What is considered high mileage for a motorcycle?

[dsmith41]

I wouldn't really consider the average passenger car or truck to be high mileage until about 150k if well maintained. And of course for an OTR diesel tractor, 150k is nothing. Obviously, different kinds of engines age differently--gasoline, diesel, small engines, etc. Its kind of like dog years vs. people years I suppose.

So at what point is the average modern motorcycle considered high mileage? Rick's 143k mile ST1100 with still good UOAs got me thinking about this.

 

[getnpsi]

Great question. Owner maintenance plays the biggest role of course but i think there is a discussion here. Since I'm shopping for a used bike I notice there are plenty of low miles examples that sat for four years and are not road worthy, and need carb and whatnot rebuilds. Then you have the commuters with over 50k that look off the showroom floor. A vehicle especially fuel injection is fine to sit a year or two, but NOT a bike.

Id like to think the larger engines are better,id trust a 1000cc over a suzuki 400, but I could be wrong. Im looking for a dual sport type bike and like the klr650. You see every year made of those things for sale and still out on the road. I don't notice other brands with smaller engines, but that could just be popularity and production numbers too. I live in a climate where in the winter nothing gets parked.

 

[Hessen]

I live in Arizona and easily put +10k miles per year on my R1 and it wasn't even a commuter bike. The valves didn't even need to be checked until 26k. There are many bikes in this part of the country with 50-75k miles that look and run like new. I agree with the above post that proper maintenance is probably the biggest factor, followed in close second by brand/manufacturer. Most of the high mileage bikes I've seen are Japanese and German. I think people in cold weather climates simply don't see enough bikes with more than 10-15k miles on them to realize how far they can go.

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: Hessen
The valves didn't even need to be checked until 26k.


How do you determine when the valves need to be checked? My bike is pushing 12k miles now, and I'm thinking it does not need to have the valves checked at this time.

 

[Lurch]

I'd say a water cooled bike would last longer than an air/oil cooled, possibly, but oil change intervals have much to do with it.

 

[Chris142]

I've got 11k on a single cylinder 250cc dual sport Kawasaki. I consider that pretty high milage for it since it spends most of the day @9000 rpm.

 

[Steve S]

It would depend on the motorcycle.

 

[BigCahuna]

Once a bike hits the 75k mark, you can count on replacing parts that haven't been touched before. Belts, bearings, motor mounts. rebuilding front forks and rear shocks. Then there's the occasional gasket or seal that starts leaking. If the price you pay reflects these items, and its a bike you want, it may be a deal. Compared to buying new.,,

 

[fuel tanker man]

This guy put 416,000 miles on a 1987 Harley Davidson Tour Glide... with no overhauls... just regular service. Then he put over 250,000 on the next bike... here's the article.

http://www.ibmc.org/spotlight.asp

 

[ddrumman2004]

It's not uncommon for Goldwings to go 100K plus miles with nary a problem.
There are Yamaha V Stars, like I have(650), that have close to 100k miles on them. Most problems with them, as far as engine goes, is the pick-up coil goes bad after a while due to it being in hot oil. It's on the stator.

Regular oil changes and proper maintenance, bikes can go a lot of miles.

 

[dwendt44]

Water cooled touring bikes can easily go over 100K. Gold Wings especially.
BMW, Hondas, water cooled Voyagers, etc. are all capable of doing this.
Air cooled much less so. A rare H-D will do it; Other large displacement lower performance units might do near or over 100K as well.

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Once a bike hits the 75k mark, you can count on replacing parts that haven't been touched before. Belts, bearings, motor mounts. rebuilding front forks and rear shocks. Then there's the occasional gasket or seal that starts leaking. If the price you pay reflects these items, and its a bike you want, it may be a deal. Compared to buying new.,,


I've never had 75k on any bike I've owned, out of about 14 bikes in over 40 years, but in general, I find that hard to believe. If an HD can go 400k with just regular service, a Honda or Big Four can go at least that. 75k miles is a piece of cake for a good, well maintained bike. It matters somewhat how it's ridden, what climate, and how often OCIs, etc., are done.

 

[Gene K]

400,000 plus miles on Honda Goldwings is not uncommon for high mileage riders.

 

[BigCahuna]

My '93 Ultra classic has 88k on it when I sold it. In the time I owned it I replaced the items I listed in the other post. The one thing I didn't add was, I had to replace the motor with 49,920 miles on it. I went with the Harley reman program. The lifter wheel bearings blew out and munched the motor, and I wouldn't feel safe with it just cleaned out. It can be a gamble. And I take really good care of my bikes but things just happen.,,

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
My '93 Ultra classic has 88k on it when I sold it. In the time I owned it I replaced the items I listed in the other post. The one thing I didn't add was, I had to replace the motor with 49,920 miles on it. I went with the Harley reman program. The lifter wheel bearings blew out and munched the motor, and I wouldn't feel safe with it just cleaned out. It can be a gamble. And I take really good care of my bikes but things just happen.,,


Hi-

How often did you change the oil, and what oils did you use? Did you ride it hard?

 

[OtisBlkR1]

I know my experience is just that "my experience" and im strictly refering to sportbikes, my 03 CBR 600 F4I was purchased with 7k on it, i rode it to 16k next owner took it to 26k and i dont know from there.. My current bike 05 R1 needed a new top end after only 5k, and the cam bearing blew out at 20k i had it rebuilt and am currently at 23k. I do ride hard, but these bikes are built for abuse.. in the circles i run in a bike is starting to get long in the tooth at 15-20k I only rebuilt my current motor becouse i like the bike so much and have so much in it.. there was nothing in the showroom last summer i wanted more than to simply have my bike up and running again.. so thats what i did. 2 pennies i dont know if ive ever seen a local sportbike with more than 32k on the od and that was a late 80's suzuki a few years ago... most the harley guys a work with start getting twitchy for a different bike around 40-50k.

 

[BigCahuna]

I'm a by the book guy for most items, but believe sooner is better. I changed the oil between 3-4k. Ride like I'm not trying to break any records, not slow but not crazy. When the lifter let go I was doing 25 mph on my way to gas it up for the next days ride. After the whole fiasco, I learned that evos had lifters that would go out right about when mine did. If I had known, they would have been changed every 25k just for piece of mind.I used Harly oil at the time now, any oil that says it's a 20/50 would be used.,,

 

[Scooter_man]

Engine size isn't everything, there are several Honda Helix scooters (250-cc liquid cooled) with over 100,000 miles on them and still going well.

Come to think of it, it's not uncommon to get 100,000+ miles out of a little 250 Honda Rebel - one of the guys on the Rebel forum is at 143k and still going - with no engine work.

 

[grampi]

I'd say most of todays liter+ street bikes should easily do 100K+ if they're well maintained and not abused.

 

[boraticus]

Theoretically, a bike will go forever it sufficient parts are available and major components such as the frame and engine cases, cylinders etc. don't suffer catastrophic failure from metal fatigue.

I've got 36 year old Yamaha RDs on the road and running fine. As long as I can get wear items replaced, which by the way are still readily available, I can keep the bikes running.