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How many KMs are a lot of KMs

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If the price reflects the high mileage (I'd peg over 40-50k km as high), and the bike is in good shape, go for it. However, if the price difference is minimal from a bike with significantly lower mileage, I'd go for the lower mileage one.

A high mileage bike, even one that is meticulously maintained, poses a number of potential issues. It's a fact, the more miles put on a bike, the more wear on it, and the higher likelihood of things failing and needing repairs. I'm not talking about big things like the engine and transmission, those are likely to go forever, it's all of the small things that add up. Things like cables, bearings, oil seals, various maintenance items, etc.
 
In reading a lot of the responses one would think that a bike with ultra low miles would be a great thing. Personally, I'd be more hesitant about buying a 5 yr old bike with only 2K on the odo than a 5yr old bike with 100K. Bikes aren't built to just sit there! My friend bought a wing last year that had pretty low mileage and although it was partially his fault for not replacing the tires, he had a blow out of his rear tire at 60mph. Not sure how, but he kept it up till he stopped. Tire came apart at the sidewall. Did it sit too long? Maybe, I dunno.

But I would feel more comfortable buying from someone that has been maintaining their machine and riding it. rather than having it sit.
 
For the right price any mileage is ok. A high mileage bike may be picked for a fraction of new. Be prepared to systematically go through the maintenance schedule so you know it has been done. There was a case last year of a ninja 250 that hadn't had a valve check and grenaded at 33 000 km. A valve adjustment will be priority one. A compression check will also be in order. The manufacturer (kawasaki, honda, suzuki, etc) will provide oem bore cylinders. When compression starts to be an issue you could send the cylinders out to be bored to the next oem size. New valves can also be installed. I don't think it unreasonable to get 70 to 80 thousand out of a stock engine before cylinder work is necessary. If you are prepared to go the distance in maintenance, you could probably get the original engine to 200 000 km before a engine rebuild is required. Has anyone gone to these extremes to maintain there bikes, doubtful.
 
Whats more important then how many km there is... Is how well was the bike maintained. A well maintained bike that was in use thru out its life is a better buy then a bike with lower km but was not maintained well.
 
cbcanada said:
Whats more important then how many km there is... Is how well was the bike maintained. A well maintained bike that was in use thru out its life is a better buy then a bike with lower km but was not maintained well.
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Can you say the same thing for my Ninja 250 tho ?

I rode it over 11k rpm constantly for hours at a time. That's the story whenever I get on the highway actually lol
 
mikbusa said:
Ok, Let's use some generic assumptions. Take the kilometers, and multiply by rpm at 100 km/h * 60 seconds per minute.

So 40,000 km, times say 6000 rpm for a typical 600 SS.

So thats 40,000 * 6000 * 60.

That is 14,400,000,000 revolutions. The engine has turned over 14 billion times.

What do you expect, it to last forever, should it last a trillion revolutions?

Be realistic.
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lol... really?
 
I am on 22K on my ZZR250. Just got my valves adjusted, new brakes, coolant changed, new plugs etc. Once when I get new tires, she'll be like new again and I am good for another 25K.
 
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My boss just bought his wife a Harley Softail with 25K, he says that's not much at all, maybe it depends on the style of bike too.
 
When I bought my ST it had 71,000km on it. After five seasons with me it now has 145,000km. Mileage is just one thing to consider when buying a bike.
 
I thought my bike that had over 105,000kms was running fine.

Needed a replacement bought the same model but 40,000kms less, the difference between the two bikes was night and day.

Bum dyno doesn't always tell the truth.
 
I put between 35,000 and 40,000km on my bike each year. Maintenance is much more important to me then miles.
 
if i was to buy another bike i would only buya track bike with non branded title.
almost all of the serious track day ppl are very very verry perticular about their bike maintenace. and they usualy put aftermarket parts what are beter then oem. and maintenance is done sooner and more ofther than on almost any street only bike. i wudnt even bother asking aprox km of the bike cause mot track bike are so clean you can eat food of them.
 
Get the bike from the most up front seller. Mileage isnt a real representation of the Bike's condition. The honest guy that will tell you everything without feeding you BS is the one to look for.

There's allot of factors that can vary the price of the bike, make sure to study the one you want to a T and you'll know if a seller is out to lunch on pricing.
 
Noob loob will restore any high mileage bike.

High mileage bikes 100 000k will be okay if maintained. But with the proliferation of cheap low mileage units why bother?
 
25000 kms is high mileage - 50,000 kms is OMG high mileage!

Please use these numbers when considering a used bike and don't buy anything with over 25,000kms on it. That way, high mileage bikes will be even cheaper than they are now, and I'll get to continue buying them for pennies since nobody wants them. I'll then continue to put lots of kms on them without anything breaking :)

In truth, bikes are like cars - some are good and will last a long time, some aren't. Bike's like FJR13's, connies, ST's or full size BMW's will last 300K kms easy with regular maintenance. Things will break, yes, but all will be relatively minor. If you're buying a touring bike, don't worry about mileage - worry about the shape the bike is in (never underestimate a simple compression test to tell you how the bike has been treated). My bike has 72K on it right now, and it's still breaking in... Engine's much better than when I bought it 2 years ago with 40K.
 
well... mileage all seems to depend on area. in canada we dont get a lot of warm months, and thus, not a lot of mileage in general. although there are those who are an exception to this rule.

i'm currently in australia, and winter is approx 20 celsius. however, the average 3 year olf bike has somewhere between 40-50,000km.

basically, they are just like cars... i mean, its a 4-stroke internal combustion engine, sure it spins faster than a car's engine, but if maintained properly it'll last just as long.
 
I wouldn't go for used 250 with over 10-15K kms. I wouldn't go for my first bike over 5-6 year old.

(Well, now is worst as I got my second bike brand new, I do not wanna ride a used one at all:toothy9:)
 
insert said:
basically, they are just like cars... i mean, its a 4-stroke internal combustion engine, sure it spins faster than a car's engine, but if maintained properly it'll last just as long.
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Please explain.

Sport bike engines see much higher stresses, combustion pressures etc, and yet a 1000cc bike engine weighs 160 lbs, meanwhile a car engine that puts out similar power weighs 5 times more. Seems to me a bike manufacturer is more interested in performance, light weight, and racing than longetivity.........something has got to give. Hence a warranty of 1 year vs 5 years for cars.
 
murf said:
Please explain.

Sport bike engines see much higher stresses, combustion pressures etc, and yet a 1000cc bike engine weighs 160 lbs, meanwhile a car engine that puts out similar power weighs 5 times more. Seems to me a bike manufacturer is more interested in performance, light weight, and racing than longetivity.........something has got to give. Hence a warranty of 1 year vs 5 years for cars.
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i guess i agree with you... i sort of gloss over it in my post... and that putting aside theory, in the real world, you physically see bikes lasting just as long as cars in places with 12 month riding seasons.
they do spin a lot faster, they do undergo more stress... but if maintenance schedules are followed they will last. if abused they will die early and fast, similarly with cars...
 
skip said:
I put between 35,000 and 40,000km on my bike each year. Maintenance is much more important to me then miles.
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Exactly. I just sold my Z750 (which I miss like hell by the way) with 96000km and it was running better than the bike I just bought with 2000km (time for a tune though..) but really bottom line is maintenance.
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