[enos]

I'm wondering how long street bikes stay on the road. Not how long they are capable of, but what is the odometer reading when the bike rode its last foot.

We're talking bike here, not rider, and NOT how many miles when you sold it. If you killed multiple bikes just pick one.

please only vote if your bike was:
-totaled (ignore the fact that some are repaired)
-parted out
-junked
-tossed in a lake by thieves
-turned into a track bike ONLY IF it would otherwise be junked/parted out
-etc.

Tales of woe welcome.

 

[cuylar]

do your regular maintenance.

i dont own a car so i put on 21k this year alone.

 

[Veefer97]

There is a F4i with 165K and still going strong. That would cancell out one squid with a new GSXR 1000 but still average out to 80K. I have seen a K75 with 325K on it. Owned by a grandmother who could open a can of whup ass on a curvy mountain road. She put on 60K in one year

 

[R1100S-Rider]

I've saw motorcycles with 500K on them and still going. My bike just turned over 55.000 miles yesterday and will still have it for many many more.

 

[Tripped1]

PhilB's Monster is over 160,000, there is another guy with a 128,000 CBR, My Speed Triple is somewhere north of 100,000, and I and had GPz900 that was at 140,000 when the engine went...and that bike was built in the 80s.

They last long enough.

 

[enos]

I have no doubt they can last and last, but the vast majority of bikes I see either in person or for sale have low mileage. The 40k+ bike is a rarity on craigslist. So obviously they're taken off the road prematurely, and i'm trying to figure out when.

 

[enos]

I have seen a K75 with 325K on it. Owned by a grandmother who could open a can of whup ass on a curvy mountain road. She put on 60K in one year

I'd love to see a squid's face after he realizes he's been beaten by a grandmother on an old tourer :lao

 

[inpayne]

When they are crashed generally.

Or blown up.

 

[stamford]

subtract 1 from the 60k+ category. All I read was "Im wondering how long street bikes stay on the road" and just quickly voted for 60k+.

I should have read further. I have never killed a bike but my sv has 40k on it and that includes an accident that would have totaled it if i took it to a shop. Same engine is in it though..just a bunch of new/used other stuff like suspension, sub frame, plastics...ect

 

[Squid Killer]

Bikes rarely see their potential. When I worked at a dealership it was rare to see one with over 20,000 miles. People just seem to get rid of them like a cheap paperback book.

 

[big_slacker]

When you can sell your used bike for $3k and buy an almost new one for 5k its hard not to see them as somewhat disposable.

Or to look at it another way, my bike is 11 years old. I paid $2300 for it and just spent $1150 in maintenance. (Chain, sprockets, fork seals, 16k valve check, brakes, on and on....) I could probably have sold it for $1500, taken the $1150 and a little bit more and got a newer bike. I like my bike though.

Bikes rarely see their potential. When I worked at a dealership it was rare to see one with over 20,000 miles. People just seem to get rid of them like a cheap paperback book.

 

[Stick N Move]

this is a really bad study... Some nub could crash his bike within a few 100 miles while others can ride a bike to its last breath at over 200,000

 

[F4sSprintST]

I can't say I've seen many bikes with over 20k on them, but #1 I don't look, #2 I have certainly heard of high mileage bikes


Dat's a lot of tires! :banana

 

[HiSpeed48]

typically 0-3 miles, depending on how far the noobie rider has to ride till he hits his first turn

note: half sarcasm, half reality

 

[enos]

this is a really bad study... Some nub could crash his bike within a few 100 miles while others can ride a bike to its last breath at over 200,000

I guess you're not the only one who doesn't get what I'm trying to find out.
I know full well a bike can last forever. But many don't, whether because a nub crashes it or it's lost in a flood. I'm trying to find out when that happens.

Like a few people other than myself have said, it's rare to see a bike with more than 30k miles or so. That says to me that those bikes must obviously disappear somehow. The results here seem to say the opposite, so either our perceptions are wrong or people are voting without reading what the poll is about.

Vote only for a specific dead bike.

 

[Stick N Move]

I guess you're not the only one who doesn't get what I'm trying to find out.
I know full well a bike can last forever. But many don't, whether because a nub crashes it or it's lost in a flood. I'm trying to find out when that happens.

Like a few people other than myself have said, it's rare to see a bike with more than 30k miles or so. That says to me that those bikes must obviously disappear somehow. The results here seem to say the opposite, so either our perceptions are wrong or people are voting without reading what the poll is about.

Vote only for a specific dead bike.

Ah I see. Come to think of it...I rarely see bikes over 30k as well. Maybe a Harley or touring bike every now and then...but in terms of sportbikes I think it is pretty rare.

 

[preisker916]

I tend to unload them at about 60,000. I had an XS650 Yamaha that someone gave me, that had about 30,000, that shortly after I got it, broke a cam chain that put a crack all the way from the exhaust port, down into the crankcases (it was at about 7500 rpm when it let go), and there was a piece of cylinder liner in the intake port. That was given away to someone that needed wheels and a tank.

A K100 that had over 75000 when it was sold. I think the Japanese bikes are so well built that they can go a long way, but I've got a short attention span, so I get different ones every now and then.

 

[PhilB]

The main thing is that few Americans ride their bikes for real transportation; for most they are toys. So most bikes die of (a) neglect, (b) age, or (c) damage, rather than mileage. I read some years ago that the average bike is in the wrecking yard by 15K.

For me:
1993 Ducati M900 -- 167K and counting.
1989 Honda CBR600 -- 87K and counting (no longer mine, but still on the road; I see the guy I gave it to now and then).
1979 BMW R65 -- 83K, wrecked.
1960 Heinkel scooter -- 85K, has been stored for a while, but am putting it back on the road soon.
1971 Honda CL350 -- 35K, was stolen.
1962 Maico scooter -- 16K, has been stored for a while, but am working at putting it back on the road now.
1964 Vespa scooter -- 18K, longer term restoration project, but will live again.
1991 Honda 250 Nighthawk (wife's first bike) -- 5K and counting.

PhilB

 

[Gosling1]

06 FZ6, 72,000+ miles, daily rider and weekend trips throughout the southeast. Still going strong.