Motorcycle life span

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Derail · #1 Unread post by **Derail** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:20 am

I was working on my sisters car this weekend when I happened to look up at the mileage. 220,000 miles, and that got my thinking. That car was handed down to me from my grandparents, eventualy was forked over to my mom when he car broke down, and is now my sisters first car. Its a honda so its a given its gunna last a while, but nearly a quarter of a million miles.. wow. I wonder how long my bike will last, it has 22k on it now, only about 2k from me. Just wanted to know how long everyone elses bike on forum has lasted, and how long bikes typically last in general.

flynrider · #2 Unread post by **flynrider** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:47 am

A couple of my higher mileage bikes were Kaw 750 (parallel) twins. One had 72K miles and the other had 87K miles when sold. The latter bike was sold to a friend who now reports topping 100K miles. I bought both bikes new and didn't to much more than regular periodic maintenance.

The reason a lot of bikes don't show high mileage numbers is that, at some point in their lives, they get retired to the back of someone's garage without proper storage prep. They end up rotting. The best thing you can do to extend a motorcycle's life is to ride it regularly.

#3 Unread post by **Wrider** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:20 am

My instructor in school has a quarter of a million miles on his old Panhead... How he does it with a Harley? dunno, but he does... lol
I've got a Camry that I'm rolling 120K on, and my friend's got a Dodge Ram 1500 he's rolling 220K on, yeah, an American truck with the same mileage as your sister's Honda! lol
Wrider

slimcolo · #4 Unread post by **slimcolo** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:32 am

My panhead has that many miles, but it's been rebuilt a few times. I have heard of VLs getting 300K-400K on bottom end, but they were constant loss and always had clean oil. I saw a BMW K100 with 478K on it that owner claimed had never had motor apart. really rough looking bike but still running.

I have seen several BMWs, Wings, 750 Fours and a few Harleys top over 200K. My 75 BMW has just under 102K.

Posthumane · Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:35 am

BMW was promoting a guy that had over 600k kms on his bike. Don't remember the details of the bike off hand other than it was a bmw touring model.

#6 Unread post by **Skier** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:52 pm

Posthumane wrote:BMW was promoting a guy that had over 600k kms on his bike. Don't remember the details of the bike off hand other than it was a bmw touring model.

There's a few videos of a guy with over 800,000 miles on his BMW if I recall correctly.

Bikes are generally built to last. It's owner neglect that kills 'em.

#7 Unread post by **dr_bar** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:56 pm

My car, (240SX) has 385,000 kms on it. My last bike, ('95 Virago 1100) had close to 135,000 kms on it when I sold it. Both run well...

JC Viper · #8 Unread post by **JC Viper** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:24 pm

Honda Goldwings are known to have been way past the 100k mark some beyond 400k. Maybe there's something to that flat six...

Nibblet99 · Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:08 am

Highest I've heard of was a courier.
Did 450k miles on a VFR, then replaced the engine and put another 400k on it. Seems extraordinary to me really, but well done Honda if it's true

Bubba · #10 Unread post by **Bubba** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 4:24 am

My old '81 850 Suzuki, which is still in my garage, has close to 160K on the odi. It was still running, though not too well, when I parked it.

If you maintain your bike well, and follow the rules with maintenance, you'll get a bunch of miles out of it.