Suzuki are masters at taking a stack of parts from various models and building a budget bike. Their oil cooled Bandit series is perhaps the most successful example of what I’m banging on about.
Back in the nineties they had the hot shot sports 750 sector of the market sewn up with their GSX-R range, so there probably wasn’t much appetite to build a Captain Sensible version of the oil cooled GSX-R, which might explain why they built the GSX600F aka TeaPot first.
The GSX600F wasn’t a bad bike, but it wasn’t overly a great one either. The 750 version pretty much followed suit.
Over 20 years later there’s still not much love around for the TeaPot clan. This means prices are cheap! For those looking for a Sunday bike or sub £1,000 commuter steed the GSX750F makes a lot of sense.
This actual bike isn’t roadworthy at the moment, but there’s nothing too nasty stopping it from obtaining a fresh MOT certificate.
Talking of MOT certificates, a quick spy online reveals that this bike was last on the road in 2008! A decade off the road can present its own problems, but thankfully the previous owner kept the bike in the dry and even started it up on a regular basis.
Before getting too excited about any potential cheap seat purchase you need to look at the pros and cons, and only then decide if it’s the right deal for you.
Starting with the asking price let’s go through the process together.
Advertised at £495 it’s easy to see why it could catch a budget bikers eye.
The good news keeps coming, the heart of any old bike is the exhaust, this GSX750F is blessed with a solid Nexxus 4-1. With the aid of a jump pack the bike even starts, the inside of the tank is nice and clean and it appears that those regular start up sessions over the last decade mean that the carbs haven’t clogged up.
So far, so good.
The bodywork is all original, right down to the naff Suzuki graphics. Even better the original indicators are still present.
The clocks show an indicated 19,000 miles, which fits perfectly with the MOT history that I discovered online earlier. A genuine low mileage unmolested machine, this cheap seat contender is fast ticking lots of boxes.
Before getting too carried away let’s keep our head and add up the cost of what would be required to get the old girl through a MOT test.
Both tyres are past their best, they’re also well past their sell by date if they’ve been fitted since the bike came off the road.
A pair of tyres and a battery start our shopping list.
All three brake calipers are dragging and will need cleaning at least or rebuilding at worse! The chain looks ok, so too do the sprockets, so there’s no rush to spunk cash on those.
On the whole it looks like a genuine bike and other than some new consumables it’s defo not going to be a money pit to get it ship shape.
With decent up and ready examples making around the grand mark, it would be financially viable to sink a few quid into it, that £495 asking price actually looks a tad too cheap!
