Used Sports Bike Acceptable Mileage Limit?

[Spit-Fire]

iv been looking at used superports recently, as i hopefully will be in the market for a new one shortly.

i often come across examples that are lower priced due to them having higher then normal mileage.

i was wondering, whats the general ceiling on acceptable miles for a sports 6? (or any sports bike).

most of the ones i see are early 20 thousands.] but rage to mid 30's
as they are (surely) designed to run far beyond this,
would a bike with this kind of use be a bad buy?

i would be grateful for all thoughts and opinions
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they say the good die young... i say we just live faster

[Josh91]

Early 20's on a bike isn't anything to worry about really.

It may affect resale value quite a bit if you end up adding a fair few miles to it though.

[swiftb]

All depends how old it is. I bought my zx6r with 27k on the clock, it was 8yr old at the time. Thats still less than 3,500miles per year on average. Its been a great buy at a great price and the mileage is in no way a hinderance. If I carry on maintaining it well I see no reason why it wont hit double its current mileage without major expense.
Im currently looking at changing bikes and im looking for something no more than 5yrs old.
Something with up to 15k on the clock will be considered, providing its got full service history.
It makes you wonder all these 'low mileage' late 80's early 90's sportsbikes you see on ebay etc. '20yr old cbr, 8,000 genuine miles'. Yeah right...

[DrDonnyBrago]

Even 30/40k isn't high if it has been looked after. The influx of barely used sportsbikes onto the market is a fairly recent thing tbh, too many garage ornaments that noone has any time/money to ride (mine included).

I certainly wouldn't be overly put off by a bike with 30-40k, so long as it isn't due many consumables, has been looked after and has been priced accordingly.

[supZ]

forget age, etc.. whats important is how its been looked after.

id be happier with a 50k bike thats got a fsh than a 15k bike with none.

in fact my blade holds true to that. currently on 32k and shes mint
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CBR954RR - Daily toy
CBR600RR - Trackbike

[pinkyfloyd]

i agree with the above. it all depends on the age of the bike.

my gsxr750 has 34K miles on the clock but its 19 years old and when u do the maths that works out at just under 1.8K miles a year. thats nothing really. the engine has been stripped and rebuilt since then too.

i didnt vote in the poll for that reason.

between 3K and 5K per year would be an accepted milage. that covers to and from work and the regular sunday blasts.
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[Kickstart]

Hi

Agree with those above saying it depends on how it has been treated and what bike it is. Thrash a bike on track days and you will be doing a hell of a lot more wear than a bike that has been used for long motorway journies.

However given the number of low mileage bikes around there seems to be little reason to buy one with high mileage without a decent discount on the price.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Spit-Fire]

all high mileage examples iv seen are a fair few hundreds of quid cheaper.
but sure if this was due to a inherit problem with high miles and sports bikes,
or just the fact that it has the big effect on resale value in a competitive market

what about things other then the engine,
would wear and tear not mean they would be due replacement too?

also, do you think the mileage suggest what kind of use its had, or type of owner.

would a 2005 zx6r with 30,000 miles make you suspect of its treatment..... or just think it must of racked up a lot of mundane motorway miles
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they say the good die young... i say we just live faster

[Pete.]

This is just one of those things where you have to take each case on it's merits. High mileage and good maintenance is far better than low mileage and neglect.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Kickstart]

Hi

Chassis bearings wear. Probably steering head and suspension linkage first (ignoring wheel bearings as they are pretty much consumables). But the rear shock will wear, forks will wear and bushes will need replacement. Exhaust will rot and / or crack. Silencer will get noisier as the packing compresses. Radiator and oil cooler will probably start to have the fins rot.

Electrics can suffer as well.

And the older it is the more abuse the frame has taken, hence the possibility of cracks increases.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[plugger147]

It really is hard to say, you could have a bike that the previous owners done a lot of miles on but looked after because he doesn't want it breaking down when he's touring or a bike with lower miles on that's been neglected because the guy only rode a few local miles when the weathers been nice.

Personally I would buy a 20- 30k bike if it rode well and didn't have any major faults on viewing the money saved you can easily get fork/shock rebuilds upgrade bit's you didn't like and still have change left over.
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Tristan the wrote: just whipped off my trousers to find a big bruise on my arse, caused by matt rear ending me...

[Spit-Fire]

do you think the high mileage is likely to have racked up on long commutes though?
wouldn't that kind of journey on a sports 600 be tedious and warrant a chiropractor to stand straight by the end of the week
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they say the good die young... i say we just live faster

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not really. Both Bendy and G have GSXR1000s that get used for commuting type journies.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Polarbear]

In the Goldwing fraternity 70000 is considered just run in so I dont see why a modern hyper sports bike should do any less. Yes they are highly tuned but who ever uses the full power of even a 600 on the road.

As keith said, track bikes are different, but then our old Fazer, 30000 miles, wiped out by a granny so tracked 2 years ago, used and really abused doesnt burn oil, misfire or anything. In fact I loved riding it so much I put it back on the road as a shits and giggles bike.

Go on the owner, you know very quickly if a bikes been looked after
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[plugger147]

We can go back to the age of the bike and how it's looked after, are you looking at 2 year old bikes or 5-10 year old bikes, I put 20k on a zzr6 (ok not a sport bike) in 18 months commuting and fun riding when it was nicked it was in a lot better condition than when I bought it, running well and I was confident that it would have lasted another 20k without any major work.

The riding and maintenance are a lot more important than the mileage.
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Tristan the wrote: just whipped off my trousers to find a big bruise on my arse, caused by matt rear ending me...

[Spit-Fire]

i understand with a thou, as it has more power through out the rev range then the usual tool for the job (naked 6)
but i never really saw a supersport as ideal for the role,
so wondered how people did so many miles
in so little time, as it seems to be a unusual trend

are modern bikes as robust as the golden oldies?

ps
thanks for the advice lads, its help bring clarity and a different way of looking at the picture
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they say the good die young... i say we just live faster

[cyberglass]

Bought my r1 with 57000 on the clock she now has 60000 and apart from a rad cap fault she's been great.
Payed 1700 for her and it was worth every

With regular oil changes and servicing theres no reason a bike shouldn't pass the 100000 mark.
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DL650 Vstrom 2004
DRZ400S 2003
Yamaha R1 2005

[D O G]

I bought my FZR with 80,000km on the clock - so 50k miles, and it was lovely, and utterly reliable.

My current bike has only 22k on the clock and is not lovely. In fact it's a bit fooked.

[SimonB]

Regarding the fsh, would you be happy buying a bike where someone hasn't taken the bike to a garage for work. However they have receipts for the comsumables they have bought for the bike.

For example my log book for my CBR600RR only has one stamp for the first service. The rest of the work has been carried out by myself and I have most of the receipts for the bits I've bought but I've not written in the log book what I've done.

Then again my 2006 bike has only done 17,000 miles.
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Bikes: Honda CBR250RR [sold], Yamaha FZR600 [sold], Honda CBR600RR6

[supZ]

[Barry_M2]

Mileage for me isn't an issue at all, as with a lot of the comments above, it's all about how they've been looked after for said mileage.

My 15 year old ZXR has 32k miles on it. But of all the parts now on it, it's only the gearbox, frame and fairing that has covered that mileage. The majority of the engine has been replaced as I've tuned it, the front and rear end have both been replace with items off a different (newer) bike.


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ZXR750R (M2) - For the road.
CBR1000 RR4 - For the track.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4332

[Spit-Fire]

[Kickstart]

[evoboy]

My zx6r has racked up 54k now and its a '00 model. (Bought with 28k on it)

Utterly dependable. All ive replaced are the consumables and a coil pack.

My x7 ( granted not a sports bike ), has 30k on it and thats a 30year old 2stroker. But most of the bearings in the chassis have been replaced and pretyy much all of the engine internals have been renewed.

The XJ600 ('90) i also have thats used as a commuter hack by my old man has some 50k + on it. Apart from needing some clutch plates now, its never caused a problem.
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Suzuki GT250 x7------- Fazer 600------CB250RS------Aprilia Rally 70----- Bandit 600

APT Motorcycles

[supZ]