Bikes with abnormally low km's | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bikes with abnormally low km's

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crankcall said:
you'll sometimes guy selling things off and they had multiple bikes, some just didn't get the saddle time, I once bought a 40 yr old bike with 850miles on the clock, it had been parked for 38 yrs.
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Damn, I think you've got me beat. When I bought my '83 in 2014 it had 850 on the clock as well. Kms, not miles, but 10 years younger. The story is the original owner bought it and parked it in his garage. Never rode it. The second owner bought it to run to Gananoque (from Kingston) on the weekends to his boat. After a few trips his wife got sick and she couldn't climb on it so he sold it. to me. Told me I should polish it up and display it like a trophy. NOPE. Commute on it and with living on a dirt road it's a mess.
 
Mine was a '73 RD350 yamaha , ridden 850 miles then the owner took a job transfer to Texas, parked in my friends back shed , he said he would send for it later. 38yrs later he was cleaning out boxes in Texas, phoned and mailed the ownership. Buddy sold it to me, it was a one owner bike.

Truly odd part my elderly friend has lived in the same house in Oakville for 50yrs. Who does that?

Bike started on the fourth kick , I put 6 miles on it and sold it to another member that was active here at the time, no idea where it went.
 
My old landlord still has his Suzuki rg500 gamma. He is the original owner, put a little under 800km on it and it's been stored ever since.
He also has an original z28 with 1200km, one owner.

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crankcall said:
Mine was a '73 RD350 yamaha , ridden 850 miles then the owner took a job transfer to Texas, parked in my friends back shed , he said he would send for it later. 38yrs later he was cleaning out boxes in Texas, phoned and mailed the ownership. Buddy sold it to me, it was a one owner bike.

Truly odd part my elderly friend has lived in the same house in Oakville for 50yrs. Who does that?

Bike started on the fourth kick , I put 6 miles on it and sold it to another member that was active here at the time, no idea where it went.
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You should have kept it. We could have starter an Oakville RD club


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I recently resold a 1981 Yamaha I had bought and tidied up with a documented 46,000 kms on it.
That's an average of 1,600 kms (1,000 miles) a year for 4 decades.
They're out there, just gotta find them.
 
I really appreciate the replies from everyone. This helped ease my mind knowing I don't need to be too concerned at the really low mileage bikes out there. As long as it looks straight and runs well, there shouldn't be too much to be worried of.
Well at least within reason of course. I am looking at a used vehicle after all!?
 
Wingboy said:
Booooo,ya missed mine. Post#14
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Ya got me. Funny because I remember the post and thinking sledding this winter cost me about 100$ a ride.
 
timtune said:
Ya got me. Funny because I remember the post and thinking sledding this winter cost me about 100$ a ride.
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Thinking about my neighbor again. He told me last summer he wanted to ride it more. So i said to get some new belts on it because they were due. He pulled the covers and told me they weren't worn.
Oh, you going to wait till their worn. Wow, brave!
He had them changed at Apex.$400.
I should tell him his tires are pooched now. Lol.
 
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There are so many Monsters on Kijiji with really low mileage. They also seem to think they are made out of gold right now, but that's another story.....
Mine is a 2012 and it had 8K on it when I bought it in 2019.
 
On the other hand, you see bikes with 5-10k+ / year on them and the buyer is wondering how did you have so much time to ride
 
If you're buying a 10 - 15 year old bike with, say, 8,000 - 10,000 km on it you have to wonder just how it has been maintained. Was the oil changed once a year, did brake fluid, fork fluid get changed out on a regular basis or is everything, including tires, just as the seller received it from the dealer. If the PO has service records showing the bike was maintained properly for those time vs. mileage related PM tasks then great.
 
timtune said:
Ya got me. Funny because I remember the post and thinking sledding this winter cost me about 100$ a ride.
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Don’t feel too bad, If this camping season gets squashed / truncated until basically July through September as it looks like it might due to Covid, the new camper we bought is going to end up costing us about $3000 a weekend. ?
 
Looking at older ultra-low mileage bikes I'd be skeptical — why has it not been ridden? — how long has it been sitting? —has it been properly stored? — has the owner completely neglected basic maintenance? In addition to new tires what else is it gonna need?
 
D-J said:
why has it not been ridden? — how long has it been sitting? —has it been properly stored? — has the owner completely neglected basic maintenance?
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Did the previous owner only ride it 10KM to the nearest Tim Hortons and then sit in the parking lot bouncing it off the rev limiter all day thinking that's cool?

Yeah, it's a risk for sure. I'd rather buy a bike with 50,000 normal well maintained KM on it than one with 5000 thrashed ones. But most are not in that latter category. Many have been babied their entire life but just not used much. That's fine.

Comes down to reading the owner and doing some due diligence with the bike itself at that point however. And there will always be some risk no matter what with any used vehicle unless you're getting a warranty.
 
D-J said:
Looking at older ultra-low mileage bikes I'd be skeptical — why has it not been ridden? — how long has it been sitting? —has it been properly stored? — has the owner completely neglected basic maintenance? In addition to new tires what else is it gonna need?
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Totally depends.

My buddy had a Honda Shadow that was a garage princess, but he was always shining it up in his driveway. He'd ride down to the local Timmies a few times over the summer, but only if it was a nice-enough Saturday or Sunday (not too hot, not too cold, no clouds in the sky). The bike spent more time in the driveway being polished, and routine maintenance was done annually even though it wasn't due mileage-wise.

Ten years he had that bike, it had less than 6,500 kms on it when he sold it. Mint condition.

He basically maintained it for the next owner.

?‍♂️

Whatever. Different strokes for different boats...

Meanwhile, I've ridden with some younger guys with clapped-out Gixxers, tires worn to the cords, the whole thing held together with duct tape and baling wire, with well over 100,000 kms on the odo. They're like the fifth owner so they got it super-cheap. They love riding, but are too broke to afford the oil changes or do proper maintenance on them. Also, too broke for insurance as well, but that's another story...

So many other things to consider besides mileage on the odometer.
 
crankcall said:
I can usually tell all I need to know when I meet the owner. The first 2 mins of conversation will tell you 80% of the story.
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this. was looking at a different bike before I bought mine. Owner mentioned he changed oil every year with the good green stuff, 3L of it.
I saw oil cap and second cap nearby, remarked oh is it a dip stick? man those are annoying. Owner goes, no it has a window.
Looked around and couldn't find a window, turned out the second cap was a dipstick.

3 year old bike with 22k, owner claims he did the oil changes but didn't know if it was a dipstick or an oil window.
I did not buy that bike.

edit: have to add, it was his only bike at the time.
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