I do like to keep an eye on the 2nd hand motorcycle market, one of things I noticed was that the screaming in-line 4's that many of us ride were dropping in value at an alarming rate. When I first starting playing with bikes ( close to 10 years ago), a decent CBR250RR registered was fetching $5-6 k (AUD), ZXR's, GSXR's and FZR's were close to that money as well, and they should be they were considered the top of whizzer when it came to the 250cc class. A couple of years ago, I could easily buy a decent one for $1500 - $2000 with rego. What I also noticed was that many new riders were opting for the much cheaper parallel twins such as the R3 and Ninja 300 or even the single cylinder CBR250's over the 90's sports bikes. Then about 5 years the 2 stroke market went nuts, dodgy worn out RGV's that were selling for a grand doubled in value, NSR's, RS250's, TZR's all went crazy and collectors are spending crazy money to secure one. RG500's , RZ500's have all doubled if not tripled their value in the space of 5 years. I put the rise in values down to the availability of disposable income for Generation X (born 1966 - 1976) who saw these bikes be released to the market, they either owned one or lusted after one and now they can afford it, and they buy them. Now that there is world wide consensus that 2 strokes are bad for the environment, the chance of a new road going 2 banger is no longer possible so that has also increased their allure. So where am I heading with this ? Well I think we are at across roads when it comes to valuing our in-line 4 cylinder 250's. I keep an eye on some wholesalers out of Japan and for the longest time a decent ZXR250, GSXR250 FZR250 and CBR250RR were lucky to fetch $2000 - $2500 USD , now I have seen them upwards of $4k. Even locally on Gumtree, well looked after in-line 4's are going for much higher prices than 5 years ago. I think the market has turned and the values of the in-line 4's are creeping up from daily rider to collectable classic, particularly in Japan, lets face it, we are never going to see another in-line 4 that revs to 19000 rpm. Your thoughts ?
Agree with your thinking there. When I went to insure my MC19 I asked for $2,000 value from Shannon's, but they valued it at $3,500 as a non runner/no rego. Values definately going up.
I agree... I think it comes down to what the older bikes actually are. They're small super sport bikes, not learner bikes. At the end of the day they go better, handle better and stop better than their newer counterparts. About all the new ones have is looks, and looks are subjective anyway. Now is the time to find a 250cc inline 4 project and slowly fix it. You can break even on costs if you're smart.
Just picked up my first bike a 99 Bandit 250, 35000 on it, rego I paid 1k. 2 years ago when I started thinking about getting my first bike 250 bandits were 2000 avarage and I found this time many were 3k above.
The number of good complete bikes will only decrease. What with the "can't fix it -> part it out", "crashed it -> part it out", "I made a streetfighter/bobber/brat and now I can't sell it -> part it out", "I made a track day bike and now I can't sell it -> part it out". Did I miss any? The good news is that only the people that appreciate them will have them and the rest will have the new twin cylinder things.
I doubt the Zeal/Bandit/Hornet/Balius, or even Across, will have the same values; not as sort after by enthusiasts. I think prices vary depending on how sellers value things, too. When people feel they financially comfortable they aren't worried about selling cheap, but when purse strings tighten, they try to get good money. You'll find people who think old means valuable, so the incomplete rust-buckets are advertised for prices you mightn't even pay for the fully compete and running version. Also, advertised prices doesn't always match sale price.
Yeah I somewhat agree with this. Well. The number of complete bikes has definitely deminished. Seems the track guys buy them all up. As I'm currently buying a collection of bikes off a bloke that used them as track bikes. 2X complete track ready fzr250s, 2X rolling frames, 5X engines and a van full of parts. But I have also built a Brat out of a fzr250 that was in very poor shape and would have taken alot of $$$ to get back to a respectable bike. At the same time I constantly get asked if I would sell it and how much I want for it. I think it depends on if they're built well orn have just been dropped and had the front fairings removed with a cheap eBay headlight fitted. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
I actually disagree somewhat, especially based on what I see here in Victoria. Usually high prices are unrealistic, because you turn the page and/or look somewhere else and a comparable bike can be quite significantly different in $, so the price variance is huge depending on the seller. For example a club member is still trying to sell his MC22 (with very limited, if any, interest) for 3.5k with rego/roadie and it's tidy, yet another member sold his for $2k also tidy but no rego/RW. There's a guy who restores the little 250's round these parts as a 'labour of love' I won't mention his name out of respect and it seems occasionally he can get $3-4K for his restorations but that's fully restored/resprayed. So that's the exception, even then word around the bend is he doesn't move them on that quickly (most of them are MC22's it seems). I find some people selling trashed 2KR's for $1500 and others selling half decent ones for $600. The 3LN's are getting a bit rarer but their average price in vic is still $1500ish (mine cost me $1K originally). MC19's can go anywhere from $500-$2000 depending on condition but MC22's are pretty stable around the $2-2.5K mark. Now the only exception to that, from what I see, is the ZXR. They're hard to find in good condition and seem to fetch a higher price tag. I think they're just rarer in general (both in parts and availability) yet people still know them (in comparison to the GSXR250 which people shrug at when you mention it). Couple of the club members have them and they're nice little machines... I'd hang onto it if I had a good one. And as for the GSXR's... they just don't exist. I know Frank was selling his which would be a good pickup for someone at the price he is asking but it's hard to price guage those as there's just none around. So although I think in some ways good examples are getting harder to find, most of these models have such a variety of pricing it's really hard to say they're "going up" in value (except the ZXR) in my opinion. We're probably at the bottom of a slump though, I could agree with that especially with the flood of newer bikes (250's and 300's) in the market. I rode a ninja 300 briefly and was pleasantly surprised at the zip, especially the smoothness without a carby (says the guy who has 4 FZR's)... Might just be Victoria though, when I was up in QLD last week I saw a hell of a lot more bikes on the road so it may be a demand thing up there that is affecting price? Don't know. As for myabee plus... everytime I see their prices I have to laugh. Bit of a joke IMO.. I don't think they sell many.
There was talk of manufacturers dropping the 600cc supersport bikes, too. That could mean their value will start rising in 20years... The likes of the LAMS classifications could see 4-cylinder bikes being only litre-plus type bikes. Meanwhile, KTM are against superbikes on the road, and might begin a movement to ban the 300+kph bikes, or do the 250kph limiter like many car makers. Interesting times to come...
Yes, Honda have dropped the 600 because the new Euro pollution laws are so restrictive that it is no longer viable to produce them.
Point to note - parts on the other hand attract good coin.. seems to be a solid demand for them. Not a lot of people are going to the effort of tearing the bikes down to part them out, preferring to sell them off as "needs work" with price tags that can be hard to swallow (everyone says their FZR is "rare as hens teeth" for example, always makes me laugh).
They seem too be cheaper in wa then est states like nsw i only listed mine this week its all origanal with the origanal fairingd cowling and tank and engine to match frame only think different from production is i sprayed it the kawasaki green and frame black but left enough of origanal paint for ether myself or future owner to have no problem with following its origanl colours its not long been rebuilt and tank has been repaired and relined so be rust free another twenty yrs ive been looking for a decent wiring harness as current one though working fine has been fixed up by back yard boso also not long had clean carbs and checked sync which was still.fine i wasnt planning on selling as the trouble you have getting parts in Australia and ww is getting very slim so the more people are lokely to part any bike that not better selling as hole bike then price will just rise and rise as they were the best yrs 250cc seen on track especially any of the true unregistered early jap man yrs or the later Malaysian models up to 1997 i think im asking $2000 with current blue slip or $2750 if you want me to put the 12mnths warranty registration on it and im not neg on 2k as if i wasnt needing the extra cash right now id be holding tight with it's Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
