Who has a bike they have done more than 100,000 miles, 160,000 Km on?
 

Just out of interest who out there has a bike they have done high mileage/Km on? As the title says more than 100,000 miles or 160,000 Km, has it been a good bike and would you still trust it to take you on a long trip?
I have three, a '79 Triumph T140 with 110,000 miles which I have had from new and have had to do a lot of work on to keep on the road and am not sure I would go too far on it.
Also '91 BMW R80GS bought new which has now done 172,000 miles, it has taken me many places including a trip to Australia, it has not had a lot done to it and I still use it every day and plan to take it on a long trip next year.
Finally a '83 BMW R80G/S with 170,000 miles on the clock, I bought this from the original owner who travelled around the world on it and sold it to me in a bit of a state with 120,000 miles on it and after a rebuild took me 20,000 miles across Africa without as much as a puncture. It is currently having a bit of an overhaul and I would happily take it on another long trip.

varahannes
 

Hi Mark,
"Varahannes" is a biker from austria and he drove long distances whith his bikes.
varahannes.at
With his Honda Varandero he drove more then 590.000 km ...
Now he drive a Honda Africa Twin CRF 1000D, since Feb 2016, with 88.000 km until now ...

Enjoy Nightalp

There's a "100,000 Km-Club" in southern Germany: [url=http://www.transeurope.de/motorraeder/100000_km_-_klub/100000_km_-_klub.htm]

I and my brother did both on our Suzuki DR600's 211.000 km and 216.000 km.
We bought the bikes new in 1989 and start to travel in Europe. Then every 2-3 years we shipped our suzuki's to another continent to travel there a few months. When we got back after our last and longest trip in 2002 (Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Russia) the bikes are retired. Because we made our dream come thrue, to travel around the world on our suzuki's. In all these years we had little problems. mostly fried stator/regulators. The bikes still had the original piston/engine.
Now we use DRZ400's for our travels.
bikebrothers.nl

That is very impressive. Looks like you guys were doing RTW riding before it became an INDUSTRY! :smartass: I was not a big fan of early DR600 Suzuki's but have had very good luck with my 2006 DR650SE. (only 62,000 miles on mine!)

Friends had the DR600's and did not have good luck. Yes, Stator and Rectifier problems ... but other issues too. I don't think either really knew how to care for those Suzukis, so maybe more owner fault than the bike?

My '06 DR650SE has been one of the most reliable bike I've owned over last
40 years. :thumbup1:

You must spend A LOT of time riding to rack up such miles! Wow! I would have to ride non stop for 5 years to rack up miles that high! I can see well cared for BMW R80's going far but the Triumph is the really impressive one!

Based on my poor luck as a kid riding and racing Triumph's, I was scared to death to go far on my '79 Bonneville Special. But I really know little about those bikes beyond basic maintenance ... so never got into mine much beyond basics. But mine was a Jewel, it was reliable, never let me down and was really a good overall bike, even compared to modern bikes. :yes:
Never would have imagined it would go past 100K. I bought mine with 7K miles, owned it over 10 years, sold it with only 13K miles.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...FpgPTfb-XL.jpg
Two Triumph: '79 Bonneville Special and '95 885 Tiger. (my first of 3 modern era Tigers)

How did you solve the woeful electricals on your GS's? The Stators and Diode board issues were troublesome and one reason I (stupidly) sold my '81 BMW R80GS. I rode one years later ... really liked it! A great dual sport bike!

I don't think it's a really big deal these days, cars or bikes with 100 000+ km on the clock running still good are quite common ...

100 000 km without any work on it, that's much more interesting.

All of the electrics except the bean can ignition pick up on my 91 GS are original, from what the first owner of my 83 G/S said so are most of those on that one, I have never replaced anything in the 15 years I have owned it.

My GS did 160,000 kms without any work on the engine, new valves, timing chain and piston rings then, it has now done 275,000 km with nothing more done and the gearbox untouched. Several of my friends have high mileage airheads with similar histories.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b0f9f479f2.jpg

R1200GSA 2008


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My KLR 650 has 213,000km on it and is still going strong. It commuted for the first 130,000 of those and has been my travel bike ever since - 52 countries so far and the America's coming up later this year. It has been relatively trouble free but at the end of the last trip had got very ratty so currently it's getting a decent rebuild. The engine is being done mainly for safety but the biggest signs of wear are in all the peripherals - brakes, suspension and wiring - and that's wear most of the work is needed.

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Smart move! Many do the engine but neglect the rest of the bike. I would have a look at:
1. Swing arm bearings
2. Head bearings
3. Wheel bearings
4. Rubber brake lines

Renewing all above bearings will really help "tighten up" the feel of the bike. Makes a big difference on an older bike. We did this on a friend's Wee Strom and was like night and day riding the bike after all new bearings. :thumbup1:

Also, on the KLR, check your frame and sub frame for CRACKS. Weld them up and re-enforce if required. Bike now ready for another trouble free 200K kms.
bier

I have a 2011 BMW GS 1200 that I have ridden 150000 kms since new
It has been maintained and serviced properly and hasn't presented any mechanical problems
I am confident with its reliability and completed a five month trip through Europe in 2016

Seriously impressive distances done here. I sold my first F800GS with 120,000 hassle-free km's to a mate of mine who has taken the 800 to 160,000k's. I then have a mate down here in South Africa who has 195,000k's on his 1150GS...:scooter:

Countless XRV750 Africa Twin's have gone over 150,000 Miles.

Most 90, 2000's Jap bike's easily do these mileages if you look after them like the service schedules dictate.

At the annual meetings of the above mentioned 100.000 Km Club there are all brands of bikes that often have done well over 100k kms. Very interesting is a Yamaha TR-1, a bike that has been grossly underestimated when it first came on the market. One of the visitors regularly pitches up with his TR-1 having ca. 325k kms on the clock still with the first chain, running in a sealed chain case.
Of course many of the bikes at these meetings are Beemers, but that might be because the meetings are in Germany. But apart from that the visitors enjoy presenting their bikes, talking about their personal bike history etc. One guy has a Honda cbx (6-cyl) who has done more than 700k kms.
These meetings are rather laid back - no fanatics doh who hate certain brands. All bikes are welcome - on the condition that it has done over 100k kms. :thumbup1:

600 Tenere. Sold it with >160kkm on it. Hard to say exactly how much more, because the odo was broken for a long time. Apparently, my mate who is a mechanic says the bike is still running 12 years later and he sometimes does some minor work on it.

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/v...2192Medium.jpg


My RD07 Africa Twin - sold it with >200kkm on it. Again, hard to say how much as I ran without an odo for a while, and then also a Stealth electronic odo for >30kkm.

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/v...4040Medium.jpg



Love to say it was trouble free, ut both required some rebuild along the way...:oops2:

Wow, that's one of the most impressive things I've read on this site :thumbup1: and I promise I'll never say anything disparaging about old British bikes again (or for at least a month anyway :rofl:)

I don't know if you saw Bill's 250 MZ at Baskerville Hall last month. It was in the "bike show" and he won a calendar for highest mileage. Then it had over 220,000 miles (about 350,000km) on it but the amount he rides it it could be a bit higher than that now. He has a second one (the "new one") and that has around 80,000 miles on it!

That is something I find unbelievable (although I'm sure its true). I only have about 30k kms on mine and my impression is that the engine is slightly on the fragile side so to get close to half a million miles out of one is staggering. If there's any more info - a website for example, I'd be interested to see how he's done it. In the meantime I really need to use mine more and have confidence in it.

I have a 2000 KLR650, which I bought new in 2001. It currently has ~98,000 miles on it, and is mostly original, i.e. no rebore or head work. I went through it at 70k and replaced steering head and wheel bearings, clutch discs and water pump seals, but these were all preventative. It does use a fair amount of oil, since it hit 85k or so. These bikes are cheap enough that I don't see myself doing any major work on it anymore, I could buy a 6 or 8 year old one with 10k miles for $3,000. After it hits 100k, I will likely push it into a corner of the garage and get another mid sized dual sport. Probably an XR650L Honda, just to try something different.

This bike has mainly been used for long trips, and I ride conservatively when in foreign countries, so a lot of those miles are pretty low stress. Interestingly, its fuel consumption continues to get better the more miles it has. I regularly get over 60mpg (US), which is ~20% better than when it was newer. I am planning to go to Guatemala in January, and am undecided whether to take this bike, mainly because it is a great souvenir from my trips, and if it did break down, it wouldn't make financial sense to ship it back.

1978 Kawasaki KZ650, 150,000+ miles.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psbrnc6e3q.jpg

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?c?

Yes: :clap:
Thanks, Grant.

So, here's my contribution to this thread: 1993 R80GS, nearly 180,000 km on the clock. Still running smooth. About half the kilometers done in southern Africa, OZ and Middle East. Lots of dirt roads. No major repairs yet.

1988 Suzuki Dr 600
 

Add me to the over 200 000 Klm club. I did a RTW on my 1988 Dr 600. I still have the bike in my garage somewhere....

somehow I don't see anybody reporting his KTM with high mileage....

Yep, the last German emperor (Kaiser Wilhelm) was also convinced that the stupid invention of automobiles would soon be binned. He favoured horses. :innocent:

Hope to see you at the South African HU

actually I favor horses as well, not on the highway though bier


Speaking of highway, which bike would you prefer to get - one with 100k highway miles on it or one with 10k miles ridden in dirt? My points is mileage alone doesn't count much.

Baaie graag, mar ek was net in SA in April & Mei hierdie jaar :scooter:

26 deletions is enough.

Thread closed.