Buying a Used Bike (Km's)

[jarvo_325]

Hi guys

My apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong place I'm new to the forum and new to motorbikes in general.

I'm going for my learners soon and looking to by a used bike to learn on. I have found heaps on information on what to look for when buying a used bike but nothing that refers to kilometres. What is considered High Kilometres for a bike?
I will be buying a fairly cheap used bike to learn on so I guess it will be fairly old say early 90's, How many kilometres is too high?

I see on ebay etc people tend to sell their newer bikes when they reach about 40,000km is this considered High? Would you buy a bike that has 40,000km on it?

Any help would be appreciated as I don't have much idea.

[mick_dundee]

Depends alrgely on the individual bike more so than a species per se, you can get excellent bikes with 80-100 k k's on them and you can get some shit with 10000 on the clock, what size you looking to buy? Given that most states have LAMS already and we (Vic) aren't that far off you have a fairly large choice of bike available, also what sort of bike you looking at? Sports, Cruiser etc etc all these things bear weight on whether the bike is worth what someone is asking for it.

[flexorcist]

my bike has nearly 80k kms but i have rebuild receipts for most parts at 71,000 kms. as previously said though dude it depends what type of bike you're buying.... say for instance you purchase before LAMS is in effect and you want a 2 stroke 250, bugger the overall kms, you need to know when or more accurately how many kms ago, the top end was rebuilt..... for them 10k kms can be a lot.

[mick_dundee]

Jarvo, slap a thread up in the intro section as well and also fill your profile out so we knw where you are, i'm looking at it from Vic persepective in that we don't have lams just yet, whereas you might be in NSW in which case it's all irreleveant, regardles wher you're at some bikes you cna ride (legally) and some ya can't but at least fill the profile out so we know wtf you are...

[Saki]

it does come down to the bike, i spose also if its a small hard revving bike, i would assume its life wouldn't be as great as a larger lower revving bike. Not always true but i spose partly true.

i know my zx9 has almost 60k's on it and it still feels like it pulls very well and with the recent oil change is extremely smooth. Gearbox is still firm and clunky, so all good.

Me and a mate swapped bikes and i rode his zx9 with 35km's on the clock and we both agree his g'box feels like the selector is a knife and the gearbox is the butter it doesn't have a very firm feeling, where as his susp feels firmer. So slighty differences but just goes to show km's ain't everything just comes down to how the owners have cared (or haven't cared) for it and wat have u

[Smitty]

Hi guys

My apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong place I'm new to the forum and new to motorbikes in general.

I'm going for my learners soon and looking to by a used bike to learn on. I have found heaps on information on what to look for when buying a used bike but nothing that refers to kilometres. What is considered High Kilometres for a bike?
I will be buying a fairly cheap used bike to learn on so I guess it will be fairly old say early 90's, How many kilometres is too high?

I see on ebay etc people tend to sell their newer bikes when they reach about 40,000km is this considered High? Would you buy a bike that has 40,000km on it?

Any help would be appreciated as I don't have much idea.

hello mate

we wrote a bike buying guide to help our fellow KSRCians....
http://www.ksrc-au.com/index.php?itemid=16" target="_blank


hth

Smitty

[Neka79]

how long is a piece of string??


welcome mate...

[Gosling1]

.....how long is a piece of string??......

the scientifically correct answer to that question is..............

Its twice as long as half its length.

[jarvo_325]

Thanks for your response Guys

I know what you mean "how long is a picece of string" but not knowing much about bikes I thought I better get some expert opinions.
I guess I was comming at it from a noobie who knows very little but motobikes and looking to buy one soon. I mean I know how many Km's a car should have and what the selling rice should reflect, but when it comes to bikes I dunno.

Anyway Cheers!

[Smitty]

how long is a piece of string??

my science teacher (last century )
used to tell us prufrocks*
the answer is...........
definitely less than its infinite length





* http://jacketmagazine.com/19/fink1.html" target="_blank

[lifeofcrimeguy]

At the end of the day, if you see a bike you like and aren't sure, post a thread with everything you know about like km's, when sprockets, chain, pads, etc have been changed, blah blah blah. We probably won't be able to tell you if it's good, maybe not even able to tell you if it's bad. But you never know what kind of advice and stuff might be lying in the back of someones mind when there's something tangible to think about.

[Neka79]

Thanks for your response Guys

I know what you mean "how long is a picece of string" but not knowing much about bikes I thought I better get some expert opinions.
I guess I was comming at it from a noobie who knows very little but motobikes and looking to buy one soon. I mean I know how many Km's a car should have and what the selling rice should reflect, but when it comes to bikes I dunno.

Anyway Cheers!

honestly mate... the best bet is to

a.tell us where ur from
b.look for a bike that fits ur budget
c.take sumone who has a idea abt bikes with u....

now if u have a prob with C, i suggest u offer beer for those who inspect for u... it tends to get things done...