Best deals on an used bike, i.e. low mileage

[sanjuro]

When I look for a used bike, I focus on one factor: low miles. Low miles means little wear and tear but it also means responsible riding.

What I am hoping for from a seller is someone who got a bike and for whatever reason, decided riding is not for them. And my preferred mileage is under 5000.

The most likely choice is a GSXR-1000. I noticed on CL a 2014 with 5000 miles. My own bike I got with a little rash, but the last owner put 2000 miles in 4 years and the selling price was below Blue Book.

The opposite is touring bikes, particularly BMW. Even you can find an used BMW that is only 3-5 years old, they will have at least 20k miles. Of course, they will run for 50k+. PS I did see this though: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/d/2017-bmw-1200-gsa-triple/6698458366.html

 

[/dev/null]

How did you come by this correlation between low miles and not abused? Do you think someone is going to put in a post, "Bike has 5000 miles, mostly on one wheel."?

 

[splat]

Is there a question or something here?

Personally, I'd buy a higher mileage bike if it rode well and was taken care of. A newb might only put on 10K miles, but might have never checked the oil level, redlined it light to light, and burned out a couple sets of tires.

You gotta feel the seller out on it.

Then again, my budget is generally low, so I cannot be quite as picky.

 

[sanjuro]

Is there a question or something here?

Personally, I'd buy a higher mileage bike if it rode well and was taken care of. A newb might only put on 10K miles, but might have never checked the oil level, redlined it light to light, and burned out a couple sets of tires.

You gotta feel the seller out on it.

Then again, my budget is generally low, so I cannot be quite as picky.

Mostly, I'm curious about other bikes which often sell for low miles, under 5k.

If you hit the 10k mark, then you might be getting a good but not great deal.

 

[byke]

I think that's one of those leftover ideologies from decades past. Used to be that you really wanted to buy a used bike under 10k miles because it was probably going to need a full rebuild at 30k and you wanted to get your time in, but it's not really like that with most multi-cylinder big bores in the last twenty years or more. I'd best most people don't even put 10k on a bike no matter how long they own it, in which case go ahead and buy an sv650 with 50k on the clock because the odds are you're going to sell it before it grenades, even if you had no idea how many miles were on it.

 

[Gary856]

This kind of thinking makes many high-end Euro bikes with ~20k miles a steal. People practically give them away, yet they have a lot of life left.

 

[kuksul08]

For me it's the little things that tell you if it's good or not.

Mileage makes little to no difference unless you're super high (depending on the engine, this may mean 50k miles or 100k miles).

 

[JimE]

Well.... mileage is a factor. Not as heavy a factor as you seem to think but nonetheless. I would suggest outright age is at least as much a factor. Rubber seals age and leak just by being old. Buying from somebody who simply takes care of their stuff and isn't afraid to spend some money and/or turn a wrench is probably the most important thing in a used bike.

If your looking for particular model with particular low mileage your going to have to cast a wider net.

I found myself wanting a 2010 to 2012 BMW R1200GS (for a bunch of reasons) and anything local had at least 30k miles and was $10k or more. Found a 3900 mile 2011 in Illinios for $12k and seller split the shipping with me. This is a great example of what your talking about.

My F800GS I bought locally with 8300 miles and 200 miles later the rear wheel bearings disintegrated and left me stranded. Huh.

My 2002 R1150GS I bought sight unseen in Portland for a fly and ride and took 1500 miles and a week coming home camping all the way 2-up. Had 23k miles on pickup has 41k on it now and has never left me by the side of the road.

So I dunno. YMMV indeed. Buy what makes you happy.

 

[HadesOmega]

Low miles could mean its sat around and rotted for a long time. My DR650 had 1200 miles when I got it but it's muffler was all rusted, rust, shock totally blown (no oil at all), still had a lien on it, torn seat, etc...

My Zephyr 550 was low miles too the owner let the bike sit out under a car port for 5 years. Tank was all rusty inside and carbs with rust in it, shocks leaking, and dead battery.

 

[Pushrod]

If identical bikes are being sold I'd prefer buying from an OCD, and older, owner selling a high milage bike rather than a low milage bike from a slacker.

Older, married guys will spend hours and hours in the garage just fussing with the bike in order to be at arms length from the wife. Transference of affection, you see, all to the benefit of the next owner.

The slacker might sell you a pristine, yet thrashed, unit with the original break in oil in it.

A friend bought his kid a sport bike from a college kid. Changed the fluids in my garage before going for a hundred mile ride. No coolant in the catch can, very slack drive chain, brake fluid was cloudy and the engine oil came out an odd silver color with little lumps in it. (Yeah, he completed the 100 mi ride).

The seller's attitudes about the bike and life mean as much as the sale price and milage. Sometimes more.

 

[banshee01]

4900 miles all track miles. Only did one oil change at 600 miles like the owners manual stated

 

[spdt509]

+1 on the theory of low mileage from days of old.Picked up a DR650 with1.5k on the clock. I thought, sweet, do all the usual steps with a bike has sat for a while and it ran great when I finished. fast forward 5 months; just getting it up to speed on the GGB, the bikes stalls.... managed to start it again and made it home.

I thought maybe the engine was not warmed up enough (bike is stock,ie, lean running). 3 days later while I was trying to leave work, the bike didn't start. found out later the pulse coil took a sh*t, replace it, runs great again.

despite that, I still wouldn't walk away from a low mileage bike,perhaps just be more diligent during the shake down phase....

 

[Darkness!]

I've seen about 75 or so engine rebuilds on everything from a single thumper to twins, triples and inline fours. In my admittedly limited experience, from a technical standpoint, properly broken in and maintained (and continually ridden engines have less internal engine wear on transmission and valvetrain components (barring forging and casting and metallurgical defects) than a bike that has sat for long periods of time. I.E a bike with very low miles.

If a bike is stored or sits for long periods of time, HOW it was stored and what type of environment the bike was stored in make a HUGE difference in how well the rubber, plastic and metal parts of the bike "age"

A well maintained, hard ridden, V-twin superbike engine with over 218,000 original miles (OEM transmission components) that I helped rebuild and swapped into a newer frame had very little internal component wear compared to a poorly maintained 2016 300cc parallel twin bike that had 857 miles on it after two years that had rust in the tank and radiator and coolant in the oil and large metal flakes in the oil. Yes, some metal in the oil at (what was presumably) the first oil change is normal. Almost dime sized flakes of metal after less than 900 miles is not normal. Need less to say, the new buyer of the latter was pissed! Now I didn't crack open the 300cc bike to check the internal wear and tear but large metal flakes on a two year old bike is NOT a good sign.

Jus sayin, a fantastic deal ain't always a deal. Caveat Emptor.

Don't focus on the bike, focus on the seller.

 

[Maddevill]

If the seller doesn't know what tires he has on or the general mileage of the chain and sprockets or doesn't remember when the valves were checked. run away.

Mad

 

[Darkness!]

If the seller doesn't know what tires he has on or the general mileage of the chain and sprockets or doesn't remember when the valves were checked. run away.

Mad

^^^ +1 ^^^

 

[Sharky]

I think that's one of those leftover ideologies from decades past. Used to be that you really wanted to buy a used bike under 10k miles because it was probably going to need a full rebuild at 30k and you wanted to get your time in, but it's not really like that with most multi-cylinder big bores in the last twenty years or more. I'd best most people don't even put 10k on a bike no matter how long they own it, in which case go ahead and buy an sv650 with 50k on the clock because the odds are you're going to sell it before it grenades, even if you had no idea how many miles were on it.

Just rolled over 110K on my GSXR1K.
:laughing

 

[norcalkid]

I'm OK with miles as long as the price reflects it and it was well taken care of. Didn't think twice about 15k on my DL650. Original owner, bought originally locally, garaged and commuted to work maybe 20 miles each way.

But ya, within 4k I blew a fork seal and need to do the valves. Valves no surprise, fork seal, not sure if it would have mattered if newer. Plan is fix those and be good for another 20k.

I'd be more hesitant with a sport bike with multiple owners.

 

[EastBayDave]

older rider, ultra-clean low mileage bike typically means it hasn't been terrorized on. Old fart rider most likely hasn't done mile-long wheelies, rolling burnouts, etc...:afm199

 

[ViperThreat]

Low miles means little wear and tear but it also means responsible riding.
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Did I miss some kind of memo?

I can put 60k miles on a commuter bike, and 10k miles on a track bike, and I know which one I'd rather buy at the end.

 

[LakeMerrit]

Also, buying a 10 year old bike from someone who seems competent with 30K on the clock means (to me) that the issues have been sorted out or at least discovered. The bike isn't a lemon (otherwise they wouldn't have been able to put all those miles on). Unless it's a thumper and needs constant rebuilds, the way I see it is if it lasted 30-40k as a soild performer, there's no glaring reason it should last another 20k without grenading itself. Obviously you do need to maintain, maybe rebuild the calipers, repack bearings, etc. but if the deal is right and you understand what a 30k mile bike is and isn't, it shouldn't be a dealbreaker..

Buying a 3 year old bike with 1200 miles means it sat a lot, and the owner probably doesn't ride enough to know if it has issues.