While regular readers of Super Streetbike are accustomed to catching the latest hot trends in custom biking, mega-bucks concept machines and some of the world's most inventive, one-of-a-kind, hand-built, high-performance streetbikes, we have to admit there's one type of coverage still to be explored-the bikes that we mortals ride.
Look at your typical newsstand and there's no shortage of magazines catering to fans of new sportbikes, racing machines and the aforementioned professionally built customs. They stage their shootouts and comparison tests, but yo-good luck finding the skinny on which bikes look good to the ladies and which ones are still rolling strong five or 10 years down the road.
According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, new motorcycle sales have grown for each of the past 13 consecutive years, with the volume of new motorcycle sales skyrocketing in the past decade from just 356,000 units back in 1997 to around 1.2 million for 2006. There's somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 different streetbikes currently on the market in this country, and the market is only growing with the addition of new players like Hyosung and Fischer. Lucky for you, all of this new bike action on the showroom floor translates into a bear market for any rider hoping to land a deal on a clean (or not-so-clean) used sportbike.
2001 Suzuki GSX-R1000Launched on an unsuspecting public in a haze of pre-ride propaganda back in 2001, the big Gixxer more than lived up to its hype. It offered owners excellent handling, mind-altering, smooth acceleration and a (relatively) comfortable ride.
Despite being a wonderful bike, a neglected GSXS-R1000 can really suffer, and there are some things to immediately look for. Bikes with rusty chains, grimy sprockets and paint that hasn't seen polish since beer cost a nickel should be avoided -if an owner is too lazy to clean the outside of his machine, chances are the oil and filter haven't been looked after, not to mention valve adjustments. The titanium nitride coating on most GSX-R1000 fork legs will have started to wear off by now, but not to worry; the fork tubes should continue to operate freely, despite the diminished looks.
And while you're taking an assessment of a used bike, take a good, long look at the plastic fairing panels for scuff marks and edges that don't quite fit together-they're signs that the bike's been on its side before. Lastly, if the owner doesn't allow you to start the bike to hear it run, walk away. Fast.
The 2001 model we looked at raised some immediate flags because of the tacky additions the previous owner had installed. Not only was it covered in stickers that didn't really make any sense, but it also had brake and clutch line covers, bar ends, flushmounts, headlight cover, fairing bolts and a windscreen to match. Clearly, the owner thought that yellow would be a good color to emphasize, but if we were to acquire this ride, those would be the first items removed.
Other bolt-ons included a shift light and digital gear indicator, Yoshimura slip-on exhaust, carbon-fiber-style levers, undertail and some odd switches on the dash that apparently shut the lights off (for obvious reasons).
The salesperson or owner you're dealing with will likely try to sell all of these parts as valuable extras, but when you can counter and explain how certain pieces are good (pipe) and others are not (cheap levers, hideous decals that've likely hurt the paint), it should help take dollars off the asking price.
The bike has relatively low miles at just 9930 and that will probably be something that's pushed as a selling point, but you'll have a valuable piece of knowledge in your pocket-that hole in the kill switch was used for a drag-racing tether. That means those 9930 miles were spent getting thrashed at the strip by an amateur racer. With that in mind as well as the rashed-up mirror (yet the bodywork is OK, which is odd), we suggest you look a bit deeper.
Examine the frame, swingarm and other extremities for dings that could have been incurred in a spill. Bodywork might have been replaced, but the deeper scars will always remain.
The sticker price is far too high, but after pointing out some of the quirks and abuse marks, a smart salesperson would drop the bottom line significantly. The Kelley Blue Book suggested price is $6205; knowing that and being able to pick apart this Gixxer's shortcomings, we think $5500 isn't out of the question and would be a good deal.
2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000
Though we haven't gotten a leg over it just yet, the early reviews from the track have been that this bike is truly a monster. Not only is it nearly 10 horses up on earlier GSX-R1000s, but it's also got some fancier parts like radial brakes and adjustable fuel-map settings. There are good finance deals to be had on new bikes, but you're still bound to pay nearly double what you would for a used bike. Of course, the 2007 is just an aftermarket exhaust shy of being not only a good looker but also a wonderful performer, while our used example will require a fair amount of attention. At an MSRP of $11,399, it's not cheap, but should be worth every penny.