How many miles have people been able to put on their bikes?

Mine is an 82 xj650 maxim. It had 40,000 on it when I bought it. Just wondering how high these generally get up to?

 

There is a mechanic at the Yamaha dealership in Fairfield Iowa with over 200k on a Maxim. Not sure which model, just that it's a Maxim and he has owned it since day 1 and has driven it 60+ miles every day to work.

 

That's the record on this forum, then. There's a thread here not too far back that surfaces occasionally in the last month or two or so where people list their mileage: several in the 100k+ range fine, but most are between 20k & 45k. It just seems that most people don't put a lot of miles on their bikes. I got mine with 25.2k three months ago or so, and I'm already past 30k.

 

You have to remember the market when these bikes were sold. The big four were out competing each other (and leaving the american company in the dust). There were coming out with new models, new features, undercutting each other's prices, all without a care to the demand side of the equation.

Market fell out from underneath them and dealerships practically GAVE them away to get them off their show room floors. Many of the resultant owners weren't up to the responsibility of the constant mainenance required, so if they sat for a season, carbs would gum up, batteries go flat, tires needed to be changed, etc. So they sit. It's probably mostly due to the advent of CL and ebay that people pull these rust heaps out of their garage, since they can make a quick buck off their junk. But decades of "put away time" results in lots of low mileage bikes, with engine internals still bathed in oil...just begging to be SAVED! :lol:

It's definitely worth looking at the few, responsible owners on this site that got their bike out of a crate instead of a barn. That guy with 200k on a maxim really shows you that these bikes can last (although he must have had to to pull the head at least once right :roll: )

From a ninja 250 forum...apparently, it's still happening today.Why bikes die

 

Re: How many miles have people been able to put on their bik

How many miles? Nobody ever believes me how many miles I got out of motor #1 on my '82 750 Seca, without needing any major engine work. I dont even talk about it any more, because I'm tired of being called a liar & defending myself, ect. Pretty damn impressive for what was called a 'disposable motorcycle" back in the day. Lets just say I'm pretty well sold on these XJ's. Rock on, fellow XJers!

 

Re: How many miles have people been able to put on their bik

I'd believe you...put it in your sig never hurts to know, and know HOW you maintianed it (because unless you were lucky, you must have done something right to run it that long).

 

Re: How many miles have people been able to put on their bik

Manbot-thanks for your vote of confidence. O.K. here goes-speedo went out reading 68K. Rode another 5 years W/O speedo of any kind. Removed atari & went thru a succession of any speedo I could find that would work for about another 10K. Bike lived outside most of its life, sitting in snow thru many, many Minnesota winters. One day, it wouldnt shift out of 1st gear, probly a bent shifter fork but I didnt know that then, Rode it real slow to a safe place where I could leave it & arrange to have it picked up. So I can say it, technically, never left me walking. No major engine work. Regular oil changes with good quality oil, regular valve adjustments & carb synchs, replaced clutch plates once & fork seals twice. Replaced cables, wheel & steering bearings when due, ect. I swear, for years this bike thrived on abuse & neglect-but no more since I found this great site. Yeah I would say I was very lucky, cause motor #2 is now asking for a new head gasket @ 25K. Please no negative comments-I wont respond. I have nothing to gain by being untruthful here. Thank you everybody for all the knowledge I have gained since joining this site. W.J.

 

Re: How many miles have people been able to put on their bik

so then you'd probably definitely recommend buying a bike even if it doesn't run for $300?

There's two for sale down here, both right around 500 and I've been able to prove to them that without running they're worth less than that.

How much could I make by selling the parts in case it was a lost cause?

thanks for any help!!

 

Re: How many miles have people been able to put on their bik

Running a compression test on the motor will tell you the truth if theres anything there to work with. I would say a motor that blows good numbers for a couple hundred bucks is worth the investment, given most everything else is there as well. For compression testing on a dead bike, you'll need the tester, a good battery & hope like hell the motor turns.
Parting out a junk bike can be a lot of work & hassle, but you could probably make your investment back, in time. Good luck.

 

Re: How many miles have people been able to put on their bik

I have over 31,000 on my 650 (which I bought new so I know it's history) and the '82 Max I just bought has 7990 on the clock as of now. I have only put about 5 miles on the Max (short test ride and ride home) and it will be a few weeks at least before it's ready to ride. Still have to finish the carbs, shim the valves, rebuild brakes......all that kind of stuff.

 

Most of these bikes die from neglect, I know of several with 100K+ on them. Properly maintained that should be easy.

 

Mine has 55,000 on it. About 3000 of those are mine. It runs very smoothly.

 

I probably have over 50 grand on mine. Runs great. I can't say exactly, because back when my speedometer died I pulled one from a different Yamaha that was close in mileage, maybe 3-4000 less, and I didn't bother to match them up. If I recall, the current reading is about 47 or 48 thousand, so anywhere from 50 to 52K. Maybe even more. Oh, and for a time no odometer, so add maybe another K. I wish I'd written it down, makes is hard to figure out how long my tires lasted, and so forth. (just put a new rear tire on today)

 

You can see my sig for my mileage. Cooling is the key to long wearing engines, in my humble opinion. Even with a trip through Death Valley, in summer when the Mercury was at 123, my BMW had no problems. Any liquid cooled bike is also likely to be a high miler with proper maintenance.