Life expectancy of a new bike.

thedoc46

thedoc46

thedoc46

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Expat in the USA
Flippin employer is moving 25miles up the road, so now i have a dilema.

Either plow a load of miles on my car and thus making it depreciate a far lot quicker inc many more repair costs. Total Cost of ownership over a 3 yr period ($781 per month) That includes, deprecation, petrol, repairs, insurance, servicing tyres etc...

Or buy a brand new bike (Prob an R6) and just use that to and from work. Annual mileage will be 15k, my figures work out to be ($273 per month) once again taking depreciation, etc etc....

But can a bike of today handle 15k per yr? I'd sell it after 3yrs and that'll mean it'll have 45k on the clock..

What is the life expectancy of a modern day motorcycle engine? A car I reckon 150,000 miles and you are playing with a time bomb.. Personally anything over 80k and its time to let someone take the risk imo.

As for bikes, well I've only ever had a bike for a weekend blast, and soon as its got to 10k, time to sell.

So realistically what is the life expectancy of a modern day motorcycle.. Just not into tourers or anything.. It would be an R6 or similar or nothing...
 
I see no reason a bike couldn't handle 15k a year. Using it regularly and over longer distances will allow the engine to warm up and should do less damage than short blasts.

Nick Sanders did 20k miles in 30 days on an R1 and from reports I read the bike rode like new at the end.
Reading on other forums people doing high mileage on their bikes change the oil and filter in-between service intervals, keeps things cleaner. Doing that they claim 100K+ on their bikes.

"Bike" magazine are running a S1000RR as a staff bike, it's done 10k in 6 months, it hasn't drunk any oil or had any serious mechanical problems.

Get out and enjoy it :)
 
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paddy said:
I see no reason a bike couldn't handle 15k a year. Using it regularly and over longer distances will allow the engine to warm up and should do less damage than short blasts.

Nick Sanders did 20k miles in 30 days on an R1 and from reports I read the bike rode like new at the end.
Reading on other forums people doing high mileage on their bikes change the oil and filter in-between service intervals, keeps things cleaner. Doing that they claim 100K+ on their bikes.

"Bike" magazine are running a S1000RR as a staff bike, it's done 10k in 6 months, it hasn't drunk any oil or had any serious mechanical problems.

Get out and enjoy it :)
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Hmm even more tempting, plus i reckon if i pick up a new 2009 (which i actually prefer the colour on) sitting on a showroom somewhere, i can bring my monthly down to $218 total cost per month.
 
A bike, cared for, will live as long as a car.

Get a commuter bike (or stay on the sports - I commute on my zx6r so can see the appeal) and just stick on top of maintenance :)
 
I've seen cases of cbr600's doing 300,000 miles... and I'm not making it up. Regular servicing and all that jazz does work wonders! :)
 
You seem to have pretty low expectancies of what cars and particularly bikes can do... Look after either properly and they should for ages with minimal fuss other than regular wear an tear.
 
FooAtari said:
You seem to have pretty low expectancies of what cars and particularly bikes can do... Look after either properly and they should for ages with minimal fuss other than regular wear an tear.
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Agreed, 80k miles is absolutely nothing for a modern car engine if it's looked after properly.

45k should also be absolutely no problem on the R6 as long as it's gets the appropriate services. The problem with that kind of mileage on a relatively young bike is that it will devalue it a fair bit as there are plenty of low mileage examples available (at least in the UK).
 
FooAtari said:
You seem to have pretty low expectancies of what cars and particularly bikes can do... Look after either properly and they should for ages with minimal fuss other than regular wear an tear.
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I don't think so, there comes a point when cost & risk of repair becomes more than depreciation and it's then you need to lose the car pronto !

My Audi car only has 37k and I'm also thinking about selling it as there seems to be lots of transmission failures and possible sludge oil starvation problems at around 50k either of those issues run into the thousands upon thousands. 7-8k for a new Audi CVT. Same deal for an engine rebuild. To extend the warranty on my car it's 5k, and this is with a supposidely reliable german car.
 
I'm not sure a R6 will handle that milage for very long... 2yrs and it will become a money sink, with little value (no-one would buy a 30k mile R6)

I know in theory a bike can go on for a long time, but with something that revs to 14k+ rpm engine wear is going to be more than a car.

My bike has done just over 30k in just over 3yrs and it's getting tired. Sportsbikes no matter how well looked after just start to wear out, all that constant vibration and stress... You might be better getting a more 'touring' style bike as they do tend to last forever.

50 miles a day I would be tempted to get a big lazy BMW, like a 1200GS, but then again I'm a old man now lol
 
I would certainly have most faith in a Honda engine doing that kinda of mileage without issue, still are you going to be servicing it? As little sports bike service intervals are going to pile up on the running cost.

Plus who in there right mind would want to do 50miles a day laying on top a diddy little 600 sports?

I'd personally (get a loan if I didn't have the money) buy a crappy second hand Honda cb 400 or something for the commute, as it will run forever with sod all running costs and get a decent second hand big bike for weekend fun.
 
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you dont say what type of commute it is, if your just going to use the bike to save money, you wont. a bike is good in heavy traffic and busy roads, and if your doing those a sports bike will do your neck in.

bullit
 
i was always paranoid about having a bike with over 10,000 miles and used to change them all the time. but i recently bought a triumph trophy 900 with 65,000 on the clock and it starts first time every time and runs well. in some ways i prefer to ride it over my hayabusa with 7000 miles.
 
Why are/were people brainwashed to think that anything over 15k is high for a bike? A bike will last just as long if not longer than a car (they are usually better cared for by their owners)
 
So true, seen many times that you can easily do 100k on any bike you just have to do the maintenance/service just like with any of the cars. Anyway, how often do you get an engine problem with a bike or a car, it's always some small electronic or some other cheap parts, it's the damn labour charger that sometimes you gotta pay that kills everything.
 
apatia77 said:
So true, seen many times that you can easily do 100k on any bike you just have to do the maintenance/service just like with any of the cars. Anyway, how often do you get an engine problem with a bike or a car, it's always some small electronic or some other cheap parts, it's the damn labour charger that sometimes you gotta pay that kills everything.
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Well my wife's ex-jeep developed an engine problem that required an entire new top end of the engine at less than 36,000 miles. My old Alfa in the UK, which had less than 50,000 miles needed a new transmission at 1,800GBP maybe even more, can't remember. My mum's Opel has just needed a new transmission at less than 30,000miles. I've heard quite a few stories on expensive cars like Audi's needing entire new engines at around 60k, on their CVT tranmissions, which is $8,000 to replace if you've made it to 100k you've done well. I don't trust engines in a car anything over 80k personally. They just become a money pit, and for what the car is worth with that high mileage, time to get rid of it.. A bike engine is much smaller and works a LOT harder. Especially a race rep, so IMHO I think anything over 45k and you are asking for trouble. Especially as the bike isn't worth all that much once you get to that sort of mileage.
 
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