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Mines used as a toy too, does the mileage affect the bike badly though? it doesn't use oil and a i can't see any problems with the shock or suspension ie no weaving on sweeping corners or saggyness.eveny the paint is shiny and fresh. Bikes mileages seem to be getting smaller year on year
There is certain age/price when mileage doesn't really start to matter too much. Anything over 5-6 years old/£2500 and condition is all that really matters. You are only going to get tucked up by a dealer if yours is a couple of years old with 15,000 miles+.
Personally, I've always bought a bike to use it rather than sit and polish it!
Personally, I've always bought a bike to use it rather than sit and polish it!
blade7 said:
Fair points but when you are looking for your next bike I bet you will either buy a low miler or get a bargain price on something a bit leggy.
true i'm trying to figure out what high mileage is lol. I read in bike magazine a few years back that 6k was considered average per year.
>> Edited by ninjaboy on Monday 1st May 00:15
High mileage on small engine bikes are a problem, my 600 is on 31500 at the mo and going up 1000 miles a month.
It looks in good nick but £1500 was my best offer a while back.
Big engine bikes are easier to sell with higher mileage as they are harder to thrash.
Honda engines last a lifetime
It looks in good nick but £1500 was my best offer a while back.
Big engine bikes are easier to sell with higher mileage as they are harder to thrash.
Honda engines last a lifetime
Robbo SPS said:While that's true it's not the effect the mileage has on the bike that's the issue it's the simple fact that there is usually plenty of choice of bike with lower mileage so to make a bike with higher mileage more attractive it has to be cheaper. Those in the know won't mind the mileage but they will expect to pay less.
Big engine bikes are easier to sell with higher mileage as they are harder to thrash.
Honda engines last a lifetime
blade7 said:
Fair points but when you are looking for your next bike I bet you will either buy a low miler or get a bargain price on something a bit leggy.
I bought the current bike purely for commuting - 11,000 miles and 6 years old. If it gets dropped, I've no expensive plastic to buy. It's the fourth Triumph I've owned and at the moment for its age, has the least mileage per year. The others were averaging 20,000 miles per year (none of it commuting!).
Personally I'm more wary of crash damage than high mileage. It seems dealers are not keen to take in high mileage bikes even when they are clean. A few years ago the Paris dealer refused to give me a price on my 1995 speed triple which had 55,000kms. Then later the dealer in Nice said he could take it in until he saw it had 80,000kms. Today it's got 89,000kms and is still running well. To be honest I'm glad I kept it, it's had 4 years in the Emirates and been ridden in over 40 degrees C with no problems at all. Did California Superbike school on it at 86,000 kms too. I'll probably strip it down for a rebuild at 100,000 just for the pleasure of rebuilding it.
If it's purely a toy then it's easy to keep low mileage.
As soon as you start to use it to go to work, or if you haven't got a car then the miles will soon rack up. I think 3k per year is average.
My advice would be that if you are going to use it for commuting or don't have a car, then buy a high mileage bike. Otherwise you are going to loose a lot of money on a pristine example if you start to use it lots.
As soon as you start to use it to go to work, or if you haven't got a car then the miles will soon rack up. I think 3k per year is average.
My advice would be that if you are going to use it for commuting or don't have a car, then buy a high mileage bike. Otherwise you are going to loose a lot of money on a pristine example if you start to use it lots.
There comes a point when you have to decide if you really need a newer bike or you just fancy a change, I was toying with the idea of buying a nearly new R1 even had a test ride, but when I really thought about it I decided that I didn't want to sell low and buy high,which is what a dealer expects, so I spent around a grand upgrading mine and it's definately a match for a standard newer bike,plus next year I can take all the goody's off and get most of the dosh back.I suppose it comes down to finance if you can afford to write off 2 or 3 grand in the first year buy a new bike.
i bought my Triumph Daytona 900 three years ago for £2500 with 18K on it. Its now got 39K on it and i was offered only £895 for it. Theres nothing wrong with my bikes and the engines have been known to go round the clock no probs at all.
This is the main reason i won't be chnaging bikes any time soon, i don't use my bikes for commuting only for fun but still 3K a year is stupid - i did a trip round the french alps via the nurburgring two years ago and that alone was 3000 miles.
This is the main reason i won't be chnaging bikes any time soon, i don't use my bikes for commuting only for fun but still 3K a year is stupid - i did a trip round the french alps via the nurburgring two years ago and that alone was 3000 miles.
for older bikes condition should be more important, as long as a bikes been serviced it should cope with milage, i know someone whos Firestorm has done nearly 100k and ive heard of and R1 doing about 80k and there was that Fireblade that went round the world that had very high milage too.
Hope I'm not contradicting myself too much here but there's no doubt that any sportsbike engine will develop a fair bit less power when it's done mega mileage ie over 50k, and if it's on original suspension that will be shot too, my own cut off point would be 25k then it's time for a rebuild or to get shot.
you're right in saying that the suspension will be shot - mine has been replaced both front and rear but that said lots of people want to uprate suspension anyway (and now i have an aftermarket shock that can be rebuild cheaply).
With the engine its really a matter of the bike. I would not expect my bike to be making any less power just because of its mileage (i'll let u know for sure as i'm hoping to get it dyno'd soon). However my triumph was quite heavily over engineered when it was made and it was not really a highly tuned engine. I believe a lot of kwaks use nicosil bores which can wear out over time. That said though most modern engines if well maintained and ran on good oil should all be good for 50K+ - the truth is that most get crahsed way before they reach this kind of mileage.
With the engine its really a matter of the bike. I would not expect my bike to be making any less power just because of its mileage (i'll let u know for sure as i'm hoping to get it dyno'd soon). However my triumph was quite heavily over engineered when it was made and it was not really a highly tuned engine. I believe a lot of kwaks use nicosil bores which can wear out over time. That said though most modern engines if well maintained and ran on good oil should all be good for 50K+ - the truth is that most get crahsed way before they reach this kind of mileage.
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