ZZR600 as a first bike, is the price right?

[Seb]

Hey all, first post and a new biker to be here so excuse any obvious stupidity

But well, after far too much planning, thinking, chewing mates ears off and annoying sales types. I've pretty much settled down on going for a ZZR600 as my first bike with a YZF600 thundercat or GSF600 Bandit being the alternatives.

Now I've got a pretty much immaculate 2003 ZZR600 in blue with ~5000 on the clock lined up and on my first check over it it seemed pretty much spotless, not a scratch or mark in sight and the only thing I could fault on it was the inevitable beginnings of corrosion on the downpipes.

Unfortunately the price struck me as maybe a little expensive at £3200. However in its favor that included a full service, delivery and a full tank of juice.

Is it worth pushing hard on that price? I'm kind of hoping I could get the bike for 3 grand on the dot but given the mileage, condition and full service I certainly don't want to be insulting the guys with comedy offers.

I'll likely be nipping down to the showroom in a few days time for another look, downpipes and second gear aside, is there anything else I should be paying close attention to on this bike?

Any and all responses are of course much appreciated, I'll save the stupid gear questions for sometime soon

[veeeffarr]

I considered a ZZR600 but £3200 is insane money for one, you could get 2/3 decent nick older ones for that money!

£3200 would get you a nice VFR800Fi-Y though

T

[Ravage]

I hate the ZZR600 my uncle has one i rode it and it doesn't appeal to me in any form plus his was ugly! Its your choice i suppose at the end of the day but i certainly wouldn't have one. The thundercat is good and so is the bandit though nice choices of bike there
____________________
Ridden: GSF600 RF900 CG125 XL125V Mito
Currently own: KTM Duke II

[Seb]

Must admit, I hadn't considered the VFR800s as an option at all as I'd pretty much shoehorned myself into the 600cc bracket and left it at that (beyond drooling over Sprint ST 1050s and Ducati 999rs at least ).

A good thundercat would be a very tempting bike, and I've seen some nice ones much cheaper than the ZZR I'm looking at, but as with the CBR600F, I've had zero luck getting a sensible insurance quote on one, often being £150 beyond what I'd be paying on the ZZR.

The bandit most defo wins hands down in the price category, especially since I prefer the pre 2001 unfaired curved frame look. The downside there is that I really don't fancy the thought of doing the occasional 40 mile A road commute in rough weather on an unfaired bike. If I was living in spain it'd likely be the Bandit all the way

Is it worth looking elsewhere on the ZZR front? I'm pretty dead set on going with a trader for my first bike as I'm just not hot enough on what to check yet.

Another fairly local dealer has an 1999 one for £2500, but its pretty grim conditionwise, an immediately noticable dent on the tank top right stood out like a sore thumb, the paint is falling off in places and its missing its service history for 7000 of its 21000 miles. Not to mention its in grey and just looks plain naff compared to the mint blue one. I'm pretty sure the glaring difference in condition is worth the extra 700 notes, granted, that 2 and a halfer certainly isn't a great price in it's own right either.

The most annoying thing is that a bit of digging around quite easily turns up some bargains, but its generally a private seller and 200+ miles away Would it be worth reeling off a few private prices for similar bikes at the dealer?