Hi all, first post here so sorry if its in the wrong forum.

I've been eyeing up a 400 since I started riding in 2008, and I have about a grand to play with. Living situation means I have to keep the bike on the road under a cover tied to a lamppost, so looking at the lower end of the spectrum for that reason.

I've seen the below bike and it seems like an alright deal, until I came on here and saw the pre-loved, fully restored bargains knocking around:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... 1472242696

Would the price of that bike be considered fair or overpriced? Is there any glaring issues you can see form the pics (besides the crack in the fairing!) or any other reasons to avoid? What advice can you give with regards t viewing the bike, as I intend to shoot over this weekend and its not exactly a short train ride away from where I live (HX7).

I welcome any and all advice on offer and it will be much appreciated :)

Yep wrong section - moved accordingly
goto the home page and have a look at the buyers guide i wrote.
not being funny but by the time you have bought that thing, sorted its issues and got it in a fit state to use - it will still be a dog eared bitza and for the same money you could have bought one thats right to start with.
dont mean to sound cold but we get this question all the time, and if have a dig around and do your homework you will prob agree.

as in the buying guide, buy the best you can find not the one you can afford if that makes sense.
if you cant afford 1500 - 2k then keep saving really. applies to any bike / car.
If you only have 1k and want a R6 then your going to be buying a hound or a project, not a 2k bike which is more typical.

if your after a project then that could fit the bill. RVF fairing though, hmmm hardly ever going to be an easy one to shift later.

I did read the buyers guide beforehand, which is why I was pretty much expecting your response

Not really into a "project" bike as such, but due to it being kept outside I was after a bit of a dog that I could get my hands dirty with - I want to get into tinkering with some machinery and I would like my first "big" bike (had an R125 for 2 years) to be quite involving. I will be riding the thing every day, and don't expect this sunshine to last long, and there's only so much weather protection a lamppost and cover can provide!

I guess I was more after an objective view on the price from people who live and breathe these machines, a club I'd be proud to be a part of someday and preferably by learning the hard way! But yeah, having looked through a lot of the rebuild/for sale threads already I can see this example is quite expensive for what it is.

Rebuild threads here and on the zxr forums are the reason I want to get involved in the 400 scene, there's nothing more beautiful than a rustbucket being restored to former glory. And noone can argue that 90s sportsbikes are absolute stunners!

if you want objective, i can do that
run forrest run.

Haha

I guess I could hold off and save some more money - seen a couple of stunning FZRs around the 2 grand price point. Alas patience is just not one of my strong points

FZR's are more like a grand for a nice one.
if you have 2k in cash you can buy something really quite nice and fit to use with minimal cost from the start

Interesting - I thought the FZR was more of a rare bike than the usual 400s, RVF excluded. Been eyeing up this one for a few months, its been sat there for a while:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... 9470211579

Would you consider that particular bike to be a decent deal? (let me know if linking to external sites is a nono)

Just had words with the seller of that VFR, he's saying there's an issue with the ignition. He thinks its a loose connection, but the ignition won't register sometimes when turning the key, and the bike cuts out while revving it hard, possibly due to vibes. He says it's only started happening over the last week or two. Any ideas?

yes - avoid !