Jap import bikes & correct mileage

[petermonkeyguru]

My bike is supposed to have done only 29,000 K's - I'm thinking, due to this and other little things about the bike, it may of done a lot more than that. It's an import - and I guess the Speedo’s are easy to trick! Been a problem on jap cars - and bike speedo's are more accessable than a car one.

Seem to be a lot of low mileage Jap import bikes around - but I haven’t seen any dealers or importers offering guarantees on the mileage like some dealers do now on Jap import cars.

Any one see this as a problem?

[JimO]

i was looking at a gsxr750 on tardme with 9000 ks and it was around a 92 model from memory sounded like not enough to me and it was a fresh import

[avgas]

it all comes out when you ride it. i had a gb400 that had 30,000 and felt it - where i bought another one that had 16,000 but it felt more like 116,000

[Motu]

Odometer readings are irellavent,unless you are hung up on such things...especially for Jap imports.Just go on the condition of the vehicle.It could of spent it's life idling in commuter traffic,or being thrashed as a track day bike,or doing a constant speed intercity shuttle.

[petermonkeyguru]

So speedo's are only useful for telling you how fast your going and when to fill up?
So forget about how many K's a bikes done and buy the bike in the best condition - I'm begining to think your right, looking at some of the bikes I've been looking at.
I would've thought that there would be some kind of legal requirement for dealers to take some responsibility to make sure theirs were correct - but theirs seem to be the worst.

[Motu]

Why get upset about it? It's a non issue.In a car the motor may have spent it's life idling and never having oil changes....this will be in much worse condition than an engine run constantly.One will be a mess with low mileage,the other in perfect condition with high mileage.Bikes aren't used to such extremes,but the same rules apply....buy by condition not odo reading.

[JimO]

a lot of sellers base the price on the "low" mileage

[Robbo]

Why get upset about it? It's a non issue.In a car the motor may have spent it's life idling and never having oil changes....this will be in much worse condition than an engine run constantly.One will be a mess with low mileage,the other in perfect condition with high mileage.Bikes aren't used to such extremes,but the same rules apply....buy by condition not odo reading.

Good call Motu, i could'nt agree more. Generally the odometer reading means "jack shit" as it does'nt and can't give you a history on how the engine and gearbox has been operated during it's lifetime and many buyers are sucked in by "low milage" syndrome and what they think it means to them.
As suggested, take a close look at the general condition of the bike or car and if you are in doubt, then pay a professional person to do an inspection for you before you purchase, it will be money well spent.

Cheers

[Guitana]

Most import bikes have been around the block more times than a hooker on K road!!! When you ride a machine if it feels tighter than a virgin it's original K's.
If it's sloppy it's a HO and probably and will bite you on the ass when least expected!!!
Happy shopping

[R1madness]

We do offer a speedo mileage guarentee but there is a catch..... (always is)
I will take the speedo in to get checked. If it has been tampered with i will pay. If it is correct however you would be expected to pay. It only costs $100 or so. I have been taken up on the offer twice but never had to pay. Dodgying speedos is just not worth it.
We see and buy lots of genuinely low k bikes that have a few years on but under 10000km.

[avgas]

We do offer a speedo mileage guarentee but there is a catch..... (always is)
I will take the speedo in to get checked. If it has been tampered with i will pay. If it is correct however you would be expected to pay. It only costs $100 or so. I have been taken up on the offer twice but never had to pay. Dodgying speedos is just not worth it.
We see and buy lots of genuinely low k bikes that have a few years on but under 10000km.

dont need to tamper with some speedo's - had a mate wound his ts back by hooking a power drill to the bit that goes in the wheel. Let it run all day and you have yourselves a 10,000K 1983 ts

[Motu]

From my experiance (cars) vehicles age differently in Japan.A Japanese car will have imaculate body work,under the bonnet everything is perfect,all alloy unblemished,just like new,under the car it's shiny paint and no dirt (I realise they are cleaned before entering NZ,but this is more than a clean up job).A NZ new car of the same year and mileage looks a mess,crappy body,all alloy and bright metal under the bonnet corroded,underneath the car is covered in dirt and corrsion.

But when we do a cambelt on the imaculate import it looks like it was ready to break tomorrow,the belt is cracked and the bearing noisy.And yet with a NZ new car the belt looks like new and the bearing fine.I think it's to do with climate - ours is tough on metal,their's is tough on rubber.This is not mileage,it's aging of rubber components.

[Flyingpony]

Car yards sell their cars with an odometer tamper free certificate. I find that to be a laugh and a half because who said the person didn't drive with it disconnected or spent hours idling.

Like Motu said, they all look immaculate but are they?

What I want to see is a report which states the approximate odometer figure based upon engine condition. That'll tell you if it's in good condition or not.

I know of people with diesel 4x4 with odometer's indicating 90k, but according to the mechanic who fixed the engine, it's got symptoms of being on 250k!

I've also found AA reports to be worth jack shit too. Some don't trust those.

They claim to have done a compression test on all pistons on my cage engine ... given that I can't find 1/3rd of it's spark plugs without stripping serious items off the motor and therefore rending it unable to be started, how the F did they do a compression test?

They managed to measure the treat depth of the spare tyre but failed to pick up it only at 5psi in it!! Some 55psi short. I've since monitored the tyre and it loses 2psi per month. Hmm

They also failed to pick up a leaking silicon bearing on the suspension, in fact, so did the two WOF's by the car yard which sold it to me. I had some sort of grease falling on the garage floor from said bearing and asked the car yard why, they said it was lubricated to stop it squeaking, a common Jap car problem they said. First WOF done by me and she failed pronto ... $$$

The car yard also claimed to have changed the engine oil, so why was it very thick when I dumped if after driving 2k and the oil filter coated in a nice thick layer of cooked on oil? I've never seen that occur to an engine which even had done over 10k on the same oil/filter combo. Hmm

I feel that Chch car yard lied big time. No OAB doesn't work there.

In Summary: Trust what you see and feel the car/bike to be at, not the odometer figure or AA reports or WOF sticker/reports.

[Motu]

I've heard reports that in Japan they will leave an engine idling for hours in winter to keep the heater warm...we certainly find the engine has done more kms than the running gear,and I think this is why - no odo tampering,just engine running without wheels turning.An hourmeter would be a better guide to use.

It's called a relative compression test,done with a scope - checks starter draw as the motor is cranking....with a cyl trigger you have the firing order as well,printout on a graph.Very usefull when you can't get at spark plugs.You are much more likely to get unven readings on a compression test than all figures low.All low compressions will give a higher crank speed.I have no problems with a relative compression test.

[megageoff76]

I once test drove a Mazda MX6 which was only showing 90k kms. However on closer inspection there was a wee sticker on the inside of the door which said when the next service was due...250,000!! Guess they forgot to remove that bit before putting it on the yard.

[Flyingpony]

I should add, my car came with its service log book from Japan. Whilst I can't read it, dates and mileage figures are universal so I trust the mileage displayed on my car odometer, unless, between last service and entry to NZ it clocked up km upon km and got rolled back.

Motu: Yeah, a hour meter :)

I now know service log book's do exist, I'll will make it's a must have requirement for my next cage purchase.

So how many cars ex Japan have their service log book?

[Motu]

How many NZ new cars have their service log book?

[Indiana_Jones]

Odometer readings are irellavent,unless you are hung up on such things...especially for Jap imports.Just go on the condition of the vehicle.It could of spent it's life idling in commuter traffic,or being thrashed as a track day bike,or doing a constant speed intercity shuttle.

Yea, I was trying to tell that to my old man. It doesn't matter if the bike is over 10 years old and has done 40,000kms as long as it has been serviced and look after etc.

-Indy

[N4CR]

as with the mileage comments, my old zxr 250 was frowned upon as having 'high' kms (55k+). yet when you rode it it was much tighter and quicker than ones with 20k... it's how they are treated. hence why a high km bike don't really discourage me, it's just uneducated buyers. come ride it and make a decision then as one of hte previous posters mentioned.

i have seen quite a few with 8k or 16k on the clock that under closer inspection look to have done 50-70k. worn stuff, loose as hell box, sprockets rooted, minor corrosion etc etc. that's why when people go ooh i got a new (whatever_ with 6k its sooo mint i just laugh and say go ride a few and then ride it to make that decision on weather it's accurate or not, sometimes it is sometimes it isn't.

i had my old zxr250 serviced regularly (major engine stuff i got the shop to do) oil changed myself etc etc. hard life but looked after like a saint.. could tell the difference between same models of bikes just riding it.

[Gremlin]

It doesn't matter if the bike is over 10 years old and has done 40,000kms as long as it has been serviced and look after etc.
40k after 10 years is bugger all really... thats 4k per year. I bought my 7 around 10 years old, had 52400... I looked at it, and figured, 5240 a year, I'm going to do that in less than 3 months (which I did a lot).

I figure its a pro and con of shops v private sales. Private, no warranty, but you can talk to the seller, get to know them, an idea of history, how they might have ridden it, receipts on services, etc. Shops you get the warranty, but invariably they know nothing of the bikes past...