The four stroke small-sports are definitely whipping up on the stock market this year, and this barely used 1989 will likely continue the trend. It’s a cornering machine with 60 hp and ready-to-ride weight well under 400 lbs. New repro bodywork to preserve the excellent factory set can only help.
1989 Yamaha FZR-400 for sale on eBay
The progressive-license wars had been going on for several years overseas, and all of the big four had four valve inline fours available with racey lookalike styling. The Yamaha won the refinement award with the EXUP exhaust valve tailoring the torque curve, and build quality was just shy of the red benchmark. Except for the fields with numbers, the specs read like its big brother OW-01 – Deltabox frame, Genesis top end, quad Mikunis, dual front disks, and staggered alloy wheels.
The owner’s not saying much about the history or whether this example is an import, but despite the nearly three decades it shows no corrosion and has Colorado paperwork. Some 1989’s have updated seat console and fairing while this one has more details from a few years before, perhaps an aficionado could comment. From the eBay auction:
Never raced.
This bike comes with two sets of plastics.
The plastics on the bike currently are Japanese racing repro’s.
The bike comes with the original plastics in fantastic condition.
In addition the bike comes with original manual, rear footpegs, back seat,
spare perfect condition radiator and hoses and a new red front fender.The bike does not smoke or drip.
Tires are older and should probably be changed before serious riding.
There is a hairline crack in the original front fender not noticeable unless you look for it.
The original pipe has a couple of scratches that have been touched up but there are no
dents or damage of any kind.
Though the FZR-400 was imported for a few years, the displacement arms race and premium MSRP curtailed its long term success. Riders with a track day habit or easy access to some twisty bits have re-discovered the segment, and the bikes can be maintained at home. This one looks too nice to track, but could certainly take in some turns on the way to a bike night…
-donn
Yeah, no. This bike has a lot more than 1,200 miles. Never raced? Maybe not but definitely tracked. The seller has replaced the grips, added braided front brake lines with aftermarket front rotors but doesn’t mention it in the ad. The original plastic fairings have a lot of wear near the bolt mounting holes. That doesn’t happen on a bike that sits in a garage for 30 years. I hate sellers like this.
This one really is rare, it has the YPVS system! 🙂
Agree with Chris, pass. There are so many other nice FZR 400s still around. They are rare, but not that rare so hold out for a good one if you are in the market.
I found the fairing wear more than 1,200 miles worth as well but the rest is too clean not to bring up for review… 🙂
mileage authentic or not I wonder if he’ll break the $5,000 Mark for this particular example. A $4,000 bike all day in my opinion despite his upgrades
Every time a metal keychain rests on a triple tree, Jesus sheds a tear.
With all of these supposed low mileage bikes that keep showing up there is one obvious point that needs to be remembered: the only thing the odometer tells you is how far that particular speedometer has traveled, and even then they can’t be trusted because many have been restored and/or rolled back. If you are paying top dollar for any bike based on the odometer reading you are asking for trouble. Look at the bike first and the odometer last.
Amen brother. For the life of me I don’t understand why people do this!!
Why doesn’t the seller just say he did a full blown restoration? It is very nice, but a 1,200 mile unmolested piece that sat, nope don’t believe it.
Even if it was brand new I can’t see anyone paying $8500. These were nice, fun bikes but not particularly rare back in the day (I recall seeing and riding many) These seems like pretty good proof of the sport bike bubble…….
Values today are directly indicative of remaining stock not how many you saw “back in the day”. There are not many of these out there and they are neat little bikes. The RZ350 is a perfect example of a cheap, plentiful bike that is valuable due to a lack of survivors. These are neat bikes but many of the comments here are valid. Unfortunately not much that can be done to stop dishonest sellers as ignorance is bliss in used vehicle sales. Much like the Nortons and other brit bikes of past, the people that were young when these came out are not in their solid income earning years. Pretty much how the cycle of ‘classics’ goes. Bike prices still do not see the multiples out there in the classic car world…
Or, do the right thing (what Yamaha SHOULD have done originally) and put a 2 stroke lump in the damn thing in the first place! I did and never looked back. I think most people don’t have any idea how much h.p. you can coax out of an RZ/Banshee. The fitment can be tedious but when you shed almost 100 lbs off stock form and push hp to NEAR triple digits, now we are talking!
I understand supply and demand but the prices I have been tracking are well in bubble territory. Folks start acting like these bikes are so rare that prices will never come down. Of course, if someone is willing to pay, great for the seller. But like the classic car crash and housing bubble bursting sport bikes prices will come back down to earth eventually.