Found a 1996 Ninja 600R, less than 2K Miles...need advice on buying

[Mscanon99]

Hi All,

New here, looking for some help with buying a 1995 Ninja 600R. If you can help me out, I really appreciate it.

1. Is this model a basic version of the bike? I don't see much on them.

2. Its been sitting, run only a few times in the last 10 years, not run in about 5 years. What should I do to it? I am thinking of the engine and carbs. Should I condition the motor befor turning it over, with oil in the head or something like that?

3. Not having one of these, been with Yamaha in the past, are these good bikes? Are there weak spots or area's I should focus on first?

The bike needs a few things like turnsignals and the start control that is attached to the handlebars, but seems to be in pretty good shape overall. Whats it worth? I figured for 500.00, I cant go wrong, however I have been down that road before and figured wrong.

Thanks

MS

[roflcopters]

I'd weight it out...are you gonna end up putting more into it to get it in running condition than you would buying a newer one? That's just how I'd look at it.

[kawpaul]

Take a few pictures and post them here and let the 'experts' give you a ballpark figure of it's value.

If you do get it put a little oil down the sparkplug holes and let it sit for a day and repeat. I would say 2-3 ounces should be fine. Right off I would say it will need a battery, tires, and the carbs gone through. Do yourself a favor when you pull the carbs and do the lemon juice boil. You can read about it in this thread, second post. Also you may want to get some new carb boots to make it easier to reinstall them if the airbox is still on the bike. http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/fo...on-normal.html

[MagicNinja]

If its not bad. I'd get it. 500 isn't bad. I got mine for 1000. Its a 1992, but with a new motor. How many miles on it?

The reason you might not find much on it is because its a probably a C model. Instead of the full cradle frame design it has the same a frame design of the 250/500 Ninjas. Its the same motor of the zx6 but they took off alot of weight by using a lighter frame. They are great bikes. If you need one I have a PDF of the manual. It took a while to find one. PM me if you need it.

[sebastian1000]

The same motor as the ZX-6? Uhh no. The 600R motor in question is 85chp...while a ZX-6 is a completely different design and makes more power. The ZX-6 has different sized carbs, different compression, different bore and stroke, etc. and makes approximately 105chp at 12,500 rpm's versus 85chp at 11,000 rpm's. The 600R is technology from around 1988. A good little bike and fun to ride IMHO.

I have owned a 1997 ZX-600 C10 600R model (last year she was made) and she still purrs...my GF owns it currently. Mine has been VERY reliable and has over 35,000 miles on it currently. The old school valve set-up makes for easy valve adjustment as opposed to a more current shim under bucket setup. The smaller rims and tires make the bike very flickable...and it will surprise those that don't know better in terms of quickness.

It is a very solid starter bike, I would put it slightly ahead of bikes such as the 650R or SV-650...less torque but a little more horsepower. I recommend you taking a look at Bhavesh's old thread (started in 2005, currently 175 pages...so while it is a LONG read it has a lot of relevant information) related to the 600R:

http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/fo...r-88-97-a.html

For 500 dollars I would give it a go. It really was a fun little bike when I had mine. I paid more than 500 for mine that's for sure but I didn't need to do any work to her. Hope this helps.

-Seb