WELCOME
Buying bikes; it's a big thing for all of us, regardless of whether you're spending the equivalent of a mortgage, or handing over the kind of cash you might find down the back of the sofa.
I am habitually tight,owning two new ‘used' bikes… a Kawasaki ZX-7R (which is absent once again this issue, but there's good news on the way) and a Suzuki GSX-R 600 SRAD, which I've not so much as sat on yet. Why have I bought them? Arguably, nostalgia has a lot to do with it, and that was also a factor when I bought my RSV Mille a few years ago. I'm getting older, and those bikes were cool when I was a whippersnapper, so having come along at the right price, I've bagged them. Ultimately, the ZX-7R will be sold, as per the concept of our ‘Shed-find-to-superbike' feature, but the Suzuki's likely to stay for a stretch of time… assuming the missus doesn't find out about it. They're starting to go up in value, too, which is a bonus, and my ‘get out of jail' if the better half does find out – it then becomes an investment, for the sake of the family and next year's holiday. Joking aside, there are plenty of cunning folk that roll those dice and make a good living out of buying the right bikes at the right time. That's the core basis of this issue, masterfully covered by Johnny, who's identified the bikes that are already peaking, the models on the rise and the ones worth a punt. I almost wish I hadn't read what he had to say, because now I can't stop scanning for new metal, so take that as a warning… you don't want to end up with my newfound affliction.
