| Author | Message | ||
     Dunlop |
Hello. My bike have 22k miles on speedo. I am curious, if it is actually 22k or it is already 122k miles. How can I check this?  I am pretty much sure that in 22k, I should still see cross hatch marks in cylinders. Next ideas? I prefer ones where is not necessary to open the engine (at least for now)  Thanks | ||
| Stev0 |
Levers and controls/ footpegs. They tend to be giveaways but they can also have been changed... If the faces of your guages don't rattle or turn you're most likely a low mile bike. clutch hub is another way to tell but you have to take the engine apart for that.. The reason I mention clutch hub is I pulled the one out of one my S3's that I thought had high mileage and it's got more wear than any sporty/buell/big twin clutch hub I've ever seen.. So I'm guessing the mileage is waaaaaaay past 100k on it. | ||
| Buell_bert |
Any bike could have replacement parts in it. Why do you think it has 122K? What does the title read? Heck they could just as easily changed the speedo with a used one. | ||
| Dannybuell |
I have 104,000 on my 96S1. everything about the bike shows wear. paint on the frame where heels will rub. I have done all the oil tank grommets and it still drips a bit, marking its territory just like a Harley. Does the bike look fresh? what is the condition of the wiring loom around the head. You can't freshen up wires that are fatiguing from that many miles, like bending a paper clip back and forth... My wires look like candidates but still work fine. There is no rust on the bike anywhere. I have seen tubers with rust at the frame steering head welds. The same bike had foot pegs that were ground down on one side. It made me think the bike had experienced some sort of a frontal impact. | ||
| Dunlop |
Sure, there can be replaced speedo or altered. But thats less likely I suppose. I just want to be sure that I have relative low mileage bike, or it already needs some bigger "love". Bike runs great, but I just hate the fact that I dont know history of the bike. Stev0: thank you. I think my speedo works perfectly, without any rattles. Levers are probably original, even clutch switch works. Right ignition control is not original for unknown reason. My rear aluminium belt sprocket is a bit worn on teeth inside. Probably from small grit? Is it normal? | ||
| Dunlop |
Dannybuell: thank you. My bike is not stock. It has powdercoated frame, new paintjob, and also engine is painted. So it is hard to tell from that point of view. Wiring loom around the head looks okay to me, but again, it is hard to tell because I dont know how it should look. There is no rust. Probably the only wear I can see from outside is indicator light cover. It is quite cracked (maybe previous owner had it outside in winter?) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Its extroidinarily unlikely that the bike would have survived 120k miles intact at all. Several have, I know that, but from a pure statistics standpoint, very few motorcycles on the planet have that many miles (and even fewer tubers). This is a large displacement air cooled motor in a sporty chassis. There are many attributes to this setup, but 100k+ mile durability is not one of them. | ||
| Court |
>>>There are many attributes to this setup, but 100k+ mile durability is not one of them. Agreed. No way that thing has 100,000. That, in and of itself, would be noteworthy. | ||
| Sportyeric |
Both my Sportster and my red S2 have about 90,000 miles on them. New(ish) cylinders on the Buell so it would probably show crosshatching if one were to look. Neither have the original speedo (Failure of the original Sporty one, conversion to metric on the Buell.) A recently purchased S2 with 17,000 miles on it looks older than my red one, due to paint flaking off the starter and, in one spot, the head. With the new paint on my old Buell (crash repair) it looks much newer than my new one. So external appearance depends more on environment. Similarly, I use mine more for touring than stunting. I know a couple of friends whose engines were done by 20,000 miles because of the hard treatment they subjected them to. I'd say if you're happy with the bike, don't sweat about the mileage. In my jurisdiction, mileage is recorded on the official sales form and could be checked against previous forms submitted to the highways department. Probably not like that most places. | ||
| 1313 |
but 100k+ mile durability is not one of them. Balderdash! With proper care and maintenance 100k+ miles IS attainable with a tuber. It may take more of each than the later Buells, but it's certainly achievable. Unless my nearly 117,000 mile S2 (that will still loft the front wheel) is an anomaly... 1313 | ||
| Court |
>>>Unless my nearly 117,000 mile S2 (that will still loft the front wheel) is an anomaly... The bikes fine . . . it's you that worries me. :-) | ||
| Buellish |
"The bikes fine . . . it's you that worries me." Court took the words right out of my mouth. | ||
| Kalali |
The bragging rights to go with owning a Tuber with that many miles is worth more than the lower miles | ||
| Reepicheep |
Not saying it can't be done, and not saying it hasn't been done. Just saying it probably wasn't in this case.  At 30k on the Uly, the crosshatching in my cylinders were still perfectly visible. | ||
| Dannybuell |
104,000 miles on my 96S1: three top ends. a had to clutch and an optional second when I regasketed the primary cover. 2 or 3 belts, 2 or 3 stators, a new rear sprocket, 2 or 3 front pulleys bad labor on the 1st 2 and #3 has been there for 90,000? miles. I consider a well sorted bike to be better than a virgin. An older bike may evolve over time with better quality parts. Penske, Crane, Mikuni, Barnett, and Banke are just a few you might hope to find out there. Kalali - Yes! If someone asks: "I bought it one tear old with 7,000 miles and the last 97,000 are mine over last 17 years.". Court - Noteworthy huh? :-) | ||
| Sportyeric |
It occurs to me that, not knowing the service history, you need to check inside the cam side to replace the oil-pump drive gear, which is prone to early failure, and the primary side for the up-dated chain tensioner, ditto. The wear on both those would be a good indicator of mileage and is an inspection that you should be doing anyway. | ||
| Buellistic |
The PROOF of the "REAL MILEAGE" is what the total mileage is without ever having the TOP END OFF ... "AND" "i" can say my TOP END has never been off in the 111,819.6 miles as of the last ride !!! "BUT" the ROCKER ARM COVERS have been off, CAM COVER has been off, and the TRANSMISSION has been out ... | ||
| Coxster |
Carfax? BTW my M2 says 7,000 but the PO had it for six years and didn't bother to fix the speedo sensor, so he guessed add 10K . . . |
