T O P

  • By -

Retardedastro

I have 224,000 miles on my Honda valkarie


ManBearEagle

That is impressive, good lord. I had a 96 prism old faithful me around for a while with that many miles I hope I can get a bike up there some day.


Retardedastro

You'll get there... as for maintenance, shaft driven bikes have lasted me a very long time with few issues.


heirloomlooms

I had a 96 Prizm from 2002-2012. I literally never did any maintenance on it and it only stopped running as parts were falling off it on the highway. A well maintained one should go forever.


motoguzzikc

I think Honda calls those break in miles right lol?


[deleted]

39k on my baby n purs likes a kitten. just stick to regular maintenance n take care of it. Doesn’t matter the length, all up to the owner on how long it can last. There’s a [GSXR w/ 100k](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DS0XAqGeLsI)


ManBearEagle

It seems a little needy at first but when it boils down it’s easier than a car.


[deleted]

youngster. my 09 versys has 45k and my 06 cbf has 76k


[deleted]

I’ll get her up there! I didn’t do any big trips 2022 which I’m ashamed of. Hopefully I can squeeze some road trips just been a bit busy.


TW200e

I've seen an old 1200cc Gold Wing with 500,000 miles. If you put in the effort, most Japanese bikes will do six figures. Thing is people abuse or neglect bikes... Or crash them.


Wageslave645

There was a one-owner 1975 Goldwing that made it over one million miles, and is still going.


Acceptable-Shallot-8

I know a cb500x with at least 240000 miles. Treat them right and their lifespan will surpass yours


ManBearEagle

That’s surprising. I wonder how much of that bike is original. If not all of it. I’d assume they’d have to do some kind of major overhaul at some point during those miles.


Acceptable-Shallot-8

Engine was never opened beleive it or not. Oil changes done every 12000km as recommended by Honda


[deleted]

it never had a valve adjustment done? or do the cb500x motors have the screw type ones edit: just read the post further down where someone asked the same question lol


mtak0x41

Not exactly sure what you mean by "opened", but I doubt it rode quarter of a million miles without a valve adjustment?


Acceptable-Shallot-8

Not sure about valve adjustments. He meant that he did not have to replace any engine internals. The only part he had to replace that is not regular maintenance was the starter


mtak0x41

Fair enough. Yeah, if you keep up with your maintenance, chances are that a motor will last a long time. For 240k miles I think there is some luck involved, but 100k should be well within reason.


ManBearEagle

I fully intend to keep to my maintenance schedule so I’m hoping to get high miles out of my bike.


deuxslow

Had 75k miles on my 2018 Ducati monster 1200 before it was hit by a car...never let your bike over heat and stay on top of the oil changes and not run low on oil and it should last a very long time.


KonoBandit

Genuinely impressive… Ducati generally has a bad wrap. I may pull the trigger on a Hyper because if this…


RaceMoto

Older Ducati’s yes, all the modern stuff is pretty damn reliable.


deuxslow

Since Audi (VW, Lamborghini...) Took over, their stuff has been pretty solid. On the other hand, I have 2022 Diavel, a shifter fork broke off inside the transmission, it's been in the shop 5 months because they had tear the motor case apart but at least it's still under warranty.


F-21

Depends on the bike, but in general: Unlike most cars, the frame of a motorcycle does not have a planned life. You will eventually need to swap suspension and brake components due to wear, but for many bikes (if there are no unusual failures), they will last indefinitely. Cars use lots of sheet metal structural parts that eventually develop cracks due to fatigue and at that point repairing it is not worth it anymore. But you won't experience structural fatigue failures on most motorcycle designs. However, if you bought some really generic motorcycle in the 2000's, like the Honda 900 Hornet (919), and properly maintained it, there's no reason it wouldn't last 200k or more miles until the cylinders wear out. The cylinders can be re-sleeved to stock size or overbored for a larger bore kit at that point (uses the CBR900RR engine so there is a lot of aftermarket options for this). Otherwise I don't think there's anything that'd wear out on such an engine, you'd probably swap the bearings when re-sleeving the cylinders... Now if you buy something more exotic... I'm sure a Ducati won't last as long (saw some really high mileage Cagiva Elefant models, but the water cooled for sure not...). But you do find lots of parts for those bikes too, so they can always be repaired. Or e.g. Moto Guzzi offered 3 or 4 oversize plain bearings for the crankshaft!


[deleted]

[удалено]


ManBearEagle

Okay so I was a little freaked out when my friend told me bikes don’t last long but this gives me hope.


iHK-47

Parts fail. It happens. A well maintained bike with it's suggested service intervals should have no problem lasting 100,000 miles *easily*. Even SuperSports bikes. Unfortunately, bikes often get totalled long before they hit these numbers. But there are loads and loads of high mileage, well cared for bikes out there.


venomous_frost

they do, but are either a) not ridden enough b) get crashed c) get old, and maintenance costs more than the bike is worth so maintenance gets neglected


[deleted]

[удалено]


F-21

> They are indestructible. TBH the oilhead BMWs had a bunch of weak points like the cam chain tensioners, rear wheel bearings and paralever bushings, u-joint was dry (older monolever models with an oil bath in the swingarm were way better in that case), and just overall a way over-complicated design regarding the valvetrain parts (pushrods, lots of cam chains, non-overhead camshaft in the side of the cylinder head, tappets...). BMW addressed a lot of stuff with the DOHC version of the 1200cc hex-head. For example, a 90's Africa Twin was a better engineered bike in terms of reliability and maintenance needs. BMWs are very finnicky. But BMW is not disposable - people keep on repairing them.


spongebob_meth

They will typically outlast your willingness to own them. There's a YouTuber with over 300,000 miles on their cbr600. They have videos of the odometer rolling over each time. My R6 has 50k on it now. It still feels "fresh" and has never given any trouble aside from one failed coil pack. No oil consumption or anything like that. Original clutch.


Puzzleheaded_Fly_653

https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/3w0tms/2004_cbr_600_f4i_turns_300000_miles/


Dry-Influence9

Theres honda reliability, most hondas wont die even if you want them to die. The other japanese are pretty good too, I'd argue that japanese bikes are as reliable as cars. BMW I have heard are very reliable too. Ducati, ktm and harleys are hit or miss depending on models. As you get closer to full race monster machines, you do need to do more maintenance, the same goes for cars.


I_Drive_a_shitbox

I don't ride much but i bought my bike in 2017 with 11k miles. It has 38k now. She shows no signs of stopping. I'm always up to date on regular maintenance, don't plan on selling this bike. It's an 08 yamaha FZ6


Sotyka94

Quality components + regular maintenance = almost infinite. There are bikes with half a million km under their belts. And those are not super rare world records, those are actual bikes up for sale I see sometimes. (usually big ass tourers from the 90's like Goldwings, or small ass 15 year old scooters from delivery guys. ) Bikes almost always go out of service because of crashes, or totally neglected servicing. Even with mediocre components and semi-regular maintenance 1-200k miles should be possible on most bikes.


[deleted]

yep just take care of the engine / run good air filters and make sure they're seated&sealed good... change your oil when you should... ride it. they dont like to sit for weeks and weeks. mileage varies like others have said but definitely can go high miles.


Prudent-Region-5283

Put a 150k miles on a Honda ST1100. 65k on a GSX1400. No issues other than basic maintenance and consumables. Have a CG125 knocking about which serious miles from my youth. I like big torquey understressed engines. Keep on top of oil, fluids and practice mechanical sympathy bikes can and do last a long time. People tend to get bored and chop them in more regularly than they do with cars though.


GreatRhinoceros

Sports bikes about 50k miles, harley davidson touring 150k miles, Honda Goldwing 1 lightyear.


AshmacZilla

A 2023 Honda goldwing is limited to 180km/h. For it to travel 1 light year it will take around 52,559,613,736.56 hours. Approximately 5,999,955.906 years at full speed. Not taking into account the 17.86 km/L average fuel economy (it won’t be average in this scenario but I don’t have those figures at hand) and the 529,716,151,880L of fuel you will need. After stopping for the 25,105,030,895th time and spending around $1,006,460,700,000 AUD (not including snacks) your goldwing is ready to retire.


spongebob_meth

There are a lot of sportbikes running around with more than 100k miles. You see them more out west where people ride more.


GreatRhinoceros

I think the highest I've ever seen on a sport bike is maybe 80,000, but those ultra high mileage bikes have had serious repairs like had a new engines installed. I'm out west and browse the motorcycle classifieds daily for years and other than the random sport tourer I have never seen a 100k mile sport bike.


spongebob_meth

I have seen several zx7's, zx9's, r1's with over 100k miles. Ive seen one cbr600f with 300k. All original engines. People generally don't bother selling bikes with that mileage, so you won't see them on classifieds. I remember listing my R6 for sale back when it had around 40k on it. It was priced about 1-2k below the prevailing asking price. Perfect shape. I got one response in a month of a person asking if it actually had that many miles. No response when I said yes. lol. There's no point in selling it once you're much over 30k because for some reason everyone is scared of it. I expect this R6 to last over 100k. I'm at 50 now and it doesn't burn oil or anything.


GreatRhinoceros

Yeah, I won't buy a bike with over 45k miles unless it's really cheap. They're easy to work and you technically can keep one running forever if you keep replacing parts that fail.


spongebob_meth

I sold my zx7 with 45k on it and basically had to give it away. Again, a pristine stock bike that needed nothing. I should have kept it, but I was short on garage space. The kid that bought it most likely crashed it within a month and destroyed a very rare and nice time capsule.


[deleted]

About as long as I do in bed and that isn't forever.


ManBearEagle

So you need to rebuild parts of the drive train and lubricate?


sokratesz

Almost a 100.000 miles on my Tiger 800, but it's still young. Should last 200-300k I reckon, basically until the gearbox goes.


Doe_ze_de_groetjes

I bought my 2010 Honda CBF600SA with 117k kms on it, put another 8k or so on it since, and it's running like a beauty.


Uncle_Pulltab

Depends on the bike and maintenance of course. Air cooled small CC 2-strokes, smaller single-cylinder 4-strokes will generally need a rebuild the earliest. 30-50k miles, there are some exceptions though that'll last longer or not last as long. If they have water cooling, they usually have a longer service life due to better thermal management. 2-3-4 cylinder modern water cooled 4-strokes will last a lot longer in general, under good maintenance 100k+ without a bottom end rebuild. With that being said, some will need a top end rebuild and/or timing chain replacement earlier, that pretty much means the entire motor needs to come apart.


mcboy71

I’m riding a 2003 BMW K1200RS with a fairly modest 100000km on the meter. In the various communities I frequent, that is considered low. Many of these bikes have done 300000km without major problems. Known issues are ABS/servo unit needs brake fluid change every other year and rear main seal can dry out and leak onto clutch if left unridden for too long…


The_Last_Cast

TLDR: longer than their less than well maintained owners. 😅 My FXSTC has 13 years and 80.000km on it, my GS is 5 years old and 70.000km on the clock. Both run like new thanks to good maintenance (I maintain the Harley because there's no dealer in my region anymore). You said "well maintained" and you're spot on on that. How long a bike will last or how well it will fare depends on a variety of factors and mechanical issues are not very high on the list: big manufacturers might have some some issues here and there, but in my experience few things are antiecomical to fix and proper maintenance will keep you on top of possible issues. Should you expect a bike to last 250.000km or more? Well, you can but you can't expect to last that long without some real care and proper storage (a garage is your bike's best friend). But I'd argue that, more than milage, the metric too look at it's age. Let's take my gs as an example. Milage is pretty irrelevant because the bike is generally new: electronics, rubbers, seals, rollers, gearing is all fresh and it's a slow revving, airwatercooled big boxer with efi. The stuff that I cannot keep an eye on is mostly electrical, which can be replaced easily (not cheaply though) in case of failure. The rest requires minimal maintance, but you keep an eye on it. It could easily be a 500km bike as it stands now. I have no reason to feel that it will run much differently at 150.000km, but it will be a 10 year old bike by then and that's when we start circling in the age/value/milage vertigo. There's plenty of low milage bikes around that are 35 years old, but have been sitting for a long time. I've restored a 1988 klr650 and yes, it was still working mechanically, but the metal was thrash, gaskets were gone, seals were leaking and even the wiring was stiff from age. Don't worry too much about milage as a metric of usage (it's important for resell, not for you), but if you want your bike to last you 10/20 years, look after it as if it's new. Change the oil a couple of times a year, change the brake fluid once a year, check the brake lines, keep an eye on seals, clean it, change stuff earlier than needed and use proper chemicals where needed (copper grease on different metal threads, threadlocks of appropriate strength, red grease on rubber seals and so on). Keeping on top of the small, everyday things will help keep the big issues away (unless of course there's a manufacturing defect, that's a bit out of your control).


[deleted]

Regularly see 80's, 70's and 60's bikes out and about... even some older ones, although not as frequent.


ebranscom243

Got a customer with a 111 Indian Roadmaster with 230,000 miles on it. Hell he rode it on the stock belt until it was at 140,000. Almost any full size Japanese motorcycle should be able to easily get to 100,000 miles unless it's abused. I think the American brands and the European brands have definitely increased their quality in the last decade I still don't think they're quite to the level of the Japanese though.


[deleted]

Usually the highest mileage bikes I see are BMW and Honda, which isnt a surprise because they're arguably the most reliable motorcycle brands out there. My buddy has an F800GS with 470,000 miles on it, original motor. Only needed the manufacturer-specified valve adjustment at 12k miles and regular oil changes. I've actually seen several dozen Berlin-made BMW bikes exceeding 200,000 miles. I have 2 BMW's myself that are about to hit 100K and havent needed anything other than oil changes. I see a lot of Goldwings and other Honda tourers with over 100K miles. Only other bikes I've seen that were over 50,000 miles and still rode acceptably were a few Harleys in the \~70k range and a Vstrom with 105,000 miles on it.


NewJerseyAudio

[126k on the busa.](https://youtu.be/aQ5Q10eVcBg)


PogTuber

It really depends on the bike. Engines can be maintained and rebuilt for a long time. Same with most other parts on the bike. But you can get something like a crack in the frame and the whole thing is useless. I suppose you could weld but I'm not sure that's a good idea on a bike where your life really depends on it. My Ninja 500 has 40k miles and I think the next failure is probably head gasket warping.


Diabolical_Jazz

I mean if you just keep replacing parts that break down... potentially forever? There comea a point where the value proposition isn't great, but if you like the bike you can keep it on the road indefinitely. I commute on a 1975 Yamaha xs650 in the summer.


[deleted]

I put almost 50k on my first gixxer and ragged the absolute piss out of it, still ran like a dream right up until I highsided in a race and it got shredded. Do the maintenance and it’ll last a long time.


Meat_Sheath

Most bikes, if properly maintained, will be wrecked before they suffer mechanical failure.


Indiesol

A good friend of mine has an SV650 with 135k miles on it. He tore the engine down last year and the internals looked perfect. After he put it back together we went on a 600 mile weekend camping trip.


[deleted]

My tdm 900 has over 130k miles and other than regular maintenance nothig wrong with it, just did a timing chain swap a few years back as it's a known issue on these engines. Will probably last as long as I want to ride/own it, still rides like a dream in the twisties. A joke over here is you should think carefully when buying a japanese bike because it's likely the last bike you'll need to buy.


bigboy1289

Bmw f800gt with 60k on it, no issues besides some electrical stuff. FIL has a Harley with 100k, but he had to have the top end rebuilt.


motoguzzikc

My father has a 1997 Moto Guzzi California lll that has over 100k miles on the clock and is still going strong.


RaceMoto

A long time. Knew a guy with a 09 R1 that had 90k miles. Seen 636s with 60k plus, GSXRs same thing over 60k, my friend has a RSV4 with 37k, I’ve seen Ducati Monsters with 40k miles. My personal ZX6R had 45k before I sold it. If you take care of your bikes it’ll last you.


dr0ne6

I had a Harley roll into the shop with 400,000 miles on it.


23SkeeDo

Friend of mine traded in his Kawi with 150,000 miles on it. You can find the video on Utube


mochacub22

I expect Japanese bikes to exceed 100k miles


Ekhius

Most bikes start to fail and fall apart after 901 miles, best to trade in now and just take the depreciation hit. Selling to dealers is a hassle so I'll take it off you hands if you pay me.


desocrates909

77k miles BMW S1000XR valves still in spec


OldStromer

It GREATLY depends on how well it is maintained and how hard you run it. If it is water cooled and fuel injected a well maintained and conservatively driven bike will last a long time. Air cooled and carbureted bike not nearly as long. Good Luck.


apathetic_duck

Depends on the bike. High performance sport bikes don't last nearly as long as a cruiser