Looking to upgrade from your KTM RC 390 or Kawasaki Ninja 300? Well, prepare to drill a huge hole in your pocket
Being a KTM RC 390 owner for a few years now, I recently started looking for a more powerful motorcycle to upgrade to. With the RC 390 being the sportiest sub-400cc motorcycle here, the obvious upgrade in my mind was a supersport motorcycle that perfectly blends a healthy dose of power, sporty riding dynamics, and the beloved symphonic multi-cylinder engine growl.
I’ve penned down a more detailed analysis which you can read by simply swiping up.
The only problem with this plan? Well, there’s NOT A SINGLE supersport motorcycle on sale in India at the moment. In fact, our country has only ever received two proper supersport motorcycles – the Triumph Daytona 675 and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R – both of which have been discontinued, thus leaving the consumer, in this case, me, to search for used motorcycles.
And this is where I encountered an even gut-wrenching problem – exceptionally high used bike prices!
Used Triumph Daytona 675 & Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R Prices
Meanwhile, the 675R can be found averaging at over Rs 8 lakh and nearly Rs 9 lakh in a few cases
Now, I’ve been studying…well, window shopping, used bikes for a fairly long time and I consider myself fairly aware of how depreciation works.
To give you an idea, imagine you buy a motorcycle that costs Rs 7.5 lakh (ex-showroom) and Rs 9 lakh (on-road). So the moment you bring the motorcycle home and ride it (no matter how much), the extra Rs 1.5 lakh you paid in taxes basically gets more or less nullified, meaning if you have to sell the bike for whatever reason, you’d have to bear a Rs 1.5 lakh loss then and there.
Things only go downhill from here, and on average, the price of any commodity usually gets halved by the time it becomes around five years old, as per insurance company norms. Up to speed? Let’s come to the prices of the aforementioned Supersports bikes now.
On average, a 2015 Triumph Daytona 675, which retailed at between Rs 11-12 lakh (on-road) and is in its seventh year, has a shocking asking price of over Rs 6.5 lakh. That’s not it, though, as things only get crazier from here on.
When I looked for the more premium Daytona 675R, which had an on-road price of Rs 14 lakh, I was astonished to see an average asking price of over Rs 8 lakh, while some dealers even quoted Rs 8.95 lakh!
On average, a 2015 Daytona 675 costs nearly Rs 6.5 lakh, which is absurd considering this is a seven-year-old bike that originally cost Rs 10.5 lakh (ex-showroom)
Now I get dealers who want to make money and most of these bikes have accessories worth Rs 30-40,0000 but almost Rs 9 lakh for a six or seven-year-old motorcycle, that was priced at Rs 12 lakh (ex-showroom) at the time, is plain bonkers. Plus, a bike so old is probably already with its second owner (even third in a few cases), which should further depreciate its value.
If you’re looking to upgrade from a 300-400cc sportbike, the only supersport options in the market are the Triumph Daytona 675 & the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R
Coming to the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, things are “relatively” (emphasis on relatively) sensible here. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R was launched here in 2019, priced at Rs 10.5 lakh (ex-showroom) or Rs 11.3 lakh (on-road Delhi), before getting discontinued in the following year.
So what do you think would be the asking price for the ZX-6R judging from the depreciation calculated above? Rs 7.5 lakh? Rs 8 lakh? Well, prepare to be blown because the average asking price for the Kawasaki ZX-6R at the moment is between Rs 9.5 lakh and Rs 10.5 lakh.
And a used Kawasaki ZX-6R averages between Rs 9.5 to 10.5 lakh, that’s simply insane
This, though, makes more sense than the Daytona, as this is a much newer motorcycle, meaning better parts availability and less reading on the odometer. Still, there are no two ways about the fact that this is a sky-high price.
Why Such High Prices?
Coming to the Ninja ZX-6R, it was discontinued only in 2019 and its last known price is Rs 11.5 lakh (on-road Delhi)
Wondering why these bikes cost so much? Well, I believe this is because the Indian motorcycling scene (barring some exceptions) has matured and gained knowledge in a way that people finally know that 600cc supersport motorcycles offer more than enough power (around 120-130 horsepower) for Indian roads while costing a lot less than litre-class bikes.
A lot of the credit for these sky-high prices goes to the popularity of supersport bikes that’s emerged with growing knowledge amongst riders
This, in turn, has had a domino effect on the demand for such motorcycles, which, obviously, are available in very limited numbers since they’ve been discontinued. Couple this with the ever-rising popularity of multi-cylinder bikes and as a result, you see such obnoxious prices in the market. Had people been more aware of the potential of Supersports, there would probably be a lot more used ones out there to counter the demand.
This isn’t limited to this category of bikes, though, and a similar trend can also be seen for the Yamaha YZF-R3 which too was sold for a limited time here.
What’s The Way Out?
Since these were discontinued earlier, you can only buy them second-hand and they command super high prices. Wondering why? Well, that’s what I’ve tackled here
Well, there isn’t much you (or me) can do about it. However, market trends change all the time and all one can do is hope that the prices simmer down in a few months, once the losses from the pandemic are neutralized.
Before you say “just buy another motorcycle”, let me tell you that, sadly, no other kind of motorcycle offers a similar experience to proper Supersports, and this is also why such motorcycles are so popular and dearly missed throughout the world.
Till the prices simmer down, all I can tell you is to keep saving money and wish you the best of luck in getting your hands on your dream bike very soon!
Keyword: Used SuperBike Market Analysis: Why Does The Triumph Daytona 675 & Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R Cost A Bomb?