1999 gsx600f - to buy? Or not to buy?

[Keeper96]

Morning all,

I’m looking at buying my first bike in the next few weeks as prices seem to have dropped off for the winter.

I quite like gsxf’s and I’ve found one fairly local for what I think is fair money at £800

It’s cosmetically a bit rough with a few scuffs and scrapes but nothing that won’t clean up fairly well and a mismatched tank, it’s clearly been dropped but as a new rider I keep thinking I’ll drop it anyway so why ruin a nice bike?

Mechanically it looks spot on apart from 1 fork dust seal is cracked, no siezed brakes, head bearings are smooth etc. Chain looks pretty new.

It’s 1 owner and on 29k miles.

What do people think?

[Guest Swagman]

Personally I would look for something a little better, my daughter bought one of those a few years back but got rid after 3 months as she didn’t like the way it handled, I found it ok just that when you pulled up at a stop the fuel would rock side to side in the tank and throw out the balance of the bike, just my option of course you may like them.

[manxie49]

I owned a GSX1100F 1992 model for a while, engine was pretty sound and I never had any issues with the bike, I never had it for long though, I was changing bikes every six months back then, much to the disapproval of my wife

That said, it's your 1st bike and we're going into winter, so maybe a good starter to help you get the feel of things. I think you could knock him down on the price a bit though??

[dynax]

Offer him 500 as an opening and see if you can do a deal around 600-700

[fastbob]

I think about £400 from what you've told us .

[Guest Richzx6r]

Agree with the above answers see if you can get him down abit though probably no hardship if he won't budge on the price

[Keeper96]

Thanks all, I would try and get him down more but I’ve already haggled down from £1100 haha

Just waiting on my dad checking it over before I make the final call on it

[Stu]

got a link to it?

[Keeper96]

got a link to it?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-SUZUKI-GSX-600-FX-ONE-FORMER-KEEPER-29K-MILES/184528316817?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225119%26meid%3D735a3b74f46340c38af8829b9279da82%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D224225207706%26itm%3D184528316817%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Aa1f31b66-276b-11eb-80b8-c689f180a906%7Cparentrq%3Acd0b6d7b1750aca4751f3967fff7fb7c%7Ciid%3A1

[Guest Richzx6r]

On the face of it that doesn't look bad just hope its been well looked after

[Stu]

Looks better than your description

if you like it then buy it its probably worth more than you're paying

[Trooper74]

Thats well overpriced ... Son's had 2 of them and they where in excellent condition ... he paid less than £600 for both .... first got nicked ... current one is at 40K milage without any issues ... just good maint ...

[Keeper96]

Thats well overpriced ... Son's had 2 of them and they where in excellent condition ... he paid less than £600 for both .... first got nicked ... current one is at 40K milage without any issues ... just good maint ...

 

I keep hearing of these £5-600 bikes that everyone buys but I can never find them!

[skyrider]

no me neither we are obviously looking in the wrong places

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I think bike prices have risen over the past couple of years. I've seen bikes that were around £1500 two or three years ago that you don't see under £2000 these days. Maybe the days of decent bikes for under a grand are over.

[iangaryprice]

I bought my GSX600f six years ago for £1500.

Its 2003 21,000miles 3 months MOT, most service history, 3 owners.

Condition was good, paintwork all correct colur and in good condition excelt belly pan had some damge where it had got too close to exhausy and partly melted. I've never got around to reairing this properly, its not that visible.

Front tyre was worn out, rear had 4mm. Chain & sprockets had life left in them.

Its now done 45,000 miles. Reliability has been fairly good.

New starter fitted, rear shock replaced with second hand one. Rear brake light switch replaced, calipers rebuilt with new seals, everything else has been the usual servicing ependable itelms tyres chain etc.

Potentially expensive repair was the drain tube in the tank fromthe filler cap area rested through and eaked petrol.

I managed to fit a coper pipe inside and solder it to the tank wihtout damaging the paint work. Been leak free for 2 years now & repair is barely visible.

£800 for the one you describe is probably about right, it depends what you wanto to do with it. If you just want to use it and leave it looking as is, it would be a cheap run about.

On th eother hand if you want to amkeit look good, that will cost, so you would be better off getting one that s already good.

There are some good buys around, these models are not that sought after - which to me makes them good value.

[Trooper74]

no me neither we are obviously looking in the wrong places

 

Keep away from EBAY i would suggest ... he got his off Faceberk ....

[skyrider]

i always look on the free ads board in local shops

[James in Brum]

I bought my ZZR600 from the Bay, absolute winner.

[bonio]

Last MOT the bike passed was in Sept 2018, when it had 29k miles on the clock. So it looks like it's not been ridden in the past couple of years. Depending on how well it's been looked after in that time, you might - worst case - have to clean the carbs, clean out the tank and replace the battery.

Even so, at £800, don't sound like a bad buy.

[Keeper96]

I took the plunge and bought it, I was a bit Cheeky at the garage and said as I’d sort my own delivery would be take £700 so he knocked another £50 off and we settled on £750

A friend dragged it home in his transit and not it’s just waiting on a good clean!

First impressions are good, much better than I previously thought so I’m over the moon!

I’ve had a quick ride up and down the private lanes at the garage and now where I live and it seems okay to me.

While I’m waiting on my test date I’ll give it a full service for piece of mind and have a go at the fork seals.

It’s only the dust seals that are gone but as the forks have to come off then I might as well do it properly.

I’ll also give the forks a quick scrub when they’re off but I’m definitely not going over board with anything... (same thing I said when changing a rear wheel bearing turned into a full rebuild of my defender...)

[dynax]

Well done

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Brilliant decision. Like you said, a bike you can play with and not worry too much about. They're always the most fun.

[raesewell]

Sort the photos out dude

[Keeper96]

Thanks to whoever fixed the photos! I don’t know why they went sideways