Hi all,


Why are these bikes so cheap to buy, second hand i got a 38k fsh on a 2000 at £1300, poss $2600? lot of bike for money in my opinion...

Any ideas, ive googled searched and got loads of reviews before buying but all i hear is good, yet a inline 4 would cost a lot more.

Just askin Ta

 

demand for the heavier and lower horsepower VTR just isn't as high. simple enough. personally, i'm all about the v-twin sound and torque

 

American buyers are fickle, either they want a 4 cylinder race bike or a heavy vtwin cruiser, there seems to be little in between. People do not always buy bikes that suit them, rather they buy the bike that suits the crowd they want to be associated with. The VTR 1000F draws curious stares from both crowds, sort of looks like a GXSR, sort of sounds like a cruiser. Myself i don't give a rats *** what they think, I love riding my Hawk. Cheers to my Firestorm brethren across the pond. Mike

 

Actually, 1300 Euro is about $1950 USD. Good times for buyers, bad times for sellers.

 

I just got my 99 with 40k on the bike and 12k on the motor for $2k. She is in fine shape. I just got home from a 135 mile trip an she ran like a top. It will pass anything but a gas station.

 

Hold that thought.

 

I'm originally from England and I can say that the Brits love the IL4's and full sportbikes. The VTR is kind of oddball...originally brought out to slap the Ducati 916 but then immediately eclipsed by the Suzuki TL1000...

Thank goodness no one knows how good the VTR is otherwise the prices would be way higher! I just paid $3,000 Canadian (about 1,700 pounds) for a clean 12,000 kilometre 2000! Love the bike....

 

Actually when it first came out Honda said it's development target was the 900ss. I rode a 916 and a superhawk back to back and the bikes were night and day. After riding my superhawk the motor on the 916 felt plain weak...while they were dead even in a roll on to top speed, the superhawk felt MUCH stronger everywhere else in the powerband. On the other hand after riding the 916 and then getting back on the superhawk the steering and chassis suddenly felt...old.

Anyway they're getting cheaper because they're 10 year old bikes...most other sportbikes of similar year aren't really worth that much more. On top of the fact that everybody's on their *** and all bikes are selling for cheap right now. Glad I didn't buy one of those 100k dollar choppers...ouch.

 

Ok, don’t kill me. I traded a Buell for the VTR. I had my doubts at first. The Superhawk is much closer to a VFR than most folks would have wanted and riding the very raw Cyclone back-to-back with the Honda… Well, I guess I was afraid at first that it would be a bit soulless, even with the high mount cans and, erm, unusually paint job.

Honda makes great bikes, but they don’t make many mad machines. They play a rather safe game, and we’re all better for it because the bikes don’t usually end up like a messy abortion, like the TLs. But as far as the market goes, twins are crazy niche bikes, and our VTR is often seen as too conservative to mix it up with Buells, Ducatis, Aprilias, and (badly handling) TL1000s.

The Hawk GT was the same way and then folks started hot rodding them. It was nice in ‘88, but it wasn’t all that exciting. But for about six years there – from ‘91 to ‘99 or so (when the SV650 was released) – used prices stayed steady and then started rising. This was because it was the only horse in the race and the upgrades allowed it to be modern compared to F2s / F3s and the odd Ninja.

But when the SV was released, Hawk sales tanked, even through a sorted Hawk GT will beat a SV in the only place either bike really shines: Very tight technical roads. (Both bikes are pretty slow when things straighten out.) Although the bikes were VERY different in a lot of ways – the Honda was jewel like, a quality product from any angle, while the SV is a poorly finished machine – the market saw them as more or less the same and gave the nod to the Suzuki.

I don’t know what RC51 sales are like right now, but I imagine they’re fairly steady compared to SHs. This is due in part to the fact that it’s more sporting to begin with, but the RC also stole the VTR’s fire. (Just like the TL1000R put out the TL1000s fire.) The TLs made the VTR look balanced; the RCs made them look soft. Honda couldn’t have killed enthusiasm for the SH more if they’d tried.

There is a chance the VTR will become the cult bike the Hawk GT was / is, but I don’t think that’s likely. Part of this is demographics – the folks who were into he Hawk GT were Boomers who lusted after a modern Triumph Bonnie (a balanced bike without a lot of race bodywork) or odd Gen Xers who, well, just liked odd bikes and could (finally) get into a quality used bike in the middle 1990s.

I think a lot of folks are like me. They are surprised by the VTR. I thought it would be a one-season bike, but now I’m trying to scrape up cash to do silly mods. It’s really a pleasant surprise, but I don’ expect to make money on the bike. I’ll sell it when it explodes.

R.

 

wehey!!

so as expected, no reason just taste, down the street i have a neighbour who has a gsxr 750 and up the rd various others, the neighbour said when i told her about the bike when i were thinking of getting it said i was mad, just for the sheer power, and the fact it had 38k wasn't a good idea, but like most people i aski tend to take on board and not listen though and go for gut feeling, im glad i did now... dont care much for the gsxr, get to notice that everyone seems to have one of any engine type.
just dont get to ride the vtr as its allllwaaays bloody raining over in blighty, really envious of you guys in the states having sun sun sun and maybe a little rain now and again!

 

Hi I am Thomas.
I am agree with teamtoxic. Demand will increase price and right now demand for heavier and lower horsepower is not high enought.

 

Hi Nick,

Where are you at in England? I was in Brighouse, West Yorkshire most of my time, until Canada. Blimey, I saw your floods in t' North a couple of weeks ago...bad, bad scene! There again, you have bloody fabulous roads to ride on (if you get out of the traffic!).

We traded rain for snow, but, that said, we've just had the mildest November since 1937! Go figure - may be Al Gore is right. I was out riding until last weekend...now swapped the VTR's place in the garage for my 30 inch snowblower...YAY!

 

See it seems to me the SH demands honesty from its owner. Like do I honestly need 160 hp? Can I be happy with 100Hp? Where will I really be riding, the street or the track? Do I care what other think? Do I care if people find my choice weird or stupid? See honesty, thats why it seems like to me most of the members here are pretty down to earth. That is why this is the curse of the SH in a country where extravegence sells, the superhawk is too practical, not enough show or go. Many people then never find out that even though it is, it is also fun.