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Hey all! I'm looking at a 93 Kawasaki Ninja that has been well maintained with regular tune ups, however the bike has 20,000miles on it. Is that too many miles? What is the median amount I should look for?

20K miles is pretty low for '93 model.

even a bike used for leisure is still estimated to have 6K miles a year. that's a very low estimation already.

i just had my bike last june and i already got 3500 miles on it and i just use it for leisure, i don't even commute w/ it.

that bike is pretty low mileage.

This is a question that frequently pops up here. The basic answer is that it's not the amount of miles on the bike that matter, but rather how well it was taken care of. If it shows 20k miles on the clock but it looks like it has 200k miles, give it a pass. If it looks almost brand new then chances are it has been well maintained and the mileage isn't a factor. 20k for a 13 year old bike is very low, btw, and since you've said it has been regularly serviced than chances are it's a good buy.

Just for reference, my Virago has 29K miles on it, but it's in great shape, and runs just like a new bike.

Yeah that is pretty low miles. For comparison, my Magna had 20k when I bought it this year. Since I got it in April I've put almost 5k miles on it

I bought my 2006 Yamaha Majesty new last year in September. I didn't get my motorcycle license until November. I've got 17,000+ miles on it now.

As mileage goes, that does sound pretty low. Depending on where the bike has "lived" geographically, folks will average about 6-7k miles per year, more in climates with longer riding seasons. I agree with the posts about condition. Another thing to check for is the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual. If a major service is due at 21k or 24k, you could be buying an expensive trip to the shop for an extensive service. I've used that fact as a bargaining chip when negotiating price. You can knock a few hundred bucks off the sales price that way.

Greg

Benny wrote:Hey all! I'm looking at a 93 Kawasaki Ninja that has been well maintained with regular tune ups, however the bike has 20,000miles on it. Is that too many miles? What is the median amount I should look for?

Hang on! Which Ninja is this? I've heard the 250cc has what is referred to as a 'disposable' engine. High running revs, etc. If it blows up, it isn't worh fixing, because a replacement engine is cheaper.

Failure at 25K is NOT unheard of.

P

Low miles may also mean lack of usage. I read that open engines will rust and suffer from lack of use.

Guys and gals we are talking about less then 200 miles a year ?

i do this by pushing my bike on natural

I dont know in my country the usual is about 700 - 1000 km a year which is 400 - 600 miles a year
like 3 times the distance.

I think you should check why the bike did so few miles sometime when a bike stands for a long time without riding it causes a lot of problems

Good luck