High Mileage Bikes
Discussion
I know there are plenty of high mileage tourers / commuters out there - but 93k on a 600 Jap "screamer"?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-ZX-6R-P8F-2008-...
I'd imagine it's sat on the motorway at low revs all it's life, so could well be in better mechanical condition than a 15k miler that has bounced off the rev limit all it's life.
Still shocked to see so many miles on a bike of it's ilk! And personally think it's overpriced!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-ZX-6R-P8F-2008-...
I'd imagine it's sat on the motorway at low revs all it's life, so could well be in better mechanical condition than a 15k miler that has bounced off the rev limit all it's life.
Still shocked to see so many miles on a bike of it's ilk! And personally think it's overpriced!
A mate of mine racked up 100,000 on his 54 plate R1 a couple of years ago - must be up to 120 by now. He's had to replace the front calipers (grooves had worn in them) and he thinks there's some kind of crankshaft endfloat thing going on, but nothing has come of this. His bike gets hammered.
I bought a bike lift from someone who had a ZXR6 with nearly 100k on it. He bought it as a cheap Cat C write off with pretty low mileage and used it all year round to commute to work, with only regular oil/filter changes, tyres and the odd chain and sprocket replacement.
There's a video on YouTube of a CBR600F owner in the US that has done over 200k since he bought the bike new, including some trackdays.
There's a video on YouTube of a CBR600F owner in the US that has done over 200k since he bought the bike new, including some trackdays.
The engine isnt so much of an issue at these sorts of mileage but its the chassis components that get neglected and thats what you feel most on the road Vs a "fresher" bike..suspension linkages, fork oil change, steering head bearings, swingarm bearings, bushes etc etc all can wear noticeably quicker than the engine.
From my experience, even a full service history and a nice book of stamps rarely includes this sort of inspection/servicing, its usually when the MOT man notices its totally shot.
From my experience, even a full service history and a nice book of stamps rarely includes this sort of inspection/servicing, its usually when the MOT man notices its totally shot.
Guess it depends on bikes/engines, but you see thousands of big US twins with 100k miles and more on the clock
...maybe that says more about the (usually) older owners who buy a big comfy bike to ride a lot for a long time and are not tempted to swap every couple of years because this years latest sports bike has more gizmos and a few more bhp
I think its a national thing too...we live on a small island, people are not keen on buying high mileage cars/bikes, there seems to be a mental barrier to high mileage over here ... yet in places like the US cars get driven for many hundreds of thousands of miles....bikes too
theres no technical reason why any modern large capacity 4 stroke bike or car shouldnt last well over 100K miles with the right maintenance ...but bikes are luxury toys to many these days, and just get swapped when boredom sets in...usually after doing a couple of thousand miles a year
...maybe that says more about the (usually) older owners who buy a big comfy bike to ride a lot for a long time and are not tempted to swap every couple of years because this years latest sports bike has more gizmos and a few more bhp
I think its a national thing too...we live on a small island, people are not keen on buying high mileage cars/bikes, there seems to be a mental barrier to high mileage over here ... yet in places like the US cars get driven for many hundreds of thousands of miles....bikes too
theres no technical reason why any modern large capacity 4 stroke bike or car shouldnt last well over 100K miles with the right maintenance ...but bikes are luxury toys to many these days, and just get swapped when boredom sets in...usually after doing a couple of thousand miles a year
My 1999 sv650 has 73,000 miles on, and most of those where built up commuting through london (so not really an easy life). The only indication of engine wear was an exhaust valve on the rear cylinder just getting a little too tight at 62,000 miles, but that may also have suffered premature wear due to a leaking exhaust gasket on that cylinder. The first valve check i had done at 24,000 miles revealed scored / worn cam buckets. My dad replaced the worst one at that time, and i managed to get a set fo cam buckets from a fellow from his engine via sv650.org, and the remaining offending cam buckets were replaced on the next valve check. A little bit of research by my dad revealed a quality controll problem at suzuki at that time, tl1000's also suffered a similar problem. After that nothing in the valve train has shown signs of wear.
I have replaced the clutch plates at 43,000 miles. The steels were blue!
Regular oil changes and keeping an eye on the carburettors and fuelling has no doubt helped maintain the engine reliability. I have also tended to the chassis a feww times (fork oil changes, swingarm bearings greased, rear shock linkage greased a couple of times) and the calipers get a clean every 8000 miles (red rubber grease on the pistons). I have a brake disc that is showing signs of wear now but it is only something to keep an eye on at the moment.
Im quite roud of my bike and dont consider it high mileage, i'd say its middle-mileage. I dont see why it souldnt get to 150,000 miles.
I have replaced the clutch plates at 43,000 miles. The steels were blue!
Regular oil changes and keeping an eye on the carburettors and fuelling has no doubt helped maintain the engine reliability. I have also tended to the chassis a feww times (fork oil changes, swingarm bearings greased, rear shock linkage greased a couple of times) and the calipers get a clean every 8000 miles (red rubber grease on the pistons). I have a brake disc that is showing signs of wear now but it is only something to keep an eye on at the moment.
Im quite roud of my bike and dont consider it high mileage, i'd say its middle-mileage. I dont see why it souldnt get to 150,000 miles.
podman said:
The engine isnt so much of an issue at these sorts of mileage but its the chassis components that get neglected and thats what you feel most on the road Vs a "fresher" bike..suspension linkages, fork oil change, steering head bearings, swingarm bearings, bushes etc etc all can wear noticeably quicker than the engine.
+1. Chassis wears out before the motor these days.Go for a thrash as a passenger in an old car and stick your fingers in the gap between the door and the roof and feel the whole thing flexing around.
My 50k old R1 weaves and bucks around on track days irrespective of bearing and suspension age, it's the actual frame moving around.
Everything wears out. One of my old Minitwin racing mates did European Superstock and they started to get the level where they could feel old brake calipers flexing. That's one season radial mount GSXR1000K9 / L0 calipers sort of old btw.
moto_traxport said:
My 50k old R1 weaves and bucks around on track days irrespective of bearing and suspension age, it's the actual frame moving around.
Everything wears out. One of my old Minitwin racing mates did European Superstock and they started to get the level where they could feel old brake calipers flexing. That's one season radial mount GSXR1000K9 / L0 calipers sort of old btw.
That sounds very odd...aluminium work hardens, so if anything you'd expect less movement with age (although it doesn't really affect stiffness). If fatigue was the issue, then it could only cause that movement if the cross sectional area was reduced; I.e. If it was cracked, and then the flex would be the least of your worries!Everything wears out. One of my old Minitwin racing mates did European Superstock and they started to get the level where they could feel old brake calipers flexing. That's one season radial mount GSXR1000K9 / L0 calipers sort of old btw.
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