Crate expectations
Not just zero miles, but still in its crate. This ZXR750K recently sold for £52,000…
Old bikes in their original crates occasionally come up for sale when traditional dealers clear out their storerooms. Padgetts in West Yorkshire are famous for unearthing 1990s classics they didn’t even uncrate. But this 1991 ZXR750K2 – which has just sold for $69,978 (£52,000) in America – was bought by an ordinary customer. ‘It came from a gentleman in Arkansas,’ says Abhinay Eswarappa, the boss of Iconic Motorbikes, who ran the auction. ‘He bought two of these when new – one to ride and one to keep in the crate. Unfortunately he passed away recently and the crated bike came to us from his estate. The ‘rider’ had already been sold and I don’t know what happened to that.’
As any 1990s sportsbike addict will tell you, the K-model was the ZXR to have. Whereas the standard Js were limited to 100bhp to comply with EU power limits that never turned up, the K was a full juice homologation special. Built in 1991 and 1992, it made 121bhp thanks to higher compression, 500 more revs at the top-end and hotter cams than the standard ZXR. It also came with a close-ratio gearbox and crazyhigh first gear, Keihin 39mm flat slide carbs (along with a special hole in the right hand fairing so you could adjust them), an aluminium rather than steel tank, and fully adjustable suspension.
‘We believe this is a record price for the ZX-7 [American for ZXR750],’ says Abhinay. ‘We knew there would be passionate ZX-7 fans interested in this rare opportunity, but the final price was more than expected. The classic sportsbike market is tremendous right now – the children of the ’80s and ’90s who had posters of ZX-7S, CBR900RRS, 916s, and R1s, on their walls can now enjoy them and we consistently get requests from buyers looking for the older bikes of their dreams. I also believe that a large percentage of riders are more emotionally connected to classic sportbikes than they are to the modern ones which put such a heavy emphasis on technology and digital features.’
And what about the crate? Is that a common occurrence in America? ‘Normally I would have said no, but in the same week of the ZX-7R auction we had two Aprilia RSVS in crates and we’re currently talking to a collector interested in selling a Honda Ascot FT500 and Kawasaki H2R, both in the original crates. Maybe we’ll see a surge of them…’ » More temptation at iconicmotorbikeauctions.com