Mileage

[bigdom86]

In general what would you say is high mileage for a few of the popular bikes?

I'm looking at the Z series Z800 or Z1000 or speed triple as my new London commuter, what would be your cutoff mileage for these bikes and others?

My 02 cbr600 is currently on around 30k and nothing too bad other than speedo not working but i know these bikes go for ages.

If it was an older bike with high mileage would you view that different than say a 2016 bike with 20k miles on it

[chickenstrip]

Firstly, I'd ascertain whether the model I was considering had any history of common faults.
Then it's condition, owner care and service history, then mileage.

With my Fazers I always tended to look for the lowest mileage example I could find though, because I had the intention of keeping them for a long while and putting a lot of miles on them myself.
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[Bhud]

Any Japanese 80s/90s bike with more than £50K on it is something I would consider very high mileage. That's just how I would throw my chips - don't care which model it is, high end or low. It's just a personal guideline. This is because they're mostly very good bikes, and they get used a lot, whether for leisure or commuting, and then when they need major work nobody really bothers to invest in the time and the parts, because it looks uneconomic. This is a sort of pattern whereby even the looked after ones are only good for £100K miles.

[Robby]

Average mileage is something like 3k per year for bikes, so a 3 year old bike with 10k on the clocks can be considered high miles.

Cue lots of grunting from a few people about how they do a million miles a year in snow.

In terms of stuff getting worn out, it tends to be a combination of time and mileage that makes things break or wear out. I would not consider 20k high miles, but at 50k I would be budgeting for a good overhaul of the suspension and various bearings. More than the value of most 50k mile bikes.

Higher mile bikes are a bit cheaper, but not massively so. They are a lot harder to sell, because why would I buy a high miles bike when I can get a low miles one for 10% more, and then have an easier time selling it, and so the cycle continues.

[Freddyfruitba...]

[Sister Sledge]

Mine uses the DRZ 400 engine and is high miles now at 40k (15 years old). Still goes like billyo but does tell me it needs a rebuild soon!
Could be worse - same engine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPpbuSV9JU4
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CCM 404 DS

[ADSrox0r]

Depends on the bike and how it's looked after. A 100K mile VFR in good nick is considered 'just broken in'.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[MarJay]

[One Ball 1971]

My 02 cbr600 is currently on around 30k and nothing too bad other than speedo not working but i know these bikes go for ages.

So has it been on 30k since the speedo broke?
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Z800 2016

[bigdom86]

[c_dug]

Current bike is an R1200GS. They have a couple of known weaknesses, ABS pump and shaft drive failures are the most common.

Other than that they're pretty well built and are known for coping with high mileage without too much hassle. Clutch changes are frighteningly expensive mind.

Mine is on 35,000 and due a full service, it rides like new still and I see no reason why it shouldn't see 70k as long as I get lucky with the above issues.
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[Pigeon]

I find rear shocks need a service around 20k......but I'm 16st and carry luggage often.

Gone with the rough rule that bikes go bang around 50k and cars 100k

Prefer higher mileage and newer to low mileage old. Things perish with age as well as mileage and I'd rather put faith in something that has been used than something that's been stored in a shed.

Would happily buy a bike with 40k on it, as long as it's value was reasonable to writeoff after just 10k.

That "value", for comparison I look at the cost of PCP on a CB500F. Which is about 50p a mile * .
So as long at the bike with 40k on it cost less than £5k and does more than 10k miles (or variations of), then anything else is a bonus


* Total amount payable over 37 months is £6,277.08. Contract mileage 12,333.

[stevo as b4]

Why do people care more about engines and gearbox supposed lifespan than all other aspects of their bikes?

Personally I'm more than happy to buy a non running bike, or one in some cases with no engine fitted than a tatty bike with low miles and an engine like new.

When bikes get older 15years plus, the first thing that's hard to buy new is bodywork. If I ride or own a fully faired sports bike for example I'd want near perfect scratch free bodywork and paint. If I can't get the parts to achieve this then I'd lose interest in the bike and have no pride in it.

So for me mileage isn't a worry, but having a damage free, non crashed bike that's been cosmetically pampered and looks like new is. I'm prepared to pay more for such a bike, as making a knackered old hack look like this is either very hard, expensive or uneconomic, or sometimes downright impossible.

Look at old motoX bikes. If you want say a mint 1989 RM250, then you need to start with a bike that's complete and has intact damage free bodywork as much as possible. Buying a shitter that's smashed to bits will never make a bike like new.

The only time I see gearbox and engines being an issue is for used bike chancers that want a reliable hack bike that they can't afford to get involved with major work. A bit like bangernomics, where you gamble on used A-B vehicles for little cash and a bad or problematic one you discard and then spend the purchase price on another one instead of getting involved.

Buying a non running bike can or used to be a cheap way to get a nice bike. It's muddied now by classic tax and bikes getting more expensive used with less of them out there.

So while you might still get say a ZX9R (C-series) cheap with a blown gearbox, you won't get a bargain RGV250 that's munched on its power valves any more.

[colink98]

04 CBF600 getting close to clocking it at 100k.
used daily and gives very little trouble.
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[ADSrox0r]

[chickenstrip]

[ThatDippyTwat]

[Analogkid]

[Hong Kong Phooey]

[Skudd]

I bought a 10 year old bike wit 30k on it, within 6 months I had put 7k on it,
How the fuck do people only do 3k a year on a bike? Just a little tootle on a Thursday afternoon with the wife was nearly 200 miles. On my own would be closer to 350 miles.
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[Pete.]

[Robby]

Or those of us with a short commute. My commute is only about 3000 miles a year.

[bigdom86]

my commute is through central london, so not far but pretty long, so I only do about 5k a year

[R1stu]

My 350 has done 53k at 34yrs old so works out at around 1500 miles per year. However I have fully rebuilt the bike, but any bike with age despite miles will need work as nature will get to it.

My Pan is 29yrs old with 120k, this works roughly to be 4100 miles per year.

Again I have just rebuilt her (In progress) but even so, she was in pretty good mech condition.
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