What's considered high mileage for a sport bike?

[fuzzybabybunny]

What's considered high mileage? Are motorcycle engines somehow not as long running as car engines?

I see a lot of good bikes on Craigslist that appear to be in excellent condition at a good price. The only thing is that they're at 40-50K miles.

How problematic is high mileage when you're talking about motorcycles?

 

[IcePickFreak]

Thing about sport bikes is they rev like crazy, and they're generally driven with that in mind.

 

[Doppel]

No, they aren't as long lasting, they don't really need to be anyway since many of them end up losing to a tree, oncoming traffic, etc.

 

[jaha2000]

I had 25K on my CBR1000RR when i sold it this fall. Didnt burn one drop of oil. Like most things, if you take care of it, it will last for a long time.

 

[satyajitmenon]

I know someone who has a 2007 CBR1000RR with 78k miles on the odo. Runs like a peach.

As long as you keep up with scheduled maintenance and take good care of it, you won't have any issues. Nothing wrong with buying a high mileage sportsbike as long as it's been taken care of.

Buying it from a dealer - I probably wouldn't. Buying it from a private seller with detailed maintenance records - sure.

 

[JulesMaximus]

No, they aren't as long lasting, they don't really need to be anyway since many of them end up losing to a tree, oncoming traffic, etc.

Now that we have the dumbtard response out of the way...

A motorcycle engine will last quite a long time as long as you take care of it by the book. 40-50k is a lot of miles but if the bike has complete maintenance records, no evidence of damage, no oil leaks etc then there is no reason it wouldn't go another 40-50k if properly maintained.

A guy I work with has 55k on his Ducati Multistrada, another guy I ride with from time to time has over 50k on an older Ducati SS but he is looking for a new engine... hmm, I should hook him up with the guy I work with who just crashed his 1098.

Personally, I'd keep looking for something with less than 20k miles on it. Shouldn't be difficult to find. Most people just don't ride as often as they imagine they will when they buy a bike and they end up sitting for long periods of time.

 

[Ferzerp]

Now that we have the dumbtard response out of the way...

This from the guy who thinks all cars need mandatory traction control that cannot be disabled.

 

[JulesMaximus]

This from the guy who thinks all cars need mandatory traction control that cannot be disabled.

Anything to keep the idiots with more money than brains who can't control their cars from killing me is a good thing.

 

[waggy]

i have seen plenty of bikes with over 50k miles. a few with over 75k. only a handfull over 100k.

it really depends on how they are taken care of.

hmm my KZ550 (had that for years) had like 60k miles on it. it was a sad day when i sold it. one of my favorite bikes.

 

[superccs]

A sport bike rarely reaches high mileage because of the rate of attrition. The bikes are designed to last for many thousands of mileage, they just rarely get the chance.

I sold my 2000 CBR 600 F4 with ~40k miles on it and it ran great. I currently have a 2007 R6 with 28K miles on it, runs like a champ.

Its the bikes that have like <5k miles and are 10 years old that are the ones to avoid. They have been sitting around way too much and will be a pain.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

A sport bike rarely reaches high mileage because of the rate of attrition. The bikes are designed to last for many thousands of mileage, they just rarely get the chance.

I sold my 2000 CBR 600 F4 with ~40k miles on it and it ran great. I currently have a 2007 R6 with 28K miles on it, runs like a champ.

Its the bikes that have like <5k miles and are 10 years old that are the ones to avoid. They have been sitting around way too much and will be a pain.

Oh, good point. What about a 2006 GSXR600 with 45K? Sounds like it could have been close to a daily rider for this person. Would it have to have been properly maintained to even reach this mileage?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Most sportbikes never last long enough to see the end of the motor itself. Either the bike eventually isn't worth fixing or it's wrecked.


Supersport owners tend to be idiots, in my experience. It's far far more important to look at how it was kept up versus mileage.

I have a buddy that has rolled the odo over twice on his f4i. That's over 200k miles on a fairly high strung but honda engine.

Personally even it's maintained well I tend to stay away from anything above about 30k-40k, but only because you can almost always find a lower mileage bike if you look around a bit.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Its the bikes that have like <5k miles and are 10 years old that are the ones to avoid. They have been sitting around way too much and will be a pain.

You must be talking about folks like me. I have a '96 Kawasaki with about 10k miles on the clock. I drove it a couple times this year. I need to get rid of it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

A sport bike rarely reaches high mileage because of the rate of attrition. The bikes are designed to last for many thousands of mileage, they just rarely get the chance.

I sold my 2000 CBR 600 F4 with ~40k miles on it and it ran great. I currently have a 2007 R6 with 28K miles on it, runs like a champ.

Its the bikes that have like <5k miles and are 10 years old that are the ones to avoid. They have been sitting around way too much and will be a pain.

That's ridiculous. A bike that has been sitting is not necessarily a bad thing, you just have to make sure to get it back into running condition before you start riding it which is pretty simple really.

Replace the fluids, tires, battery, clean the carbs and fuel system of any old gas and you should be good to go.

Look for all the other obvious signs of neglect like rash, poor or no maintenance records, oil leaks, etc. As long as everything checks out an old bike with low mileage that has been sitting can be a gem.

 

[halik]

Oh noes, FBB in the market for another sportbike. Emo sportbike threads pending.

 

[Soccerman06]

How long before he crashes this bike?

 

[WackyDan]

If it was well maintained... Nothing wrong with it. Bike engines can take 100k+ miles and I have a buddy who has proven that.

As for sport bikes... There are plenty to find/buy with low mileage as lets face it, many people do not buy sport bikes and tour with them. Yeah, I know some do, but you are more likely to see the full baggers, goldwings, and touring BMWs to be 50k+ than you are a sport bike.

 

[DVad3r]

It all depends how you ride and how you maintain the bike. This doesnt relate but I know a lot of Harley guys with 150 k miles + and running strong. There's even a guy on the V-Rod forums that has 160 k + on his bike. Depending on where you live and what you use the bike for, you probably won't rack up a lot of mileage anyways. Unless you live in Cali or something and commute to work/everywhere with the bike.

 

[Josh S.]

So my Co-worker offered me his 1982 Kawasaki Scepter 1100 for $1500 CDN. Its got 40,650 kilometers. Is this a good deal, or bad? High kms for this specific bike, or decent? He says it fires up and runs smoothly. He just bought a new bike the other day, unloaded it from his truck at work today. Can i get some opinions? My only real reason for wanting a bike is to save gas. Thx.

 

[DigDog]

you are not going to get an honest answer but ask if the bike was used for racing. if it was, that's 10x the miles.

really nice bikes all kitted out and going for cheap are almost always in the category.

if you can be confident it was used just for normal commuting, and its a medium to large engine, it's probably indestructible.

John - i find it hard to believe a bike from 1982 has 40k kilometers on it. more like 200k. from one point of view, anything which could have broken already has and probably won't break anymore. also bikes from the 80s were built like tanks, except for well, ignition and electrics which were crap.
i really couldn't tell you more, it could have the mufflers all full of crud, timing belt loose, leaky valves, gearbox all eaten away .. or it could run like a jewel, depends on how much he invested in the maintenance; but the 40k Km thing doesn't make me feel confident this guy is meticulous, more of .. a scammer.

Or someone who puts 1k Km a year on a bike, idk.

 

[cardiac]

i have seen plenty of bikes with over 50k miles. a few with over 75k. only a handfull over 100k.

it really depends on how they are taken care of.

hmm my KZ550 (had that for years) had like 60k miles on it. it was a sad day when i sold it. one of my favorite bikes.

I sold my 1981 Interstate to a co-worker some time ago and I had 128k on the odometer (I bought it new). He still rides it, and has over 150k on it. I know the Gold Wings are a different animal, but there are some in the Gold Wing forums with over 200k on the bike...

 

[JulesMaximus]

you are not going to get an honest answer but ask if the bike was used for racing. if it was, that's 10x the miles.

really nice bikes all kitted out and going for cheap are almost always in the category.

if you can be confident it was used just for normal commuting, and its a medium to large engine, it's probably indestructible.

John - i find it hard to believe a bike from 1982 has 40k kilometers on it. more like 200k. from one point of view, anything which could have broken already has and probably won't break anymore. also bikes from the 80s were built like tanks, except for well, ignition and electrics which were crap.
i really couldn't tell you more, it could have the mufflers all full of crud, timing belt loose, leaky valves, gearbox all eaten away .. or it could run like a jewel, depends on how much he invested in the maintenance; but the 40k Km thing doesn't make me feel confident this guy is meticulous, more of .. a scammer.

Or someone who puts 1k Km a year on a bike, idk.

I believe it. A friend of mine just picked up a 20 year old Suzuki Intruder with less than 10k miles on it. People buy bikes all the time, ride them for a bit and then they sit... sometimes for years or even decades. They don't take up much space so storing them is easy. He also has a 2007 Ducati Multistrada he bought 2 years ago that had 7500 original miles on it. That would be approx. 1,000 miles per year average.

My Dad was a perfect example of this. He bought a Kawasaki 550 back in the early 1980s, rode it for a while and then it sat in his garage for decades. My sister has it now and she and her husband put about $1500 into getting it ready to ride (new tires, battery, fork seals, clean the tank and carbs). I think it has around 16k original miles on it. Runs like a champ now.

And nobody would race a 1982 Kawasaki Scepter. That is a power cruiser, not a sport bike. They certainly wouldn't race it today... too heavy, too underpowered, poor brakes (by today's standards) and too softly sprung.

Figure any bike that runs is probably worth at least $500-1000 depending on condition. I'd offer him $1k for it if it runs, is in decent shape and doesn't leak or need any repairs. Check the tires for cracks in the sidewall. That means they are old and would need to be replaced, figure a couple hundred bucks for that. I would also make sure the brake fluid looks clean and check the inside of the fuel tank for rust. If it is rusty I wouldn't touch the bike.

 

[Charlie98]

And nobody would race a 1982 Kawasaki Scepter. That is a power cruiser, not a sport bike. They certainly wouldn't race it today... too heavy, too underpowered, poor brakes (by today's standards) and too softly sprung.

Figure any bike that runs is probably worth at least $500-1000 depending on condition. I'd offer him $1k for it if it runs, is in decent shape and doesn't leak or need any repairs. Check the tires for cracks in the sidewall. That means they are old and would need to be replaced, figure a couple hundred bucks for that. I would also make sure the brake fluid looks clean and check the inside of the fuel tank for rust. If it is rusty I wouldn't touch the bike.

Correct... the original owner probably just took it out on the weekends and such... it is certainly not a track bike! I had a CB750 Custom (the Honda version of the Scepter) and it was fun to ride... but not a sport bike by any means. 40K kM/25K miles is nothing on a 30 year old bike.

I don't have a problem looking at any older bike... just poke around it a bit, it will be obvious how it was treated and stored. I probably wouldn't buy a bike that old if it was stored outside in the elements, or was butchered up by a shadetree mechanic. New tires, new fluids, maybe some new brake lines, drop in a new battery... and it will probably be good to go. I think they were still air-cooled back then (my Honda was) so you don't even have to worry about coolant corrosion, etc.

OP, understand... that's a pretty big bike, and not one that I would recommend as a first bike. It does have a fairly low seat height, but it's heavy and an 1100 is no slouch in the HP department.

 

[DigDog]

And nobody would race a 1982 Kawasaki Scepter.

those were two different answers to two different questions - one by the OP (whats good mileage? it depends if they are racing miles or cruising miles)
the second about 40k miles in 30 years.

Idk, maybe; we euros tend to actually use the shit we buy, so a thing with less than 10k per year seems suspicious (i had more miles on my moped yo);
anyway, the answer is always to have a professional take a look at it and give you a quote - things might not be readily available, like exausts, and be expensive.

Oh btw (i had no idea what that bike was, was being generic) people do race old bikes - my local mechanic races his CB500 and they have their own category.

 

[JulesMaximus]

those were two different answers to two different questions - one by the OP (whats good mileage? it depends if they are racing miles or cruising miles)

:thumbsup: My bad.

Idk, maybe; we euros tend to actually use the shit we buy, so a thing with less than 10k per year seems suspicious (i had more miles on my moped yo);
anyway, the answer is always to have a professional take a look at it and give you a quote - things might not be readily available, like exausts, and be expensive.

Oh btw (i had no idea what that bike was, was being generic) people do race old bikes - my local mechanic races his CB500 and they have their own category.

I'm the same way with my bikes. I bought my Multistrada a little more than a year ago and I have already put over 8,000 miles on it. I put 16,000 miles on my Monster and about the same on the Suzuki I had prior.

If I'm not using it, I'll sell it. Bikes don't like to sit (which doesn't mean an old bike that has been sitting can't be a gem).

It is pretty easy to find older bikes with relatively few miles on them in this country. People generally use motorcycles as pleasure vehicles here in the states.