quick question, how long does the average bike engine last??

same kind of milage as a car ??

lol
you beat me to it mick...
:D

In all honesty it's juts like a car. Can you really say how long the average STi engine lasts? It seems on this list that it can be anything from a ridiculously short time before it goes bang to an unbelievably long time. And anything in between...

But, to be a little more helpful, I've seen over 100,000 miles on large understressed engines like BMW twins and 1100 Kawasakis. I've seen 50,000 plus on 600 and 750 sportsbikes and I've seen 38,000 on a 750 turbo Kawasaki in just 10 months.

In the last 24 years I've only had two roadbike engines go bang under me, and both were older models that have happily gone to the great scrapyard in the sky long ago and had known problems with oil feed.

Keep a modern bike engine serviced and especially give it oil and it'll go forever.

SB

PS They get bloody hot in car installations, thoigh, if that's what you're thinking...

myself and micky were discussing bikes on msn last nite- we were just wondering what sort of mileage was deemed high or excessive for a bike and whats pushing it even for a well serviced jobby, thats all.

Like SBradley says, bike engines CAN last a long time. The reason why many don't is for a couple of reasons ...

a) The average bike generally gets thrashed a lot more than the average car
b) .... and gets serviced less fastidiously than the average car

Change the oil as per schedule, make sure it's warmed up before hooning it and it'll last :)

At my local bike shop / MOT station, the guy that runs it is constantly amazed at the number of calls he gets in March / April with people saying "I put it away in October and now the brakes are stuck on / it won't start / it's making a funny noise".

A lot of people just sling 'em in the garage & leave them for six months, then wonder why the piston rings stick, the valves stick open etc etc. :(

As SBradley says, reasonable mileage from bike engines if the servicing is done.

Sportsbike engines are a nowadays pretty strong, but because they are regularly reved to 12k and above, the valve clearancces tend to close up. Solid adjusters for the clearances in valve gear (shims) are used because the hydraulic ones used in cars carry more mass and will pump up and close the valves at higher revs.

Ash

My 98 blade which I have had from new has just under 84,000miles on it.. ;)

Good old Honda!

Simon

39k miles on a Honda VFR in 26months. Engine now better than ever.
Guy at work has 94k VFR on original engine and bits, no problems whatsoever.
Even real performance engines take 000s of miles to fully loosen up, my SP2 is faster now with 5k on it than it was earlier in its life.

oh yes and mine gets ragged to the redline and taken out in all weathers.. and I agree is feels freeir revving the more miles it does... starts first time everytime..

I just change the oil regular..

List of parts other then the usual tyres, chain and sprockets, brake pads..

alternator, battery (couple of times as the alarm tends to kill it in the winter), rear wheel bearings and sprocket carrier bearings (couple of times), head race bearings.
Oh and I have replaced disks all round once..

Simon

Alas, if it’s a Yamie it will start burning oil after a few years of its life, all the FZR,YZF,R series bikes do, I did read an explanation claiming that the way the pistons are cast is the cause.

Dunno how true that is....I do know that my well looked after EXUP and 2,000 mile YZF750 loved a drop of oil, the YZF needed topping up like a 2 stroke before it'd managed 10K miles

I noticed in one of the mags this month that their new, test R1 was using oil already.....

Can’t beat a Honda for all-round reliability, durability and finish (which hurts to say as I have a Suzuki, with the usual cr@p finish)

mine doesn't use any oil either.. I really need to check the valve clearances as they are well overdue a check and I suspect the timing chain probably should be changed at some point? hoping Honda's very old history of timing belts and chains breaking means it is over engineered like the rest of the engine.

Simon

Mine does about 200 miles per pint of oil .....

... but it is an old 2-stroke triple ;) Praise the lord for Silkolene Comp2 Plus.

Valve clearances? Cam chain? What are those then? ;):D

I had the last of the "old" 2 stroke triples..and it wasnt a KH or Kettle(those where triples?), but an NS400....Stunning little bike, look modern from most angles even now

Stripped the teeth off 3rd gear, slipping the clutch out of tighter corners, years out of warranty, Honda still fixed it though FOC.....

Take a look at http://www.force2.net/stuartv/BooBoo.htm

250K ..... and I know that this was posted a couple of years back ....

Cheers

Dave

Brybusa -- very nice bikes those NS400s .... deceptively quick and sounded wicked. Handled very well too, really compact machine.

I never got to ride an RG500 but I did have a go on a standard RD500, and the NS was just as quick IMHO. Pity Honda never did a full-on 500cc version.

I was lucky enough to have an NS and RG500...the NS was a nippy thing, but the RG was miles quicker over the ton...As was my mates RD500

As standard NS wasnt much quicker than a YPVS.....

Prefered the build of the NS though, biggest disappointment was getting tyres for it, 110/90 I think it was on the back O/E, which is why I low had my first low side!

120 metzlers where the biggest you could obtain easily.

The other minus was fuel consumption on the NS, rode from Leighton Buzzard to Luton, then up the M1, heading for the the TT, cruising at a steady 80-90 loaed and 2 up, had to refuel before Northampton!

Wicked bikes though, mint RG/RD500 are worth around 5K now, real collectors items

Sorry to deviate from the thread!

Maybe the RD500 I rode was a bit of a dog then .... they were quite a high-maintenance machine ;)

At Mallory a few weeks back I was looking at an RG500 motor in an RGV250 frame -- looked well tasty :D

There’s an RS250 in Northamptonshire with an RG500 motor in it, bet he’s surprised a few people on that, especially newer riders that have been “brought up” on 4 strokes..Us old boys start twitching when we see 4 pipes hanging out the back and know what to expect!

RD’s are a nightmare to look after, my mates fouled the plugs frequently, terrible access to the motor ,cables everywhere, really flimsy fairings that cracked and stressed…

Still, all credit to Yamaha; they pushed the boundaries with 2 and 4 strokes

Shame the NS wasn’t I full 500, if it had, itd been the best of them., I think Terry Shepherd did a 500 conversion, spacers under the barrels to increase stroke as well as boring them out, earlier CBR600 wheels apparently fit as well…

As standard the NS kicked out 55ish BHP, RD’s and RG’s 70to 80BHP (@the wheel), quite a difference….

A very nice RD500 (http://www.rzrd500.com/wolfgang_rd.html)

what it was, is that i really do want a bike, mainly for the summer use, things that are stopping me are

1. unsure about how long they last (ie: this thread)
2. cant be arsed to become a learner again and take bike lessons :D
3. bit unsure about security and stuff

is a decent bike a liability for theft, i mean it looks like half the time you could just walk away with sumbodys bike if its not chained up

at work is not a problem as its all enclosed and theres proper bike parking under a camera`d up shelter with security guards (hell i even leave the scoob in the works car park unlocked and with the windows open in the summer :D)

at home we have a garage thats not used for storing cars (bits of cars and stuff we cant be botherd to chuck out, like old fridge freezers and stuff lol) so a bike could go in there.

so if say i bought a 600 bike and for arguments sake it had 30 000 k on it its not that likely to blow up :D

i will do more research ;)

Sticky, if you're looking at bikes, they've ALL been thrashed. Every last one of them. ;):D

But look at the owner, and at the service record. If he can tell you stuff about what kind of oil he uses etc etc then you'll get a good 'un.