I have yet to talk to a rider who doesn’t look fondly upon the FZR 400. While not the littlest Fizzer in the lineup, the 400 somehow achieved the perfect blend of great handling and good enough power. While it will never pull like a liter-bike, it will run circles around one on tighter racetracks. As a result, many of the FZR 400 examples you will find have spent some time on a racetrack. That is not a bad thing, as it proves how worthy these bikes are when it comes to the Yamaha “Pure Sports” moniker.
1989 Yamaha FZR 400 for sale on eBay
From the seller:
When I bought this FZR400 in 2011 it was nowhere near as clean or excellent running as it was described. It is now! Previous owner had installed front braided steel brake lines and R6 calipers. I had to clean and adjust the carburetors and adjust the valves. It got new tires as well. New chain and sprockets and I started acquiring the missing bodywork. Rear subframe was removed for looks I assume so I had to rebuild that by hand. The rear brake caliper was rebuilt at the same time. New Racetech fork springs were installed and the forks got new seals and oil. They work great. I found out about the retrofitting of an R6 rear shock as an inexpensive way to upgrade the rear suspension and did that including hand made dogbones to keep the ride height the same as stock. Last but not least the new tires would not hold air so I had the wheels powdercoated black when the beads were machined smooth. The bodywork is not perfect but is darn close. The solo seat cowl was an all red unit for an FZR600 and I haven’t gotten the white painted yet so I used pearl white duct tape. Looks pretty good for now.There is a Battery Tender wired in and that goes with the bike. I have the cracked and repaired seat fairing that I replaced with a better one included too. A box of spares with another saddle, chainguard, passenger pegs, stock case covers, some hard to find fairing bits, stock fork springs which are still to spec, service manual etc. About four hundred miles on last oil and filter change and the muffler was repacked last winter. Runs great and handles even better. There is a good reason the motor cycle magazines say its “the best handling bike you can buy under $25,000.00” to this day. Find out for yourself.
As far as pricing goes, this FZR400s has an opening bid of $4,000 and a BIN of $4,500. That is fair money for one of these bikes, dependent upon condition. As with all rare bikes, we recommend that the prospective buyer do the requisite homework and ask a lot of questions. This one could turn out to be a pretty sweet ride that is worth the legwork. Good Luck!
MI
I ended up buying this bike for the starting bid ($3900) with 9 seconds left on the auction. I did not see it or talk to the owner, just bid, but I couldn’t stand to not bid. I have never raced any bikes before, and really don’t plan on it. I just wanted it to look at, and occasionally rip around the back roads where I live. I was 17 when these came out and I used to buy all the motorcycle magazines back then and they were heavily hyped. I always loved the looks and really wanted to add one of these to my collection of bikes. I thought the price was a little high, but I bid anyway, and I’m so glad I did. The previous owner was very meticulous, and he had the original auction paperwork from when he bought it (paid $2000, and had to go to Virginia from Chicago to get it), a huge stack of receipts from all the work he had done at the dealership ($2000+), a pair of works stands, a cover, a battery tender, a spare seat, all the setup instructions for the R6 rear shock, all the original covers, a spare tail, a spare seat, and too many extras to list. It also came with a mint owners manual and a factory service manual. The best part is he also gave me all the cycle magazines that featured the FZR400, the very ones that made me lust after these when I was younger and could only afford the magazines! I was very pleased. The bike is very well sorted, small flat spot, more of a hiccup between 6500 and 7000, but no other issues, all the way to 14,000. I am pleased as punch. It is much louder than I expected though, good thing I live in the country. With the free 150 mile delivery and all the goodies, I really think I got a good deal. I was a little concerned that no one else bid on it, but I’m glad I gambled and won. It will be a very long time before this bike is ever on the market again, if ever.
Thanks for the buyer report and congratulations on what sounds like a great deal!
dc