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So how many miles is a high mileage bike


o-no-moto

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So with the demise of my beloved fzr600. I will be in the market for a newer model bike would like to stick to the 600 or at the most 750 class bike. So what is believed to be high mileage for said 2002 and up sport bikes. On a side note I will probably selling my wrecked 600

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Too many factors, but I would say that the majority of well maintained liquid cooled motorcycles should easily exceeded 100k. There is a V-Strom 1000 out there with well over 300k, and he has just performed basic maintenance and replaced wear items. Many riders will rarely ever see more than 50k on a bike they buy or own, but there are exceptions. :)

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My fzr was really low miles too....Most of the bikes I've bought were pretty low miles, my 97 tl1000 only had like 17k on the clock when I bought it. The fzr was around 20. My bandit was I think right around 20 too. As previously stated, as long as it's been maintained miles aren't a huge factor but there's no way of knowing how it was ridden. Check under the back seat for rubber from burnouts, look for evidence of stunting like scraped up or mid matched plastics, don't buy from a kid under 25 with a flat brim hat on....look at the person's home: if the lawn is manicured and the car is spotless, bike was probably cared for. If there's a few dogs living under the porch and they have a litany of vehicles relying on cinder blocks for support in the yard, keep shopping.

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Too many factors, but I would say that the majority of well maintained liquid cooled motorcycles should easily exceeded 100k. There is a V-Strom 1000 out there with well over 300k, and he has just performed basic maintenance and replaced wear items. Many riders will rarely ever see more than 50k on a bike they buy or own, but there are exceptions. :)

 

Yea, those high mileage numbers on the V-Strom boards are staggering!  I'm already seeing 10-25k+ on 2013 models and 50k+ on some 2012 bikes.  Wow!

 

But, we know that those guys (gasp!) actually change their own oil and filters, maintain their chains, check tire pressures, torque the bolts, change tires when needed or every 5 years, whichever comes first, do TPS (aka carb) syncs and check valve clearances on schedule and so on.  In other words, they don't want to get left out in the boonies playing ADVenture games and know that maintenance is therefore critical to having the kind of fun they want.

 

Whenever I buy used bikes, I assume that the previous owner(s) did only the minimum maintenance, at best.  What's the bare, dumb-ass minimum?  Oil and filter changes.  That might get you 15-50k on a bike, but you're gonna have to do more to reliably go beyond.  The good news is that it's mostly straightforward and enjoyable work once you have the tools, a service manual and YouTube.

 

If I buy a bike under 600 miles on the clock, that means it's still running the original oil and oil filter, hasn't been torque-checked and so on, so I personally perform the first maintenance interval early - ALL of the items stated in the service manual - and I record it in a smartphone reminder app.  I also record a baseline compression test, replace the spark plug, check the hydraulic fluid (erring in the side of caution with replacement) and usually replace the tires depending on tread depth, tire age and rubber consistency.  Sometimes I also do a TPS/carb sync at that time.  I price all of those things into the purchase price.

 

If I buy a bike coming up on a major maintenance schedule, I'll likewise lower the offer by $500+ because the seller is most likely trying to unload it before he/she's hit with the the cost to maintain confidence in the bike.  At that point, I make a judgement call on whether the bike has ever been properly maintained because that'll tell me what kind of life it probably has left in it.

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I prefer a bike that's been ridden and maintained to one that's been sitting unused.

 

Absolutely.  In aviation, vehicles that sit unused are called Hangar (or Tarmac) Queens and have Hangar (or Tarmac) Rash.  Expensive things happen to steel, rubber and plastic when they're left to rot.  I kinda feel like owning a bike is like taking care of a puppy.  It's a commitment to play with it, feed it, keep up with the shots...

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And I've been neglecting mine. I don't ride into work anymore because I'm on day shift now and it's just a Hassel when you wake up with barely enough time to get out of the door...then I get home and work on the yard or whatever, always something else to do, always and excuse....no more. Gonna put a few hundred on the clock this week weather permitting.

And now, we return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

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This is a tough question for a lot of the reasons already discussed.

 

I think you should always try to look at a bike, hear it running, and (if possible) ride it before judging whether or not you would own it.  A nice "tight" sounding engine with 40,000 miles on the clock is probably fine.

 

a 2009 bike with tons of valve chatter and cam-chain noise and an oil spot on the garage floor beneath it is cause for concern.  Know the basic model history, and common issues (ex. said cam-chain tensioner on 90's Hondas), and just do a good inspection.

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redkow has a good point - check out the guy/gal selling you their bike. 

 

Look at their garage.  Do they have other motorsports stuff in there?  What's it look like?  If the cars and other machines in there look pristine, you can feel a little more comfy. 

 

Then talk to them and get a feel for what kind of maintenance they did.  Can they give you service records for the big stuff?  (valve checks, etc.)  Find out what kind of riding they do.  If you can, get them to pull some of the plastic off and let you have a look underneath.  Then do all the other checks you're supposed to do (tank, fork play, etc.)

 

Intuition is an undervalued skill/trait.

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I put over 75k miles on my first bike, a 1987 Ninja 750, and have bought other high mileage bikes in the past.  Like the others have stated, if the bike has been well maintained it shouldn't be a deterrent from buying one. 

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Interesting. Modern bikes can put on a lot more miles.  Apparently water cooled helps, I think. The older bikes in 60s and 70s would tend to have valves get squishy and leak compression a bit at about 40-50k. I don't think that happens anymore.

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Interesting. Modern bikes can put on a lot more miles.  Apparently water cooled helps, I think. The older bikes in 60s and 70s would tend to have valves get squishy and leak compression a bit at about 40-50k. I don't think that happens anymore.

 

And most of those can be re-valved - often only requiring a lap job, new guides and seals (though I'd probably do the rings while I was in there, and potentially new valves themselves if I can get them).

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The older bikes had heavier valves and softer seats and guides. The metallurgy has really improved since then with titanium valves and improved alloy guides, along with a much lighter entire valve train with fewer moving parts. Head, port and valve geometry has also vastly improved in the last 30 years....unless you ride a harley

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