Big Brother Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 Being a car driver, I guess the average mileage for a car before things start to wear out and drop off is around 125,000 miles. How does this compare to motorbikes? (Bike engines in bikes - not cars) Can they be run to high mileages? Also do the lower cc engines wear out quicker? Any info gratefully received 😬 Anyone (Ammo?) Steve Se7en-Up! Not going to you know where with you know who in 2004 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie_pank Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Don't know if it's right or not but I think of engines like animal hears - an elephant's heart beats very slowly and they live a long time, a mouse's heart beats very fast and they only live a few years - the idea being they have roughly the same number of heartbeats in a lifetime. Surely there must be more wear on an engine that has its peak torque at 10,000 rpm than one that has its torque at 5,000? I'm buying a bike at the mo and I get the impression that a lot of people buy new rather than s/h whereas I think the reverse is true in the car market. I think that this is because the price of new compared to s/h is pretty good, but also because higher mileage bikes are a bit of a no-no. Eg. 50k is a long way for a fireblade to have gone, you're into the realms of "it'll be ok, so long as its been looked after"... Then again the engines are much easier to work on as you can lift them onto your dining room table yourself, and there's no reason why it shouldn't do another 50k after a rebuild... C Charlie'n'Kermit The plan is: There is no plan S5EVN Edited by - charlie_pank on 20 Jan 2004 08:19:23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Yes, the tiddlers wear out faster. They spend longer at max output. 2 strokes - rebuild every 20k usually, but this only takes 10 minutes since you jsut lob a new piston in. Biggest problem with these is marginal lubrication. 4 strokes of reasonable size - 50k upwards, I'd guess, less if tracked/neglected. VT500s/CX500s/GPzs etc, seem to last forever. Brit bikes seem to need big ends/head rebuild every 10k miles but that's down to crap design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iguana Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I would say that ignoring 2 strokes, most 4 stroke bike engines are certainly as hardy as most car engines. Dispatchers regually notch up over 200k miles on pretty sporty bikes & a mate of a mate used his CBR600 as his commuter for his 150 mile a day run & racked up a trouble free 175k, although it was getting low on comprssion at 150k & had valves re ground & new seals etc & then it was almost as good as new. Only got a mere 40k of constant abuse on my Suzuki so its almost a virgin 😬 Bike mag stripped a bog standard CBR600 engine that had been a journo's play thing for a year- so thrashed mersilisly for all that time & it was also used on the TT in a production class- so a few hundred very very hard race miles. Anyway on inspection engine which had coverd 22k was not far out of production tolorances- although gearbox was getting a bit tired which is hardly suprising considering the abuse they take in racing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Brother Posted January 20, 2004 Author Share Posted January 20, 2004 I was thinking more along the lines of a 50 - 125cc runabout. Looking at the prices, there seems to be huge drop for anything over around 2000 miles. Do the modern breed of scooters last or are they ready for the scrap heap at this kind of mileage. Steve Se7en-Up! Not going to you know where with you know who in 2004 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Depênds, as ever. I had a 50cc 4st that was completely sh*gged after 10k, no meat in the barrel to rebore it. 2str are the same, but you can replace pistons and barrels. If I were buying I'd get a 2 str 125 - less easy to neglect (no oil changes to forget about) and easy to rebuild when they die, reputedly around 20k miles. At 2k miles I'd buy without a care in the world, having checked it hadn't been dropped. The mechanicals have got to be good at that stage. After all it's only run for about 50 hours, assuming 40mph. 4k miles, 100 hours, it's bugger all. New mechanicals can be got from breakers for popular models, after all the favourite end for one of these is when a 17 year old wannabe Rossi decides to park it at speed. Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS TODD Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 Steve YHM Chris SILVER JUBILEE SE7EN 008 - the GOLD car they never built! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Guirey Posted January 21, 2004 Share Posted January 21, 2004 My last BMW did more than 100k without any problems and the one I ride now has done 60k and the only problem to date has been a replacement clutch. All the jap bikes I have had fell apart by 30k and rusted. Apparently they are made of Monkey Metal - 90% Ally, 8%iron to ensure the ally rusts and 2% monkey **** to remove all strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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