‘Kwak’ll do nicely’

At the time of writing it looks like the CBR600F I snapped up has gone to a dealer I know. I’d have liked to have kept it but you can’t be too sentimental in this business and a swift £250 profit for a morning’s work (collecting the thing and getting it home) is a quick turnover.

Remember, what I did here and, indeed, with all the bikes I buy, isn’t magic. There is no ‘Magic Pot Of Cheap Used Bikes’ only accessible to traders. It’s a matter of knowing the market and knowing what is underpriced. eBay, where I sourced the CBR, is open to all. Anyone can do this.

So I’m going to do you a favour – having tipped the CBR600F as undervalued before I bought mine, here’s another (and it’s a bike I’ve flagged up before): Kawasaki’s ZZR600. The ZZR was, like the CBR, more practical than the pure sports 600s (GSX-R, R6, ZX-6R, etc) and, like the CBR, was very longlived. It remained on sale for 17 years from 1990 with only minor updates to brakes and suspension, apart from one makeover in 1993. It never got fuel-injection nor a major restyle every few years like the CBR600F. It even has a centrestand.

It’s also blindingly fast (160★ mph), extremely comfortable, amazingly economical and has a big tank for good range. Best of all, it’s ridiculously cheap. There’s no need to pay more than £1500 for a superb example, and even really good ones can be had for little over a grand. I’m sure that values are going to climb again once people realise what a fabulous bike the ZZR is, so I’m going shopping for one. Maybe more than one.