How many KM is too much?

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I think age and type of rider is more important. The more mileage -> the more enthusiastic rider -> the better care they take care of the bike?

But if it's had like 5 owners and you think they just rev the ****** out of it and its low kms...prob something bad going on in there.

I think older technology is a bigger factor than mileage. A commuter will put like 6-12k on in a year no problem? And a tourer will put double that or something?
 
nomad_man said:
The same, daily ride, '91 blue. Scratched up and a few minor issues, i'm the 3rd owner, but otherwise is a great ride. You are the first person i know who still rides a radian :)
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nice! I've never seen another Radian on the road since getting mine last year.
 
I personally consider 20K km a cut-off point for me.

My current bike is 11 years old had 19+K when I bought it in the spring, but when I took it for safety, first thing my mechanic said was "Did the guy ever ride this thing?". It was spotless & perfectly maintained. I could tell that when I went to look at it & my mechanic confirmed.

When looking for a bike, I saw newer bikes with less mileage that looked like crap.
Remember, most bikes are pretty obvious if they've been taken care of - everything's exposed.
And known issues with a particular model of bike can easily be researched on the net.
 
rawr said:
nice! I've never seen another Radian on the road since getting mine last year.
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I've been on the lookout for radians ever since i bought mine, and haven't found anyone yet. Except i talked to this lady when i was in CycleWerx the other day and she said she used to ride a radian.

I have a few minor issues - one is a high idle when hot, with the idle knob turned down it stalls until i've been riding her for 15 or so minutes. [i suspect it's running lean]
Choke is super sensitive around one spot and seems to do nothing in other.

Do you have any of the similar problems?
 
nomad_man said:
I've been on the lookout for radians ever since i bought mine, and haven't found anyone yet. Except i talked to this lady when i was in CycleWerx the other day and she said she used to ride a radian.

I have a few minor issues - one is a high idle when hot, with the idle knob turned down it stalls until i've been riding her for 15 or so minutes. [i suspect it's running lean]
Choke is super sensitive around one spot and seems to do nothing in other.

Do you have any of the similar problems?
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Closest I've seen is a Seca II on the highway once.

As for the idle, I have my idle dialed down to use minimal choke. I used to have the idle issues, but persistent tweaking seems to have remedied it.
 
nomad_man said:
I have a few minor issues - one is a high idle when hot, with the idle knob turned down it stalls until i've been riding her for 15 or so minutes. [i suspect it's running lean]
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My v45 sabre did the same stuff. Check your air filter(s) and Carb intake boots.


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nomad_man said:
Do you suspect vacuum leak? Or perhaps lean mixture?
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check for cracks in the carb intake boots. I replaced mine and noticed an improvement. Also, check your intake. Do you have the tool tray under the seat? if not, make sure nothing is blocking the intake inlet.
 
Griffin said:
Personally, I'm more worried about a bike that is several years old with very few kilometres on it. Motorcycles sitting doing nothing is not the best situation.
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Exactly. An old bike should have lots of km on it. As long as the seller has maintenance records then that should be fine. Now, at 50K and up you can start to expect to replace some parts but the bike should be cheaper than a bike with 20K or less, anyway.

Those older SS bikes with under 20K on them just seem like they've been neglected and not serviced properly since an old bike still requires service at time intervals.

In summary, depends on the bike, rider, records, etc. But I'd have no problem buying a bike with 100K on it if it had service records and was a good price.
 
My current bike was 10 years old and had 70,000km on it when I bought it. Five seasons later it now has 147,000km so I guess I am stuck with it. Since it is a larger displacement sport touring bike higher mileage should be expected when shopping this market. I personally would not avoid buying any bike with higher mileage providing it was well maintained and the seller had the records to show regular maintenance.
 
jonpurdy said:
As long as the seller has maintenance records then that should be fine.

Those older SS bikes with under 20K on them just seem like they've been neglected and not serviced properly since an old bike still requires service at time intervals.
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Wow, so many ASSumptions. I just take these personally. My SS has low mileage, because I really didn't have time to ride for the last two seasons. I do pretty much all servicing on my own, so I have zero records (except obviously for receipts for parts). So when/if I'll be selling my '06 SS with 14K on it, I really would not want people like you to comment. Heck, I changed synthetic oil/K&N filter after 2K of riding last season.
 
rawr said:
check for cracks in the carb intake boots. I replaced mine and noticed an improvement. Also, check your intake. Do you have the tool tray under the seat? if not, make sure nothing is blocking the intake inlet.
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I did spray some combustible aerosol around the carbs before, the revs didn't change. I wi'll have to take a look at the airfilter. I do have a tool tray under the seat.
Thanks for the tips.
 
ViperZ said:
Wow, so many ASSumptions. I just take these personally. My SS has low mileage, because I really didn't have time to ride for the last two seasons. I do pretty much all servicing on my own, so I have zero records (except obviously for receipts for parts). So when/if I'll be selling my '06 SS with 14K on it, I really would not want people like you to comment. Heck, I changed synthetic oil/K&N filter after 2K of riding last season.
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And that's exactly the issue. You say you did the work but how can I verify it? So you'll save money by doing the work yourself but possibly lose out on buyers due to lack of records. Even something like a log book or spreadsheet detailing the date and type of service you did yourself would be better than nothing. Or if you tracked your mileage when you filled up with gas.

And please don't take it personally; this is just how the used bike market works. I'm sure anyone with a low KM SS is able to find a buyer if they're not sketchy and able to explain their situation.
 
For some reason this same question comes up every month or so. No such thing as too much mileage, only reasonable expectations.

Sellers need to realize that they can't sell a bike with higher than average mileage for the same price as a bike with a third of the mileage. If the bike is priced according to the mileage, I see no issue with it

Buyers need to realize that things wear out with age and mileage. There is much more to a bike than an engine. Things such as bearings, cables, seals, clutch, chain, etc. can all potentially wear out with higher mileage. If you buy a bike with higher mileage, lets say north of 40k km, expect to do some work on it. If you're mechanically averse, probably a good idea to get a newer bike with lower mileage.

I would say condition of the bike is irrespective of the mileage. There are equally poorly maintained low and high mileage bikes

btw, had an 86 Radian, sold it in '06 though
 
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So, apparently i've been told by a few people that there is a huge following of radian bikes, however i'm unable to find source of good info for radians with except to badrad website and yahoo user group.
Any pointers as to where is that following? :)
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