Opinions on a higher-mileage bike

[Josh1234]

Hey guys, I just thought I'd get some opinions.  I used to own an '04 cat and I loved it, so I'm looking to pick up another (I took a break from riding of maybe 2 years, but got back into it a few months ago.  I've been puttering around on a ninja 500 to get my feet wet, again).

 

Unfortunately, good bikes are hard to find!  Lots of bikes are beat to hell, with mechanical or fairing damage, or their owners are simply asking too much money, or they're in terrible shape, or have high mileage.  Obviously, I want new, cheap, and in good shape with low miles  Picking the right bike to buy is always a matter of compromising on some combination of all of those.  

 

The short story is that someone from the boards here knows someone with a 'cat for sale, and pointed me in his direction.  Here's the response I got about the bike:

 

 Hi Josh, how are you. The title says it is a 2000 Yamaha YZF600R.  It has a clean title. I think l am the third owner. Not really sure. Found an old registration under the seat that was not the name of the person l bought it from. I purchased this bike June of 2009 it had about 11,000 miles on it. I rode it till June 2012. I purchased a 2009 ZX10R in May of 2012. Was going to sale the 600 but never got around to it. The 600 sat for about two years. I think l rode it maybe six times. Will say l put 600 miles on it. Put new battery in it July 4th this year. Put on new rear tire and changed the oil & filter at 37,000 miles. I use lucas full synthetic oil 20w-50. I did valve adjustments at 32,000 miles. 26,000 miles is recommended interval. Was trying to put an HID headlight in but had to remove. Stopped working. Not Reliable. So l took it out and put in a new Sylvania silver star headlight. It has Michelin pilot power 2ct tires on it. Do not know much about the graphics on it. Is the way l bought it. I always run two drive chains on my bikes. So it can come with two chains if you want. I use clip style master links. So every 1000 miles or so l change the chains so l can clean the other one. The chains have about 20,000 miles on them together. So if you take care of them you should get another 20,000 miles. I thought l had some of the rivet style master links but l don't. Put on new intake boots at 32,000 miles when l adjusted the valves. Put on new front drive sprocket at 36,200 miles. Comes with a Yamaha Service manual. Have a cam cover gasket go with it. Runs good. Had to clean the carbs out. Had some dirty from sitting around so long. I have put about 1,800 miles since july 4th. Suspension is set on the soft side but that can be changed. Nada said the bike is worth around $2,400. The back pack does not go with the bike. I would let it go for $2000. The bike is in good condition. Has some dings and scratches and stone chips. Its all stock except for the slip on. It mite have a preformance ignition rotor. I just have out grown it. Need to get another ZX10R. Was in an accident on 4/18/14. A kid pulled out in front of me and l T-boned him. Totaled my 09 ZX10R. Almost totaled me. Ok hope l gave you enough info. My cell # is XXX-XXX-XXXX if you need any more info. Ok thanks for listening. Bye for now.

 

It has obviously been maintained well, but it DOES still have 38,000 miles on it.  I've got a couple of pictures, and it looks like it's in good shape.  Also, a member I respect has seen it and says it's very clean and in good shape.  The price is obviously right, but cleanliness and price won't matter much if 2nd gear decides to crap out, or the whole engine goes somehow, or even if I have to start throwing money at repairing brakes, etc.    The closest comparison is one on Craigslist that has only 3K more miles, but is an 06: http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/4598046427.html

 

Obviously, they're not the same bike, but I would just welcome any input people have for me about buying a cat with such high mileage.  I've been (literally, I'm not using hyperbole or exaggerating here) checking Craigslist for my city and about 6-8 others for YZF600 postings DAILY.  

 

I'm pretty set on a stock Blue & white, although that repainted one would be tolerable.  The one in the e-mail is blue, although it has fairings that aren't my favorite: (http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2000models/2000models-Yamaha-YZF-600R.htm) same as there.

 

I plan to use the bike mainly for a 30-minute commute (each way) to work & back.  Occasionally I'll go on group rides.

 

My budget is.... Looking to spend 2K, but would spend 3K on the RIGHT bike.  Those are few and far between, and summer is half over.

 

Another way to look at it is this.... Would you pay $500 or $750 to take 20,000 miles off your bike, or would you rather keep the money and have a higher mileage bike?

 

[C-bus]

That mileage seems high for those of us in Ohio, but it's nothing on a bike like that. It appears to have been well-maintained.

[Pokey]

11k is just broke in, I know of a guy with the same bike that I have with over 300k on his. Shit ton of bikes out there for sale, and 3/4 of them are solid to buy and ride the guts out of them.

[fizzer]

I bought my vfr with ~28.5k on it this spring and it now has almost 34k. I wouldn't worry about almost 40k unless the bikes have known issues. Modern motorcycle engines can last easily as long as car engines given proper maintenance and if the owner doesn't beat the piss out of them. Offer 1800 given the miles and enjoy it. 

[mello dude]

Obviously I'm biased but

http://columbus.craigslist.org/mcy/4596887125.html

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/mcy/4595691706.html

[gsJack]

I've only had 400-750cc air cooled bikes and would expect a liquid cooled one to have greater life.  Put 80k miles on a CB750k and a CB650SC went to about 60k and both were below par when I replaced them.  I've done much better with air cooled twins.  My CM400A topped 100k miles and my 97 GS500E was at 80k when it was totaled and still ran like new.  My current 02 GS500 topped 100k miles late last summer and it's starting to sound a bit loose but still runs as good as ever.  I expect at least 80-100k miles from an air cooled twin and would expect more from a liquid cooled four, one with only 38k on the clock should just be nicely broken in if it's been well maintained.

[Josh1234]

Thanks guys,.  I'm going to see what happens with one other bike, and maybe make an offer on the high mileage one.  It only scares me since I'll be using it as a daily commuter, but then, at least if something DOES happen, I'll be close to home, have a cell signal, and people I can call  I'm sure I'd love it if I just bought it and didn't look at the ODO  

 

I'll keep ya'll updated, of course!

[cptchaos]

Hey Josh, check yzf600r.com for sale forum too. Welcome back to the thundercat club if you find one again!

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[Josh1234]

Hey Josh, check yzf600r.com for sale forum too. Welcome back to the thundercat club if you find one again!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks... Already on there! And I found a new Cat last night, so it looks like I'll actually belong, over there

[cptchaos]

Cool! Just broke the AF mixture screw seals and synced my carbs Friday - huge difference. If your AF screws are still sealed, you should get in there and check. Mine were way off from the factory.

[Josh1234]

Cool! Just broke the AF mixture screw seals and synced my carbs Friday - huge difference. If your AF screws are still sealed, you should get in there and check. Mine were way off from the factory.

 

That's WAY beyond my mechanical ability

[cptchaos]

Nah, anyone can do it with the how-to guides on the site. I should bring my sync tool to the gap meet next year and do a "sync party" as long as the AF screws are uncapped :-)

[Phreon]

I hope this doesn't constitute a hijack - How old is to old or too many miles for a bike like a used V-Strom 650?  Sat on a 2011 @ Iron Pony this weekend - it was like they built it for my body.

[cptchaos]

For me it's about how you feel about doing maintenance or paying to have it done.  I know of a couple of guys that have over 100K on their yzf600rs and take care of them really well.  In those cases, high mileage just means that you'll be picking up repairs that come later in a bike's life like rings, gears, other slower wearing parts.  A young bike might have those too if it's abused but you'll get more of the standard maintenance items like chain, sprocket, fluids, tires.  Trick here is to get one where it's well maintained so that you don't immediately have to jump in and do all those things.  There are bargains but usually because maintenance was "deferred" by the PO.  Engineering factors into this as well but I don't have enough familiarity with the different makes to say which ones are good out to 60k etc.

[Bakemono]

If the bike has been well cared for, 38K wouldnt bother me at all.  If the bike starts good, runs good and doesnt make any weird noises, Id pull the trigger on it without a second thought.  (other the fact that its one of them there blue bikes...LOL)