it. Good choice, cheers.

Luke

[stevo as b4]

Well you sure as hell wouldnt want a Z750 twin, they just vibrate like a road drill, and dont go very well either.
Id be a bit wary of limiting your choice of a sub £1k winter bike to a 750cc twin, especially if you dont have alot of time to find one, and you want the best condition bike for your money.
Im not too keen on Zepher 550's etc, as IMO if your going to pay more for plugs and servicing on a 4cyl motor there had better be a performance advantage to make it worthwhile. The ER5 would out run a 550 anyday!
Id definately consider a Honda CBX750 if you can find one, its a smooth as silk air cooled four, thats very easy to service, (hydraulic tappets) and goes like stink (135mph). Other bikes id look out for if you want large capacity are an older TDM850, XJ900 divvy, GPZ750. forget the GPX750, loads of plastic, a liquid cooled motor, and 16" wheels that give nervous handling, and similar bikes that are more hassle than they are worth. An air cooled bike is an advantage for a winter machine, as they warm up quite quickly and have less to go wrong.
The more i think about if the more the CBX seems to be a blinding large capacity winter bike. The only problem may be finding a nice one?

[G]

If you really look around, you might be able to get a quite tatty TRX850.

I got mine as a get to work bike but have to admit I've been quite drawn by it's charms, despite disliking twins.

[AcIdBuRnZ]

I'd vote for the GPZ. Decent engine, enough poke to get moving, and a decent fairing for winter protection. Cheap and good on fuel too
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Past: Honda NSR125R >> Kawasaki ER-5a2 >> Kawasaki ZZR-600e1 >> Suzuki GSXR-750Y >> Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm
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