100,000 mile countdown

Ausfahrt

Ausfahrt

Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
1,926
Location
Vermont
I've been riding motorcycles since 1977. My first bike was a 1973 Suzuki TS185 that I bought from Suzuki of Tampa on Waters Ave for $450. Since then I've had dozens of bikes and I loved them all. A few of them tried to kill me so maybe "love" isn't quite right but my affection for all two wheel motorized stuff has never wavered.

My main ride now is a '07 BMW R1200GS Adventure and I am nearing 100,000 miles after 15+ years. This will be the first bike that I have put 100,000 miles on and probably my last too. The bike is getting a little tired but still runs great and brings a smile to my face every time I twist the throttle.
1693855921183.png
 
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Congrats on your impending mile mark!

I, myself, never put that many miles on any one bike. Though I've probably got close to 400k miles of total riding, I get bored with bikes after a few years and always want to upgrade to some new brand/model.

I have a buddy who still rides his 1996 ST1100 with 182k miles on it. It's the Honda Accord of motorcycles, and was his daily commuter in all but snowy weather. It was his primary ride for a while, then got a 2008 'Wing that had 107k miles on it when he traded it this year for a new 2023 'Wing.
 
Wow good job! 100,000 miles on one bike is awesome and few people ride that much on the same bike. Vermont weather isn't the best for racking up high miles. Keep on keeping on.
 
Bet that's good riding up there in Vermont. Congrats! Sometimes I miss my Goldwing, but it would be dangerous as h*ll in the Houston metro to own one. In the Ozarks it was awesome.
 
Enjoy your ride. I put well over 100,000 miles on 2 different BMW bikes* and have 66,000 miles on my current R1200R.

*1972 R50/5
1986 K75C

Edit for riff106: Commuted to work for 40 years on those bikes in the Houston Metro. Free parking at the Medical Center saves $$$$
 
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BusyLittleShop said:
Super cool!!! what grade oil got you to that major mile mark???
Click to expand...
Believe it or not, I've been using Castrol GTX 20W-50 for the last 70,000 miles or so since the Mobil1 15W-50 that I had been using was leaking from the rear main seal causing the dry clutch to slip. The GTX stopped the oil from weeping and subsequently the clutch stopped slipping and I'm still on the original clutch.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/2007-bmw-r1200gs-adventure-castrol-gtx-20w-50.330378/
 
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I finally hit 100,000 although the bike was a year old and had 7000 miles on it when I bought it so I suppose that still have a bit to go.
1694959198504.png



Here is the bike as I bought it when I still lived in Florida back in '08.
1694959247933.png


I've gone through a few tires over the years.
1694959394305.png


BMW recommends checking the valves every 6000 miles but after around 20,000 miles they seemed to bed in and now I only check them about every 20,000 or so.
1694959697083.png


Glittery oil from the final drive is never a good thing and I had it rebuilt at 63,675 miles.
1694959791977.png


All in all it's been a good bike and I have it set up "just right" for me so although the new ones are really nice I'm just going to keep riding this one and fix it when it breaks. This is what it looks like now...
1694960033455.png


I plan on sending an oil sample to Blackstone and I'll post the results in the UOA section when I get them.
 
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Ausfahrt said:
I've been riding motorcycles since 1977. My first bike was a 1973 Suzuki TS185 that I bought from Suzuki of Tampa on Waters Ave for $450. Since then I've had dozens of bikes and I loved them all. A few of them tried to kill me so maybe "love" isn't quite right but my affection for all two wheel motorized stuff has never wavered.

My main ride now is a '07 BMW R1200GS Adventure and I am nearing 100,000 miles after 15+ years. This will be the first bike that I have put 100,000 miles on and probably my last too. The bike is getting a little tired but still runs great and brings a smile to my face every time I twist the throttle.
View attachment 176876
Click to expand...
Awesome achievement, great instrument cluster too. Always loved the mystique (to me) of BMW bikes.
 
Dont know how they are now but back in the 60s and 70s BMW was thee bike to have for a long lasting bike with no issues...Just get on it and ride. I had a new 1974 R70/7. It was a great bike all black with white pinstriping...BMW was years ahead of other bike with the shaft drive...The engine was bullit proof....The bike I wish I got back then was the 1974 R90s in Daytona orange...one of the first super bikes ...
 
Met a guy last weekend in the twisties on a Super Duke who put 120,000 miles on it. Said it was surprisingly reliable considering it was a KTM, evidently it went through a few radiators. Kept thinking maybe he was referring to Kilometers but confirmed it was miles. Sounded great too.
 
Congratulations and welcome to the 100,000 mile club... where members prove no matter their oil choice whether MC specific or Auto... whether Synthetic or Conventional... whether 30 or 40 or 50 grade... it will meet and exceed their mileage expectations...


OhShitVF500.JPG
 
My 1985 Vmax presently has a bit over 135,000 miles on it. I bought it new, so I did the miles. My 2002 RoadStar, also bought new, finished this riding season at exactly 95,000 miles. It will break 100K next season. (Up here near Buffalo NY, I usually get the bikes out around March or early April, and park 'em in November.)
The Max has never even had the heads off. The Roadie needed a transmission rebuild at 75K. The shift dogs in the 4-5 shift broke off, likely due to driveline shock from running 5th gear at too low an engine speed.
 
I've been riding MCs since 1970, but unfortunately I've never lived in a climate where I can ride year around, so I'll never be able to put 100K miles on a bike. I think the most miles I've ever put on any of my bikes was about 25K...
 
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