Modern Day Bike Mileage
Discussion
So having had my eye on the MT09 Tracer the past few days I am thinking it might be my next commuter bike. Problem being I have to wait for my current commuter to expire first. In the interest of not being wasteful with money I want to allow it to do this naturally and not neglect it.
The question being what kind of mileage are we likely to expect from modern jap bikes that are serviced as per the schedule before they start dismantling themselves and becoming triggers broom?
Last year I bought a new 2014 CB500x which now has around 31,000 miles on it and apart from the chain expiring on me a few times its not really showing any major signs of wear. My worry is that its going to last years and years and i am going to be stuck with it. Not that i dislike it, I just get bored quick.
Can any dispatch riders or big commuters comment on the life span of these bikes or is there a prime mileage to get rid of them at to move on? I suspect i may have missed this boat!
The question being what kind of mileage are we likely to expect from modern jap bikes that are serviced as per the schedule before they start dismantling themselves and becoming triggers broom?
Last year I bought a new 2014 CB500x which now has around 31,000 miles on it and apart from the chain expiring on me a few times its not really showing any major signs of wear. My worry is that its going to last years and years and i am going to be stuck with it. Not that i dislike it, I just get bored quick.
Can any dispatch riders or big commuters comment on the life span of these bikes or is there a prime mileage to get rid of them at to move on? I suspect i may have missed this boat!
Sorry to disappoint you buy you may well be stuck with your present bike for a while...
I had a Honda CX500 commuting nail that staggered though the 300000 mile point. I finally got fed up of it and sold it to someone else who put a few tens of thousands more miles on it, until it was stolen and dumped into a canal.
So sell yours on, call it depreciation or running costs to justify it to yourself, and get a nice new toy. If being tight has stopped being fun, stop being tight!
I had a Honda CX500 commuting nail that staggered though the 300000 mile point. I finally got fed up of it and sold it to someone else who put a few tens of thousands more miles on it, until it was stolen and dumped into a canal.
So sell yours on, call it depreciation or running costs to justify it to yourself, and get a nice new toy. If being tight has stopped being fun, stop being tight!
Ohhhhhh!! I might put another year in on it then - 60k mile 2 year old bike will likely be worth chicken feed!!
To be fair its saving me £12k a year on a train ticket so if I look at it that way i should treat myself yearly to a new commuter. Also a bit of justification is that i could fully track my R1 and use the MT09 as an all purpose bike. The CB is too slow to do that...hmmm
To be fair its saving me £12k a year on a train ticket so if I look at it that way i should treat myself yearly to a new commuter. Also a bit of justification is that i could fully track my R1 and use the MT09 as an all purpose bike. The CB is too slow to do that...hmmm
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 24th April 16:07
Going to book a test drive on the MT09 Tracer for tomorrow.
I just need to keep in the back of my mind that it may just be the fact i sit on the motorway constantly on the CB that may be planting the seed of me being bored of it. Not sure any bike is going to resolve that...but i can sure try
I just need to keep in the back of my mind that it may just be the fact i sit on the motorway constantly on the CB that may be planting the seed of me being bored of it. Not sure any bike is going to resolve that...but i can sure try
Mr OCD said:
mckeann said:
No point not being on the bike you want for 30K a year. Sell it, take the hit, buy the bike you want.
This.That's why I do 12k pa on a superbike
yammyfan said:
Fair point. I was doing 20k PA on R6's then R1's but after you get past about 25k its silly uncomfortable and very very expensive! So now i keep my R1 for the 5-10k i do per year on the road and track in the sun
Good man! Can't be done with these people who barely do a thousand miles year... Buy it, use it then buy another ... Taken my last three bikes from low four figure mileages to 35k in two years ...
. Doing the same with this Fireblade ... Two years and will punt it on...
Mr OCD said:
yammyfan said:
Fair point. I was doing 20k PA on R6's then R1's but after you get past about 25k its silly uncomfortable and very very expensive! So now i keep my R1 for the 5-10k i do per year on the road and track in the sun
Good man! Can't be done with these people who barely do a thousand miles year... Buy it, use it then buy another ... Taken my last three bikes from low four figure mileages to 35k in two years ...
. Doing the same with this Fireblade ... Two years and will punt it on...I am doing approx 32,000 miles a year now and actually find commuting quite peaceful (until I hit London) and it gives me time to think of ideas that I wouldn't normally have with my face buried in a phone/laptop/tv etc. Then I hit London and its all guns blazing traffic filtering.
I know i am going to love this MT09 but im concerned about the extra 4" on the bar width. The CB won others because its so thin! We will have to see.
I had similar thoughts about a Tracer to replace my FZS600 but having just put the Fazer in for a camchain tensioner and shim check service to be told the valves were still all within tolerance at 35k (first time they've been checked to my knowledge) I think the little machine is going to be with me for a while longer!
EvoBarry said:
I had similar thoughts about a Tracer to replace my FZS600 but having just put the Fazer in for a camchain tensioner and shim check service to be told the valves were still all within tolerance at 35k (first time they've been checked to my knowledge) I think the little machine is going to be with me for a while longer!
Any half-decent bike will do 100K. Like anything, keep using it, keep the fluid changes going and you're solid. I had a VFR VTEC, you know the ones that cost 000s to service ( nope ) and are un-rideable due to the VTEC ( nope ).. anyway. At 100K I had the valves checked, yup still in spec.Heck I ran a 2-stroke to 10K in six months and I saw it not so long ago, some 15 years after I traded it in, parked up in on a London street, so was still chugging away.
Indeed, I was getting a rattle on cold start-ups and figured after putting 25k on the bike over the past few years it deserved a check at least. Dealer informed me the oil change had the most effect, the valves were all fine, the tensioner was probably just sticking (hence the fresh oil helping after they'd given it a tap). Rode it back this afternoon, its running as sweet as the day I bought it. I do change the oil every few months but this winters running must have stressed it a but more than usual, lesson learnt, change oil more often!
yammyfan said:
I know i am going to love this MT09 but im concerned about the extra 4" on the bar width. The CB won others because its so thin! We will have to see.
I test rode an MT07 and 09 recently and found same thing ref MT09 handlebars (i.e. too wide). The MT07 bars are a fair bit narrower and would probably fit what with sharing same switchgear etc. They wouldn't cost the dealer too much and salesman never really consider workshop time so you could try it on as a deal breaker. This is MT07 bars on a normal MT09, I haven't looked too closely at the MT09 Tracer yet. Certainly in the States they seem to come with all sorts of comedy hand guards and wind deflectors.
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