Looking at a Craigslist Kat

[SkimMilk]

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/mcy/351336332.html

So, I sent an email to this guy last week asking him whether the bike is a 600 or a 750 or what? He didn't respond until today, but this is what he said:

"Hi, I am selling a 1989 suzuki katana 750. I was out of town. sorry it took me awhile to respond. To answer your question, The bike originally was a 600 but the guy I bought it from said it was modified to 750cc. "

So, what do yall think? Should I get the bike? What should I look for on the engine, I've never looked at a engine swapped bike. I was thinking about offering $800 and working my way up to $1000 at most.

[ChadwickVM]

In my opinion, a modification like that doesn't really make it worth much more money. Secondly as an 89 with that kind of damage and that horrible of a paint job, I'd say its not worth much. You'd probably have to get the whole thing painted to make it look good and that'll be throwing almost a grand on an old bike.

Just my 2c

[SkimMilk]

I don't think I'll get it painted. My idea is to remove the plastics and work on trying to make it a nice naked bike. Or atleast ride it into the ground while saving for a newer bike.

[KatanaSoldier]

Looks like a nice project bike.

[fixer]

tail end and seat are from a 600.

the 700 would have the one piece seat, different taillight and rear fairings, plus a slightly longer swingarm and a different shock.

looks like it's got some hideous stickers on it, and some rash on the left side, probably from it falling off the sidestand check the left mirror to see if it's cracked ot not.

hmm, re-read the add and he says he slid on gravel the first time out... which is why i advise against a full-fairing bike for learners.

check to see if 2nd gear works properly, or if it's hard to shift into 2nd/falls out of 2nd into neutral.

the '89 came with a red seat, which was imposable to keep looking good, the black seat is from some later year and looks better IMHO. there's no rear grab rail, but you can get one on ebay.


NADA.com says "low retail" is $700 and "average retail is $920 for the 600 and $820 and $1080 respectively for the 750.

[Black_peter]

IMO start lower than 800...
750 engine lowers value IMO...
(just 23483 other things to worry about being wrong!)

[lhall002]

No way id start the bidding at $800. I would start at say $600 and top out at no more than $750. Id be willing to bet he'd take that for it in a heartbeat.

[chinto]

i agree that you should offer much lower. Have him pull the left fairing off the check the stamp to see what size the motor is. the nice thing about this bike if it is a 750 motor is that you can get 600 insurance rates. but I agree with BP that if anything it lowers the value. That motor is now on it's second bike (in the very best case scenario) Who knows what kind of mileage the motor has. Second gear is a big one to look out for. The bike looks like a decent starting point for a project but he is way low on his paint job estimation. If you do it yourself your probably looking at 250-300 in materials ( I recomend using quality products). If you pay someone to do it, your looking at 600-1000.

[87vert]

(just 23483 other things to worry about being wrong!)

bleh, 128 of those things are just cosmetic stuff

[viper1]

Ya I agree with the whole engine swapping thing...I'm no mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I would be really carefully with getting a bike that had an engine swap like this one.