Long term and reliable SS bikes

[CafeRay]

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Um. he asked about LONG TERM BIKES. It's pretty hard
to beat BMW. I just unherited one with 270,000 on the clock. still going strong.
Any vehical will get broken. Deal with it.

No sure about modern BMWs, they have a ton of Bosch electronics that can and do go bad, the older Rs ran forever, but some Ks were really crap.
Yes, any bike will break, and parts wear, but BMW service isn't cheap and fixing it yourself with modern electronics isn't really an option any more.

 

[CafeRay]

No but the thread is about SS bikes so naturally that would be the ONLY BMW I can think of that fits the bill. Heck buy a Toyota tercel, my buddy had one with 315,000km.

I put 160,000km on my second bike, a Kawasaki GPZ, did nothing but basic maintenance, with the cheapest oil. I sold it with compression within spec and the valve clearances didn't change in 70,000km.

Not sure how long something like an R6 would last in the hands of that guy redlining on the 403 every night.

 

[apextech]

check out the reviews in Britain's MCN website:

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/mcn/bikereviews/

They update older bikes with reliability info and what to look for. They are brutally honest and tell you if a crap bike is a crap bike.

GS500:

"Whilst the engines are proven, the rest of the bike suffers from famously-bad build quality. The paint on the GS500E is thin, scratches easily then quickly rusts. Similarly, metal parts corrode rapidly. The welds are a particular weak spot on the Suzuki GS500E: it may be sensible to invest in shed loads of WD40. On the plus side, it’s said the old Suzukis crash well… !"

Very high marks for the ZX6R, R6, CBR.GSXR..this is a very competitive class.

The problem is that you are jumping from a 37hp bike now into 300% the power at the 600 class level. Big jump. The 300 is cheap to run, fast enough for the street. If you use even half the capability of these 600s on the street, you'll end up in handcuffs.

Those crazy Brits live by the Sea. All that salt water wrecks havoc on any bike. That's why they rust so quick.

 

[dsburfitt]

I think any jap bike will do. Just keep up with maintenance. Don't think twice about gas, as long as your revs aren't rediculous you'll do well


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[2WET]

After I get M and decent km on my Ninja 300, I am looking forward to move on to SS. However I want to get one, use it as daily commuter during summer and keep it for long time. Whats a good SS which will be decent on fuel, maintenance and reliability?

Decent of fuel.. ALL....maintainance and reliability.. NONE!

No SS bike will do what you are thinking of doing, trust me i tried it, and i wanted to kill myself, the amount of regular "expensive" maintainance a SS bike requires is a nightmare, you are better off with commuter bikes as your sport bike ninja 300.

Once you cross over to super bikes, you have two options, if you want NO troubles, buy brand new, and sell/trade as soon as you hit 20-25 thousand kilometres, after that, the bike will only get worse and worse, unless you drop money it constantly it will need repairs all the time.

If you can't afford to buy a brand new sports bike forget it, the only people who buy used and keep those bikes are people like myself who can literally rebuild the whole bike or have enough knowledge to learn and do the basic stuff.

But again, trust me, you will be in your garage scractching your head on what random thing went wrong every now and then, sport bikes are like high end european beemers and audi's working fine one minute, then next just because of drop of bad gas, the whole bike shuts off and is trowing a code, and your half way in the country.

They are fun as heck and amazing when running perfect, but as soon as they mess up, you could be doing 140kmh on the hiway and it shuts off with a 18 wheeler behind you, with SS bikes you have to be prepaired to go through stuff like that.

Keep it as a summer bike for having fun, thats it....if you use it as a commuter bike like i did...well you'll find out.

Superbikes are like two stroke dirtbikes, even though people claim they reach high mileage, the engine life is like dirtbikes, the more hours you ride, the closer you are to buying a new engine or rebuild.

Those bike with 60 k or higher either have a rebuilt engine or a new swap...i know because i've down that 4 times in the last few years buying bikes with 20 k and eventually engine needing replacement by 60-70ks.

 

[2WET]

I've come to realise the perfect mileage to put on SS bikes is anywhere between 1000kms to 5-7000kms max per season to get a good long hassle free use of it. this way you will feel your ss bike is reliable and things don't go wrong often.

SS bikes are like ice cream, eat it slow and enjoy it, if you eat it alot and too fast your brain will explode.

Almost All SS bikes have reliability issues like clock work, like stator going out, then rectifier going out, betteries dying out, fuel injection problems, then when the bike is perfect, your tires are gone, once those are gone, now your brake pads are gone, once thats gone, you need new brake fluids, then your fork oil seals get busted got to replace those, then fork oil, and so on...these things can only take abuse for the first 20 thousand kilometers after that, ride it normal or open your wallet with tons of cash.


if you are a detail freak, its even worse.


just to give you an idea just 2013, for just one of my ss bikes, i droped $2000 in towing for broken down miles away 4 times and for 50 over once and $600 in fines, and $2000 in lawyers for 2 tickets, got everything dropped and good to go, and about $2000 in regular maintainance. i.e oil changes, tires, brake pads, fluid, tune, electiral issues etc about $1000 for things like rectifier blowing water pump or a stator...and about $2000 in mods and accessories, before i knew i would have to make all those previous unforseen costs.

You will need anywhere from $1000 to $5000 for 7 moths of riding, everyday as a commuter for unseen costs.


if you get a SS for leisure, you're likely not even going to spend $1000 a season or even get caught for any violation.


Not trying to scare you but, i myself went back to commuter street bikes and only use SS bikes on professional race tracks.

 

[jeffjones]

I've come to realise the perfect mileage to put on SS bikes is anywhere between 1000kms to 5-7000kms max per season to get a good long hassle free use of it. this way you will feel your ss bike is reliable and things don't go wrong often.

SS bikes are like ice cream, eat it slow and enjoy it, if you eat it alot and too fast your brain will explode.

Almost All SS bikes have reliability issues like clock work, like stator going out, then rectifier going out, betteries dying out, fuel injection problems, then when the bike is perfect, your tires are gone, once those are gone, now your brake pads are gone, once thats gone, you need new brake fluids, then your fork oil seals get busted got to replace those, then fork oil, and so on...these things can only take abuse for the first 20 thousand kilometers after that, ride it normal or open your wallet with tons of cash.


if you are a detail freak, its even worse.


just to give you an idea just 2013, for just one of my ss bikes, i droped $2000 in towing for broken down miles away 4 times and for 50 over once and $600 in fines, and $2000 in lawyers for 2 tickets, got everything dropped and good to go, and about $2000 in regular maintainance. i.e oil changes, tires, brake pads, fluid, tune, electiral issues etc about $1000 for things like rectifier blowing water pump or a stator...and about $2000 in mods and accessories, before i knew i would have to make all those previous unforseen costs.

You will need anywhere from $1000 to $5000 for 7 moths of riding, everyday as a commuter for unseen costs.


if you get a SS for leisure, you're likely not even going to spend $1000 a season or even get caught for any violation.


Not trying to scare you but, i myself went back to commuter street bikes and only use SS bikes on professional race tracks.

Weird, I had the exact opposite experience on my F4i, Other then laying it down and having to repair it.
My only major repairs were the CCTL ($50), battery (my own fault $50) and tires (what do you expect when you commute).
I bought it at 14K and sold it 3 years later at 77K running perfect.

 

[ZX600]

What's a crash ratio? I know going from .3 to 1.2 would be a 400% increase but reducing from 1.2 to .3 is a 75% decrease. Is the 400% number more American hyperbole or is my math all messed up?

I don't know, ask CafeRay, i was quoting his ****** link


2Wet, weren't you the guy that rode day an night no stop and put like 70k a season, now you are talking about 1 to 7k a season, are you trolling?

 

[vociferous]

I don't know, ask CafeRay, i was quoting his ****** link


2Wet, weren't you the guy that rode day an night no stop and put like 70k a season, now you are talking about 1 to 7k a season, are you trolling?

yup same guy.

wasnt he claiming over 100k/year? plus his own maintenance, track, etc.

OP, ignore everything and anything 2WET says, He's full of bull@$%

 

[klr_guy]

yup same guy.

wasnt he claiming over 100k/year? plus his own maintenance, track, etc.

OP, ignore everything and anything 2WET says, He's full of bull@$%

agreed - he's all over the place with his recent posts - and his posts are always ... interesting

 

[daught]

If you want a reliable SS make sure you use high octane gas. 91+. As a bonus you get 2-5 extra hp per octane point. If you go with 93 you get up to 25 extra hp!


Sent from the future using my GOLDEN iPhone 30 SS

 

[RockerGuy]

I've come to realise the perfect mileage to put on SS bikes is anywhere between 1000kms to 5-7000kms max per season to get a good long hassle free use of it. this way you will feel your ss bike is reliable and things don't go wrong often.

SS bikes are like ice cream, eat it slow and enjoy it, if you eat it alot and too fast your brain will explode.

Almost All SS bikes have reliability issues like clock work, like stator going out, then rectifier going out, betteries dying out, fuel injection problems, then when the bike is perfect, your tires are gone, once those are gone, now your brake pads are gone, once thats gone, you need new brake fluids, then your fork oil seals get busted got to replace those, then fork oil, and so on...these things can only take abuse for the first 20 thousand kilometers after that, ride it normal or open your wallet with tons of cash.


if you are a detail freak, its even worse.


just to give you an idea just 2013, for just one of my ss bikes, i droped $2000 in towing for broken down miles away 4 times and for 50 over once and $600 in fines, and $2000 in lawyers for 2 tickets, got everything dropped and good to go, and about $2000 in regular maintainance. i.e oil changes, tires, brake pads, fluid, tune, electiral issues etc about $1000 for things like rectifier blowing water pump or a stator...and about $2000 in mods and accessories, before i knew i would have to make all those previous unforseen costs.

You will need anywhere from $1000 to $5000 for 7 moths of riding, everyday as a commuter for unseen costs.


if you get a SS for leisure, you're likely not even going to spend $1000 a season or even get caught for any violation.


Not trying to scare you but, i myself went back to commuter street bikes and only use SS bikes on professional race tracks.

Lol, are you for real?

 

[Green Machine]

2 words- Fuel Injection

 

[Jayell]

If you want a reliable SS make sure you use high octane gas. 91+. As a bonus you get 2-5 extra hp per octane point. If you go with 93 you get up to 25 extra hp!

 

[daught]

^ Why do you think all fast and super cars use premium gas? Because it's high octane is FAST.

 

[Jayell]

^ Why do you think all fast and super cars use premium gas? Because it's high octane is FAST.

This is nonsense, but I'll answer your question anyway: so called "fast and super cars" require premium fuel because they have higher compression engines. Higher octane, or premium fuel, will prevent knocking or pinging, and pre-ignition. If your vehicle specifies 87 octane, you're wasting your money on anything higher, as there is little or no benefit. The only reason I can see to use higher octane fuel is to avoid ethanol. The oil companies, of course, will be delighted to take your extra 50¢ per gallon.

 

[daught]

^Typical internet know it all, after he watched a few youtube videos. Old schoolers know, higher octane unleashes additional compression. I can pull wheelies in second with 91.

 

[sid_for_speed]

I wish ninja 300 was a little bit more aggressive in terms of SS looks and ergonomics.

huh?

That mean's if I give you a ninja300 and clip ons with 160 rear end, you'll end up liking it better than SS bikes???

I don't mean to negate you...Manufacturers prolly do will never do this..not because it makes marketing sense( these bikes sell themselves) or engineering sense but because it'll be the death of all SS bikes in N America!

 

[Jayell]

^Typical internet know it all, after he watched a few youtube videos. Old schoolers know, higher octane unleashes additional compression. I can pull wheelies in second with 91.

Not a know it all, but I'm not going to argue facts with you. Higher octane fuel will not alter the compression ratio. Use whatever fuel makes you happy, I'll do the same.

 

[Brian P]

I bought a 1987 Kawasaki Ninja 750 new, and eventually sold it at 118,000 km after riding around North America on it. I will grant that after around 80,000 km, it started needing parts thrown at it.

Then I bought a 1994 Kawasaki ZX9R brand new, and kept it for 10 years and (coincidentally) 118,000 km. It was good for around 100,000 km, then needed a clutch, and the head gasket blew (known weak point on that specific engine), and it started letting me know that it was time for something else.

The ZX10R that replaced it has about 75,000 km on it. I went through the engine recently to address some known issues with that model year, but from the point of view of engine wear, I didn't have to.

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