Baader-Meinhof? Another 1999 Kawasaki ZX11 in Candelberry Red

One thing regular RSBFS readers may have noticed is how listings seem to go in waves;  we won’t have a bike appear on RSBFS for a while and then suddenly multiple ones will pop up for sale.  Examples of this include not seeing any Kenny Roberts RD350’s or GSX-750R slingshots for a while, then we got a bunch of each. Perhaps the best example of this phenomenon was a few years ago we had 3 different KTM RC8R Red Bull editions pop up for sale at the same time (only 25 of these were built in total so having 3 for sale of the same time really blows out the statistical models).

Perhaps this is all just coincidence ala “Baader-Meinhof-Phenomenon” or has to due with seasonality, I don’t know.   What I do know is that just last month we were finally able to post a US-located ZX11-D in the lovely Candleberry red.  It took almost a year for a clean example of a 1993 ZX11 in candelberry red to pop up on ebay USA but now we have another one in equally excellent condition.

1999 Kawasaki ZX11-D in candleberry red on ebay

The big Kawasaki was one of the first hyper-touring machines and personally still reminds me of the scene in Spaceballs where they go to Ludicrous Speed (although apparently Tesla has now appropriated that concept).  When it was launched in 1990 the big Kawasaki was able to hit top speeds of over 170 mph and became top dog in the hyper-touring market segment which it ruled until the introduction of the Honda Blackbird.

The ZX11’s phenomenal speed was due to the introduction of ram-air induction, a first for a big bike.  But as was typical of 1000cc bikes of the early 1990’s before the Fireblade, the ZX11/ZZR was designed to be an all around machine, with wide comfortable seating, luggage hooks, good wind/weather protection, a full dash, etc.  It even came with a bit of old school tech, am integrated center stand.

NOTE:  The ZX11 is a large bike that weighs a full 604lb/274 kilos when completely filled with gas, so the center stand is quite valuable.

This particular ZX11 is listed as have 25,xxx miles and looks to be incredibly clean; the only bit of customization appears to be the removal of the NINJA decals from the two main fairing lowers.  There are no marks on the  exhaust canisters/mufflers so I don’t think the bike has been down.

Here is what the seller has to say

• NEW FUEL FILTER AND SPARK PLUGS
• STOCK BUT FOR WINDSCREEN, ALSO HAVE STOCK SCREEN
• NO MARKS ON THE FRAME ,NO SCRATCHES ON THE TANK SHEILD,
• HAS BEEN LIGHTLY USED PAST FEW YEARS, BEEN ADULT OWNED BY A VERY PROFESSIONAL RIDER.
• HIGH TECH BATTERY
• CLEAN CARBS
• CLEAN UNRUSTED GAS TANK
• NINJA STICKERS REMOVED

Is this lovely big Ninja worth the reserve asking price listed of $3,400? That price is above KBB retail values for a 1993 Kawasaki ZX11-D but more importantly,  the one we posted last month had less miles and sold for a flat $3k.

I think a reasonable price for this one to  move on to a new owner will be somewhere around $2,900 USD.  I do think this is another great opportunity for someone to pick up a more refined big, fast sport touring machine that can blow the doors off a lot of more modern equipment.

-Marty/Dallaslavowner