Make or Break? Kawasaki ZRX1100.
“One owner from new you say?”
In these PCP times where people upgrade motorcycles like they would a mobile phone, the chances of long term one owner from new motorcycles gets slimmer with every latest PCP carrot that gets dangled around the halfway point of a PCP plan.
Back in the old days when you either strapped yourself up with some HP payments or used cash, bikers tended to hang on to their bikes a bit longer, rather than just hand them back to the bank behind the PCP plan.
This Kawasaki ZRX1100 was purchased new by it’s one and only keeper, sadly about 5 years in to the relationship they parted company and the big Kwak ended up looking rather second hand. It then sat in his shed for 19 years!
“Just like Eddie’s wasn’t it?”
Steady Eddie didn’t destroy too many race bikes, he also learnt his craft on big air cooled Kawasaki racers in the AMA series.
Back in the 90’s there was a massive born again biker market. Those who had swapped their old Z900’s etc for wedding rings and a Ford Sierra realising that motorcycles were missing from their life.
Thing is, Britain had gone sports bike mad! And trying to convince her ( or him) indoors that buying a 125bhp hyper bike was a great idea, after years of jumping in the Ford, wasn’t going to help get a bike back in the garage. Also, the older we get the less we want head down and arse up riding positions. A whole market of sensible looking bikes like the Kawasaki Zephyr range (remember them?) and Suzuki Bandit’s, gave way to more beefy looking retros like the XJR and ZRX.
It’s all gone full circle”
Those retro bikes from the 90’s have now become classics in their own right! How mad is that? Have you seen the prices of 20 year old ZRX’s and GSX1400’s? In most cases they mirror used prices for a 2 year old Suzuki Katana 1000, maybe by 2040 they’ll be sought after, then again maybe not.
This ZRX1100 is very much a project basis. Despite looking like it is buggered, the main components are actually ok. Frame, forks, wheels and the motor are all fit for purpose.
With an asking price of only £1,495, you could even break it for parts and make your money back.
Article provided by Scottie Redmond
