Attitude towards kms on bikes

[tigertim20]

I was thinking today, I know, I know, an unusual and painfull occurrance in my world
anyway I was thinking about the kms we put on bikes, and how this reflects in peoploes minds at purchase time.

So heres the question. at what point, do kms matter. heres the scenario:
two bikes, the same year, make and model. Both NZ new. Both have full service history. Both have been looked after exceptionally well, and neither have been raced, thrashed or binned. In fact, every aspect of the bikes is idenetical, except one thing. the trip meter.
The asking price on both bikes is the same.

The question is, how big of a difference in travelled kms on the bike, before you would start to favour one over the other?

For me, its probably around the 15k mark. Im not worried about slightly higher kays bikes, but I know some poeple who think 30k on a sportsbike is really high
and I know people that think any bike which has travelled less than 100k is barely run in
what say you? how big (or small) of a difference in kays would lead ou to one bike over the other?

Oh, and as for the 'hot kays vs cold kays debate', lets say both bikes have only ever been on long rides, minimum of 200km.

[cowboyz]

well if they are both exactly the same apart from ks... then Id chose the lessor one. just so I can get more riding in before I run it to 100k!

I dont care about ks at all. Its just not important.

[White trash]

I was thinking today, I know, I know, an unusual and painfull occurrance in my world
anyway I was thinking about the kms we put on bikes, and how this reflects in peoploes minds at purchase time.

So heres the question. at what point, do kms matter. heres the scenario:
two bikes, the same year, make and model. Both NZ new. Both have full service history. Both have been looked after exceptionally well, and neither have been raced, thrashed or binned. In fact, every aspect of the bikes is idenetical, except one thing. the trip meter.
The asking price on both bikes is the same.

The question is, how big of a difference in travelled kms on the bike, before you would start to favour one over the other?

For me, its probably around the 15k mark. Im not worried about slightly higher kays bikes, but I know some poeple who think 30k on a sportsbike is really high
and I know people that think any bike which has travelled less than 100k is barely run in
what say you? how big (or small) of a difference in kays would lead ou to one bike over the other?

Oh, and as for the 'hot kays vs cold kays debate', lets say both bikes have only ever been on long rides, minimum of 200km.

I bought my HSV with 382000km on the clock above three we looked at between 165 to 220. Purely based on condition and the previous owners obvious pashion for his pride and joy. The glovebox literally could not be closed with the receipts for work and maintainence done right down to the exact kays he rotated the tyres.

Kays don't mean shit.

I'm riding an RF9, done 83 and it's smoother than any new one I rode, uses no oil and pulls like a schoolboy.

[Gibbo89]

i would say it is kinda relevant to the type of bike you are talking about. i.e a single cylinder commuter or a high revving machine. would you buy a 18,000 rpm screamer that had done 200,000k's?

[tigertim20]

i would say it is kinda relevant to the type of bike you are talking about. i.e a single cylinder commuter or a high revving machine. would you buy a 18,000 rpm screamer that had done 200,000k's?

its not relevant at all.
im asking about the difference between the two examples, not the total kays travelled.
i.ei one has 21k, and one has 25k or
one has 15k, and the other has 23k
etc etc

To above posters, i agree, the cbr600 I had, i took around to 140k roughly, and its still a fuckin beast!

im starting the thread because, in IMO, people put wayyyyy to much weight on the kms when balancng between two similar vehicles

[Gibbo89]

ahh i see. mis understood

[SMOKEU]

It depends on the bike really. A bike with kms that seems suspiciously low, especially a JDM may be worth less to me than the same bike with higher kms provided it's in a good condition. A bike that has been sitting at the docks in Japan for a couple of years without being started surely can't be a good thing.

[tigertim20]

It depends on the bike really. A bike with kms that seems suspiciously low, especially a JDM may be worth less to me than the same bike with higher kms provided it's in a good condition. A bike that has been sitting at the docks in Japan for a couple of years without being started surely can't be a good thing.

read the first post and try again.

[meteor]

I bought my HSV .... glovebox literally could not be closed with the receipts for work.

LOL . Ya should have bought a Ford...

Sorry dude... couldn't resist it!

[98tls]

LOL . Ya should have bought a Ford...

Sorry dude... couldn't resist it!

Ya beat me to it.

[98tls]

End of the day would be silly not to go with the lower km one eh.Fwiw from my selling cars days a year or 10,000 kms used to equate to a $1000 at retail time between similar vehicles,

[schrodingers cat]

I bought bike with 140,000k on the clock.
The price was right BUT the previous owner had kept meticulos records of maintanance and had compiled a massive dossier of technical info. The fact that he really cared sold it for me. He had never really thrashed it

Force (and wear) multiplies expotentially. If a bike has been given endless hidings with mega rpm then the wear is high. If they've just plonked around and opened it up occasionally then the mileage doesn't count for much.

Look for the widest 'chicken strips' and wear on the footpegs

[tigertim20]

I bought bike with 140,000k on the clock.
The price was right BUT the previous owner had kept meticulos records of maintanance and had compiled a massive dossier of technical info. The fact that he really cared sold it for me. He had never really thrashed it

Force (and wear) multiplies expotentially. If a bike has been given endless hidings with mega rpm then the wear is high. If they've just plonked around and opened it up occasionally then the mileage doesn't count for much.

Look for the widest 'chicken strips' and wear on the footpegs

note to self, sell bike with new tyres and pegs.

[98tls]

Pretty hard to apart from the obvious to tell if a bikes been thrashed if its been maintained and cared for at the same time,ive had my TLS for over a decade now and ride the thing less and less it seems as the years go by but in its lifetime its been ridden bloody hard at every opportunity,in fact abused would be a better term (thats the only way to ride one really) its been dropped twice but i defy anyone to pick it,i simply replaced the broken bits with new.I had a bloke wanting to swap his SV for it awhile back and his comment was "better than new".If only he "knew".

[Hitcher]

Given a choice between a bike with 9,000km and original tyres versus one with 20,000km and new tyres, all other things being equal, I'd go for the one with the new tyres.

Two reasons for that: I'm cheap and don't like having to spend more money than I need to; and because most OEM tyres can generally be bettered.